The Sydney-based offset and digital house officially secured the Integral work around a month ago, after the energy company transformed its procurement process.
Fiona Stuart, strategic category manager at Integral, told ProPrint: “We are going thorough a procurement transformation and moving toward a category manager structure of sourcing.”
She explained that Integral decided to move away from the old model, which involved using “a panel of suppliers that was established a couple of years ago”.
The company brought in buying professionals across different sectors as part of the procurement transformation. The print category was looked after by former ACP buyer Jackie Connor, who has since joined Digitalpress as general manager.
Stuart said SOS won the contract because the printing company was compatible with Integral’s requirements and “provided the best value for money in the market”.
“We looked at their quality systems and environmental processes, their account management strategies, their alignment to the Integral Energy philosophy, and their value-add initiatives.”
Stuart added that SOS’s recent investment in the region’s first Kodak Prosper 1000 showed that the print house “seems to take an innovative approach to how they run their business, and that was absolutely a factor to ensure they would deliver”.
Integral is the largest state-owned energy provider in New South Wales. Stuart would not reveal the value of the contract.
The contract follows a positive year for SOS, according to figures lodged with ASIC for the full year to 30 June 2010.
Net post-tax profits were back in the black at $222,606, up from a $132,007 loss in the 2008/09 year.
Operating profit was also up, with a 5.3% increase to $2.2m despite almost static revenues of $28.36m, up just 0.07% on the $28.34m it made in the 2008/09 year.
The company also paid down its borrowings by almost $700,000.
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