An agreement to establish a board was reached following a meeting between Printing Industries and representatives from the Victorian State Government Department of Premier and Cabinet.
The Printing Industries decision follows last month’s announcement that the Victorian Government was preparing to outsource some of its estimated $15 to $25m worth of printing work to overseas companies.
Printing Industries quickly responded to the announcement setting up a meeting between Printing Industries regional president, Ray Keen, acting Victorian regional manager Jim Hargrave and regional councillors Trevor Hone, Ron Patterson and Victorian business development officer, Phillip Sayers.
Following the meeting Printing Industries representative Keen says the meeting was successful with an assurance from the Victorian Government that it would not move to outsource its printing work overseas.
“We received an assurance from the Department’s Director of Strategic Communications, Andrew Hockley, that offshore printing would not be a sought after option,” he says.
Keen says the government wanted to move to a print management system to co-ordinate its print needs, monitor costs and achieve savings by standardising some print orders that may be common across departments. Presentation folders were cited as an example of duplication that could be better serviced via a co-ordinated, single large run, instead of individual department initiated runs.
“Our goal was to ensure that the Victorian industry did not lose out to offshore printers and I believe the assurances we have received from government confirm that our industry will not be disadvantaged this way,” Keen says.
“In addition we will be establishing an ‘advisory board’ to assist the Government develop Key Performance Indicators and parameters for how the print management contract will operate.
“This will allow us to have ongoing input into the process to ensure that the interests of Victorian printers are always at the forefront,” he says.
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
