NAS JACKSONVILLE, Fla –
DLA Document Services’ Southeast covers a wide footprint, providing critical printing and publishing solutions to military commands and DoD agencies allowing them to focus on their missions.
“We provide many different services with high-quality print-on-demand, copy and duplication, scanning, desktop publishing, mailing services, and even classified production,” said Tracey McCormack-Milic, Document Services’ Southeast operations manager. “Customers come to us for support so they can complete their missions.”
Much of that work comes to life at DLA’s facility at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla. where Document Services employees are expanding services and developing new ways to support their customer’s missions.
One of the most common request is for the binding of military training manuals, and that service will continue but, the Jacksonville team is expanding capabilities to keep pace with customer demand.
Production Supervisor Theresa Mauer, who oversees operations there, said they recently expanded large-format printing services. “We are really growing in that area with our two new machines,” Mauer said. “That’s becoming our strong point.”
The new large-format printer, in use for two months, allows staff to print directly onto materials such as acrylic, PVC, metal, glass and wood.
Coupled with a new flatbed cutter, added two weeks later, gives the facility the ability to cut custom shapes from those surfaces. Mauer said the technology upgrades are expected to increase efficiency by 87 percent, saving both time and labor costs.
Ryne Bustamante, lead production operations specialist, said the facilities newest additions are transforming what the Jacksonville team can offer their customers.
He said the new printer operates twice as fast as the older model it replaced and can print on nearly any surface up to three-quarters of an inch thick. This flexibility allows the team to create everything from temporary yard-style signs to large-scale outdoor displays, change-of-command boards and indoor decorative elements such as command insignia and leadership displays.
The flatbed cutter complements that capability by routing, cutting and drilling to exact specifications. Bustamante said it has already reduced production time on a large order from more than a day to just a few hours. “It’s increasing our capacity to take on more work and expands the type of work we can support,” he said.
He added that the new flatbed cutter could eventually produce custom packaging or inserts to protect sensitive gear in transit. “Right now, we’re just on the horizon of what we can do, and we’re learning new applications every day,” Bustamante said.