The NSW government is currently running two tenders – one for print management and one for warehousing – but has yet to announce how it will engage with print suppliers.
Printing Industries chief executive Philip Andersen called the government’s strategy “a work in progress”.
“The NSW government is still to finalise the print supply model to be adopted and has committed to continuing to discuss this with us,” he said.
“We understand that the government is very sensitive to the principles of transparency, value for money and competition. While we agree with those particular aspects, how they are integrated into the final model will be the subject of ongoing discussions between the association and the department.”
He told ProPrint that the association had first met with the NSW office of procurement within the Department of Commerce in March 2010 to discuss “a set of agreed-upon principles that should guide the formation and operation of any new government print procurement process”.
“We were anticipating a quicker turnaround for them to come out with their final model,” he added.
The NSW model shares similarities with the Federal government’s ‘Design, Production and Distribution Tender’ initiative, for which the association “has some sympathy”, said Andersen.
Canberra went down the route of pre-qualifying a panel of printers from which its nominated print managers could procure work.
Andersen said: “We don’t have a particular issue if there is a pre-qualified list as long as it is open and transparent about how to get on that list.”
He added that it was important “the hurdles are not set at such a level that it discriminates against printers who currently do very good work for the state government”, particularly “country or metropolitan printers”.
Suppliers to the print management and distribution tenders are expected to be announced in February 2011. The state government did not give any timeline on its strategy for print suppliers, other than to say: “Future NSW government procurement activity may include engagement with print suppliers.”
Click here for the latest news from across the printing industry.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter