NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. –
Defense Logistics Agency Document Services made a big change this year by realigning from DLA Information Operations to DLA Disposition Services with a General Order signed in October. The move provides Document Services better organizational support for the mission and customers.
In 2023, the Document Services team focused on spreading the word about DODI 5330.03 – an instruction that mandates Defense Department components to use Document Services for printing, scanning/document conversion and office device management services.
Printing Operations
Throughout this year, Document Services print facilities produced approximately 42,000 print jobs that amount to millions of pages. These orders included banners, training manuals, certificates, targets, maps and more. The Document Services team often produces specialty items for DOD and federal customers to be used in events throughout the world – there is even a print facility that directly supports the President and White House staff.
To start off 2023, the Document Services team at Travis Air Force Base, California, produced promotional material, including retractable banners and magnets, for Troops to Teachers. The program is part of the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support that helps service members and veterans become certified and employed as teachers in K-12 schools. The materials were used for outreach to over 8,500 people including: veterans at the Student Veterans of American National Conference, K-12 education administrators from every state at the National Educator Shortage Summit, college and military educators at the Council of College and Military Educators Symposium, as well as college and university professionals at the College for Adult and Experiential Learning Annual Conference.
“We know how important it is for these products to be perfect for the warfighter, so they are able to do their jobs,” said Nick Janik, director of production operations for Document Services. “Their mission, regardless of what it might be, is important to us because it is important to them and we are proud to support them.”
Scanning/Document Conversion
Document Services has been instrumental in making customers aware of the Office of Management and Budget memo directing federal agencies to go fully electronic with their record keeping. The National Archives and Records Administration will no longer accept paper records after June 30, 2024. With the deadline looming, Document Services has been helping customers make plans to digitize their records – including records of unique format.
The Marine Corps Manpower Management Performance Branch had Document Services assist with the digitizing of 70 million records, spanning over five projects that include microfilm, microfiche and hardcopy documents. These records include historical award files for humanitarian service medals and various unit awards, casualty files for Marines who were killed in action and still “unaccounted for” from the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The records also include files on separations and retirements. Scanning is underway and expected to be complete in the second half of 2024.
Document Services began working with the Army Records Management Directorate this year to digitize personnel, financial and medical records and installation plans and schematics. The project, expected to be a multi-year venture, is a collaborative effort to help the Army meet records management mandates and go digital for long-term storage and retrieval initiatives.
“We scan a wide variety of records for our DOD customers – different media and sizes,” said Joe Fagan, branch chief for Document Services Customer Audit and Engagement. “This year we’ve been focused on helping them plan to go fully digital to meet NARA’s upcoming requirements. The volume of work for conversion projects continues to escalate, but we are prepared to flex contracting options to accommodate the incoming work and guide the department to a successful outcome.”
Office Device Management
The Document Services office device management program leased 7,248 new printing devices to customers in 2023 – bringing the total number of devices they manage across the department and other federal customers to over 54,000.
The office device program is in the process of replacing 320 multifunctional devices at Fort Sill, Oklahoma that are currently on Army Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions contracts.
Terra Nguyen, division director for the office device program, and her team have been working with various customers this year to switch them from CHESS to DLA-managed printing devices, including for the Army at Fort Irwin, California, and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division in Forest Park, Georgia.
“With the switch to Document Services devices, the majority of Fort Sill will be in compliance with DODI 5330.03,” Nguyen said. “We hope to repeat the process for other locations to bring them into compliance as well. These customers will save considerable man-hours by not having to manage their own device contracts as well as leveraging better buying power using DLA.”
The Document Services shipboard device program received orders for 2,767 printing devices in 2023. The program now manages 50,135 devices on over 750 carriers, surface vessels and submarines.
In June, the shipboard program hosted the Customer Information and Innovation Conference in San Diego, California, to share their current services and discuss technological innovation for future opportunities.
“The conference received a lot of positive feedback from the representatives who attended,” Nguyen said. “We hope to carry that momentum into next year with another conference in Norfolk, Virginia later in 2024."