Chambersburg, PA – Third quarter 2010 (3Q10) data on work flow from the U. S. Government Printing Office (GPO) to private sector printers indicates that work declined from July through September compared to 2Q10 activity.

The value of all GPO work awarded during 3Q10 was $82 million compared to $90 million awarded during 2Q10 and $73 million awarded during 1Q10.  Work done by the top 50 suppliers during 3Q10 was valued at $50 million compared to $63 million awarded during 2Q10 and $45 million awarded in 1Q10.

Of the more than 1,510 print suppliers that obtained GPO work during 3Q10, NPC (News Printing Corporation) of Claysburg, Pennsylvania, won the most work with $5,650,511 awarded to the firm. RR Donnelly of Chicago, Illinois, was the 2Q10 top printer with work won valued at $19,388,554. NPC was the 1Q10 leader with $5,395,169 in GPO work won.

Part of the decline is attributable to the decision by the Internal Revenue Service to stop mailing tax materials to individuals and, instead, making forms available at post offices and online.

"While we have seen quarterly Government Printing Office opportunities fluctuating, we are finding a growing interest among printers in developing GPO as a profitable secondary market.  They want to offset lost commercial work with GPO printing," said Deborah Snider, senior vice president of e-LYNXX Corporation and division president of Government Print Management.  "Work from GPO is filling downtime for those printers who know how to schedule secondary market work and who know how to work with GPO. Government printing is an attractive option for printers that have production gaps to fill.  You just have to know what you are doing.  After all, GPO historically awards more than $425 million in work annually.  Many times that amount could be awarded if more work would be channeled through GPO in compliance with federal policies.  This is work that the private sector wants and needs."

Non-GPO printers average 2.5% profitability on 70% production utilization.  Snider said that with GPO work profitability can be increased from 2.5% to about 14%.

She added that GPO utilizes all types of printers, large and small.  To become a GPO print supplier, a printer must first register with GPO and then qualify to provide printing in one of five quality levels ranging from museum quality to functional quality.  To be successful, GPO printers must be knowledgeable of GPO rules, regulations and procedures, must use historical data to analyze opportunities, must have or obtain the expertise requisite to bidding to win with as little as possible left on the table, and must receive all job postings for which they are qualified to bid.