Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the effectiveness and efficiency of the management of Government Printing Office (GPO) production, procurement, customer service, accountability, and strategic planning activities.
GAO found that: (1) GPO insulation from competitive market forces created few real incentives to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations; (2) GPO passed its high labor and administrative costs on to customers; (3) GPO Central Office printing costs in fiscal year (FY) 1989 totalled about $150 million, as opposed to estimated commercial printer costs of $75 million; (4) GPO scheduled work during high-cost time on weekends, while idle time existed during the regular work week; (5) in FY 1989, GPO wasted 22 to 34 percent of the paper used, approximately 12 percent higher than private industry, at a cost of $7 million; (6) 6 out of 12 agency printers polled perceived GPO printing quality as lower than procured printing, and GPO sent an average of 26 jobs a month back to press, at a monthly cost of $45,000; (7) aging equipment, 84 percent of which was fully depreciated, adversely influenced production efficiency; (8) GPO production efficiency and quality management systems were weak, resulting in failure in meeting production efficiency goals; (9) GPO failed to validate contractor delivery performance; (10) quality-of-performance information necessary to operate a sound contracting system was not easily accessible; (11) GPO continued to award contracts to poor performers; (12) poor communication and a poor system for tracking and resolving complaints hampered customer service; and (13) the GPO Executive Information System (EIS) failed to provide useful information, easy access, and rapid response.
