The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) contract covers a bevy of collateral, including 14.5 million 18pp forms, largely made up of 11 million standard household forms, as well as 40,000 Collector Record Books, each 128pp long.
The deal was actually finalised last November, and production began ramping up in February this year. PMG has now finished the forms element and is working on the rest of the collateral.
PMG, which also produced the 2006 Census contract, was awarded the work because it was “deemed to be the best value for money out of all the companies”, said Andrew McGovern, ABS manager, Census Logistics and Materials.
“When the evaluation committee went for a site visit, we found the company to be highly organised and professional, and well set up for project-based work. They also have a relaxed, upfront attitude that is quite refreshing,” he added.
The Census job is a tough and testing assignment, requiring strict adherence to quality standards down to “sub-millimetric production tolerances and a tight production schedule under secure conditions”, according to the supplier.
PMG general manager sales & marketing Lisa Stark said: “The enormity of the job is difficult to comprehend.
“The Census is the largest post-war logistical movement of material in Australia, distributed to every household in the country and as far afield as Antarctic bases,” she said.
The 2006 project took six months to complete, including pre-press, production and distribution.
Census forms are printed on a unique paper stock with specialty inks. After being completed and returned, each booklet put through an Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) scanner, meaning that printing and finishing specs must be exact.
Other elements of the 2011 Census contract were supplied by IPMG.
Print Media Group incorporates Ducor Australia and South Pacific Print Group (formerly Paragon Printing).
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