September 23, 2003 -- ABC Advisors, longtime consultants on printer profitability, is reminding those in the forms market who are looking for additional avenues for work that production downturns in commercial volume can be buffered by obtaining Federal Government work. “Profit leaders know that diversifying accounts is an essential ingredient in long-term viability,” says Doug Harbach, Vice President of the e-LYNXX Corporation, parent of ABC Advisors. “This is especially true today if you are a forms producer and need available opportunities to assure that people and equipment remain busy. If so, government markets, especially the Government Printing Office (GPO), should be considered.” During the last year, printers competing for GPO work that included specialty business forms, snap sets, continuous forms, or cut sheets picked up awards totaling $101,209,027. Harbach says the Federal forms market remains robust because e-forms have not overtaken the use of paper forms, and are not expect to do so, according to studies, until at least the late part of this decade. “During the past number of years, it was assumed the advances in technology would deteriorate the forms market into a shell of itself,” Harbach explains. “While this may eventually occur, new work is available every day through the GPO to help forms manufacturers build additional volume and contribute to maintaining profitability.” ABC advises that forms work obtained from GPO should be looked at by a manufacturer as a supplement to its commercial volume and obtained after necessary market research at a price that provides needed contribution dollars to its bottom line.   Harbach says those factors can be the amount of bidding or production time for the project, the GPO office from which the job was bid, the time of year, and even the previous success or failure of competitors to win previously bid work. “Gauging the anticipated fluctuation in price is not that difficult for the seasoned GPO printer who knows how to gain access to bid results, competitor information, reports, and expert advice…all items that have been made available through ABC Advisors for more than a quarter century. Since the forms market relies greatly on distributors, it is important to note that the GPO does not allow brokers to bid on its printed work. Therefore, it is manufacturers looking to obtain contribution to their commercial work that normally contract with ABC and compete in the GPO market. This holds true for the additional $350 million of other types of work being awarded by the GPO during a normal fiscal year. Find out more on the GPO market by visiting www.abcadvisors.com, or calling ABC at 800-288-8250.