DLA: The printing supercenter

Published May 14, 2012
By Staff Sgt. Courtney Richardson
4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- A few 4th Fighter Wing Airmen are learning a valuable lesson about the procedures they need to follow when purchasing printing services for their squadron with their government purchase cards.

The Defense Automated Printing Service, commonly known as DAPS, has transitioned to Defense Logistics Agency Document Services. DLA is a full-service document solutions provider that the Department of Defense has mandated for military printing use.

According to DOD Instruction 5330.0, "DLA serves as the DOD single manager for printing and high speed-volume duplicating, including both the operation of DOD in-house facilities and the procurement of these services outside the DOD."

"The use of the Government Purchase Card for printing, copying and binding services without obtaining a waiver authorizing the use of a commercial source from DLA prior to the work being performed, is considered an unauthorized purchase," said Erica Wilson, 4th Fighter Wing GPC program manager.

The consequence for not using DLA can greatly affect the card holder.

"If a cardholder makes an unauthorized purchase with the GPC, he or she may be held liable to the government for reimbursement of the total dollar amount of the unauthorized purchase," Wilson said.

Due to DOD-wide consolidations, there is no longer a DLA office on this installation. Members of Team Seymour must use the nearest DLA office, which is located on Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C.

"The printing services that we provide include booklets, programs, wide-format posters in color and black and white, CD productions and more," said Willie Jones, DLA Document Supervisor for North Carolina printing facilities.

Members of the DLA staff provide recommendations on the appropriate ink and paper, color and type, and cost effective binding solutions to the customer. They also ensure there are no advertisements on the documents and that permission was given for the reproduction of copyrighted materials.

There are multiple ways to get a product to the DLA office.

"You can send the files FEDEX or bring it to Fort Bragg. If there are enough customers we'll setup a pick-up and delivery services somewhere on Seymour Johnson," Jones said.

The preferred method and the easiest way for the customer to get their product to the DLA office is the online ordering site. The website allows the customer to register for an account, submit the job and attach funding for printing.

Products are typically returned to the customer in three to five days, depending on the size of their request.

"If we cannot get the product back to the customer by the time that they need it we will send the job to a contractor who will get your jobs back to you by the time of your event," Jones said.

When the DLA staff approves the use of a contractor they shops around to ensure the customer receives the best quality and price for their money, without any additional cost to the member.

"For printing and document services we are the best source for your mission requirements," Jones said.

For more information about DLA products and services, call (910) 396-6522 or visit at www.documentservices.dla.mil.