The State Department, a U.S. government agency, was in need of re-engineering their global publishing systems and processes. The goal was to ensure that their educational and diplomacy messages were delivered to all 240 of their posts in every corner of the world in the most efficient, timely, and cost-effective manner. The project was initiated as a part of the US government’s A-76 competitive sourcing initiative, where governmental support departments compete for their existence against the private sector. Our role in the process was to prepare the most efficient solution for the government, compete and win the competition against the private sector. This initial process, included audits of existing systems and processes at their three main print production facilities in Washington DC, as well as facilities in Vienna and Manila. We started the process by researching current and future needs, decentralized sourcing practices, and looking at other internal and external trends. We developed both a short- and long-term strategy to address those needs by creating new specifications for equipment, processes, staffing, etc., along with an implementation plan.

As a result of our research, we determined that they needed to overhaul their domestic and overseas printing production facilities. In addition to re-engineering their existing facilities, it also included sourcing, designing, and working with the State Department to construct and implement a new print production and distribution facility in a suburb of Cairo. The existing department won the bid, and we ultimately enabled a global hub and spoke publishing infrastructure. After evaluation and subsequent process optimization, the projected savings over 10 years was in excess of $80 Million. Additionally, there was a significant reduction in staffing (approx. 50%), a 30% reduction in production space in two existing facilities and the elimination of another one, while retaining and growing client base. Updated production equipment and processes were implemented to support changing current and future requirements, all while increasing production capacity.