Chambersburg, PA - What we have evolved into is a culture that thrives on quick communications.  Some say it began in 1982 with USA Today and its condensed news format.  Others point to radio and television.  But the most obvious force behind our need for instant bullet point and sound bite information is the Internet.

Most Internet copy is written to be digested easily and quickly.  We have become accustomed to it, and the impact ripples into every aspect of our daily lives.  We have become a quick information society.

The U. S, Government Printing Office (GPO) is no exception, according to Deborah Snider, senior vice president of e-LYNXX Corporation and division president of Government Print Management.  This is particularly true in the shortened amount of time that GPO allows for responding to work that it puts out for bid.  In 1994, only 28% of GPO one-time bid jobs required bid responses in 24 hours or less. That number increased to 48% in 1998.

"Today, 81% of GPO one-time bid jobs require a bid within 24 hours – most within just hours of being available for bid, " Snider said. "That does not mean the work itself has to be produced on an accelerated schedule. In fact, ample production time is allowed on most of these jobs."

GPO's federal agency customers determine when they need the jobs.  GPO then allows for the maximum amount of time possible for producing the jobs with the remaining time allowed for the bidding process.  That's why only hours are normally available for bidding.

Nor does this mean that the jobs are small.  In fact, these quick bid opportunities range from a few hundred dollars up to $100,000 each.  Again, the GPO allows printers the maximum time possible for production by minimizing the time available for bidding.

"GPO quick bid jobs can mean more for your bottom-line," Snider explained.  "Take for instance two identical jobs.  Both are for brochures for the U. S. Department of Defense.  Specifications for each call for 1,000 copies, 8 pages with identical 70 pound text and 80 pound cover stock.  The only difference is the bid response time requirement. One was available for bid for three days and had nearly two dozen bidders, and the other was available for bid for less than 2 hours and had only a handful of bidders.  Understandably, the job that required quick estimating and a response within 2 hours was awarded at a price quite substantially higher than the job that was available for bid for three days."

Some GPO offices – there are 16 throughout the United States – prefer short bid times.  The relatively small Seattle office, for example, over a 12-month period put out 1,938 of 1,994 bid opportunities with a quick bidding requirement of 24 hours or less.  That's 97% of its jobs over the course of a year that required quick bidding.

One key to success in the GPO marketplace is to be ready to bid quickly.  An even more important key is to obtain the quick bid opportunities promptly in the first place.  These are available at GPO cost through its Bid Subscription Service (GPO BSS) or from a government print management service that buys the GPO BSS and immediately redistributes to each of its clients those opportunities that fit perfectly.

GPO print suppliers can reduce their competition and dramatically increase their chances of winning profitable GPO work by obtaining and then responding to quick-bid jobs.  In any printing market, including GPO, pricing for jobs is very much effected by time between job specification availability and bid due deadline.