BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
The Defense Logistics Agency Document Services print shop in Jacksonville, Florida, has its own diverse set of customers, unique orders and a varied skillset among its team.
Large format print orders are common and, like other sites, there are a host of materials used for printing solutions – paper, metals and plastics among them. Aside from the variety of items printed, one thing setting this location apart from others within the agency is the regional support it provides to the surrounding areas.
“The Jacksonville site has become the hub for the whole Southeast,” said Tracey McCormack-Milic, who serves as the production manager for the South-East region. “We do orders from all over the region for different things. We try to support anybody’s needs.”
The site caters to both military and civilian customers as part of that support and jobs can vary. One order may have a Secret classification while the next job is visible to everyone on base.
“Some of the specific things for Jacksonville we create include the road and street signs and banners,” said McCormack-Milic. “The warfighter demand is pretty unique here. Every command, every soldier needs something a little different.”
For the staff, it’s a busy workload supporting the number of customer requests and it requires each person to have a firm grasp of the shop’s overall operations. Individuals may specialize in a particular skill, but the ability to cross train and perform multiple tasks is vital to completing incoming orders in a timely fashion.
“Everybody – for the most part – is cross trained to do everything here in the shop,” said Michelle Kertesz, a print production specialist. “There is not a lot of low-quantity print jobs here. It’s mostly hundreds if not thousands per order, so everyone stays busy.”
The site can successfully complete so many orders due in part to the wide variety of capabilities its equipment provides as customers from the local base and beyond seek support.
“We have machines that will actually punch holes in the paper and then we can hand coil from there,” said Kertesz. “I also do scanning, and not just for Jacksonville – Texas and Norfolk also ship me stuff, so it can be time consuming.”
For Kertesz and the rest of her team, showing up to the site for work is more than just a way to collect a paycheck every two weeks. Daniel Troy, for example, has been a part of this team for 17 years and expressed not only his love for the job but also the joy of working with customers to take their visions and make them a reality.
“I love being creative and putting the digital product into a physical product,” said Troy, a visual information specialist. “I graduated from Florida A&M University with a bachelor’s in graphic arts, so this is my career, not just a job, and I love working for DLA.”