DLA is more than a printer for the Department of Defense

  • Published
  • By Sandy Simison
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  As a field activity of the Defense Logistics Agency, DLA Document Services has been serving the Department of Defense for more than 60 years.

While some refer to the organization as the DoD's printer, it offers much more than that basic description implies.

While DLA Document Services provides printing and copying at many military installations around the world, its core services reflect its mission to transform the DoD from high volume print and duplication to lower volume print on-demand and the use of online documents, electronic content and records management. In other words, the organization enables customers to increase functionality of their documents, while lowering costs.

Core capabilities include the conversion of hardcopy documents and media to standard digital formats, building libraries of digital content with online access and the provision of networked multifunctional devices that print, copy, scan and fax in customer workspaces.

The organization provides scanning and conversion services for many types of documents. Skilled technicians scan documents of any size from business cards to large format engineering drawings and convert them to a host of digital formats. In addition they have converted, and indexed for easy search and retrieval, more than one-half billion images to customer-specified digital formats.

DLA Document Services' Electronic Document Management program is a service to build digital libraries of documents with online access. EDM solutions are DoD 5015.2 records management compliant and enhance business processes by providing advanced content lifecycle management and workflow functionality. One example the EDM assists DLA distribution sites worldwide with digital capture, processing, management and storage for millions of shipping documents.

DLA Document Services is also one of the government's largest providers of office document equipment solutions. Its Equipment Management Solutions program provides networked MFDs that print, scan, copy and fax all in one compact system. With its leveraged buying power and all-inclusive flat rate pricing, DLA Document Services provides the best value solutions at the lowest possible cost, currently managing more than 34,000 devices DoD-wide.

The organization's EMS equipment assessment program helps agencies eliminate and consolidate costly single-function, desktop devices and replaces them with networked MFDs. Assessments are a value-added service that benchmark existing device inventory and operating costs, identify the organization's document equipment needs and deliver a set of recommendations on the optimal rightsizing mix of equipment. On average, assessments identify an annual savings potential of 25-30 percent for customers, while increasing capacity and capability.

The organization will soon begin helping the U.S. Coast Guard save more than $17 million per year by replacing single-function printers, scanners, copy machines and fax machines with multifunctional devices. Representatives assessed equipment in 4,150 locations and recommended the Coast Guard replace 9,902 single-function machines with 4,656 multifunctional devices, to save more than $85 million over five years--a 58-percent reduction. Implementations such as this are also operational at the U.S. Air Force Academy and Tinker AFB, Okla.

"Document Services is using expertise unique to the DoD to assist the Coast Guard in achieving more with less," noted Steve Sherman, director DLA Document Services. Adding that the group "is a dedicated team of professionals committed to the continued growth of our business model as we service our warfighters."

DLA Document Services is co-located with customers at more than 140 production facilities, primarily located on U.S. military installations around the world.  The organization also has a facility in the Pentagon, in support of DoD senior leadership, and in the White House, serving as the document solutions provider to the President of the United States. For example, each year the organization produces the booklet containing the script of the president's State of the Union speech to Congress. It is provided for duplication within just a few hours of the president's address. 

With the production of many sensitive and classified documents, DLA Document Services places a great amount of focus on security.  All employees have background checks that qualify them for security clearances and are well versed in security procedures, in order to ensure the security of networks and systems. It is a major thrust for the organization -- ensuring protection of customer's documents. 

For more information about DLA Document Services products and services, visit www.documentservices.dla.mil or call the customer support center at 1-877-327-7226.