1. Ontario Shared Services Forms, Print & Distribution Services
Presentation to Queen’s Printer Conference
June, 2014

2. Agenda Forms, Print & Distribution Services Branch
Publications Ontario Overview & Mandate
Overview of Ontario Gazette
Overview of our Print Services
In-House Print Services
Print Ordering & Logistics System (PAL)
Technology Challenges Ahead
Replacement of Publications Order Management System
Other Changes Impacting Queen’s Printer and PO
Open Government
Shift to Digital
Conclusion
Questions?
21/08/2019

3. Forms, Print & Distribution Services Branch
Offers a variety of enterprise-wide business services including:
Printing
Mass mailing
Forms & e-forms
Surplus assets management & e-waste
Distribution of forms and other products for ministries
Includes Publications Ontario, the Queen’s Printer
21/08/2019

4. Publications Ontario (PO) – Overview and Mandate
Queen’s Printer for Ontario (authority vested in DM of Government Services)
Publisher of Ontario Gazette, both online and hard copy
Administers Crown copyright on behalf of Ontario Government
Support for e-Laws and printing of statutes
Mandatory warehousing and distribution of public-facing publications
Ordering through 3 channels: web, phone and limited in-person, through ServiceOntario
Warehousing and distribution contracted to private sector
21/08/2019

5. Overview cont.
PO transferred from ServiceOntario to Ontario Shared Services (OSS) in April 2013
We still work through ServiceOntario for sales of publications, as they are the “retail arm” of government
Now that we are part of OSS-Forms, Print & Distribution Services Branch, there is an opportunity to capitalize on synergies between our areas
21/08/2019

6. Overview of Ontario Gazette
Exists in both print (official version) and on web since 2000
Coordination of content done in-house
Composition, printing and web edition are sent to an external vendor
21/08/2019

7. Overview of our Print Services
Largest print operation in Canada to receive FSC certification
Provides a full range of services including consultation, design, printing, bindery/finishing services
Operates 7 quick copy locations in Toronto with high speed black & white and colour copiers.
Contract manages forms printing as well as some commercial print services
Commercial print services to be made mandatory for ministries
Going to market in near future for vendors of record for commercial print
21/08/2019

8. In-house Print Operations
State of the art print and mass mailing equipment
Multiple high speed black & white and colour production printers
Recently procured 10 new black & white and 7 new colour, including 2 Xerox Nuvera 288’s, augmenting existing owned production equipment
In-line and off-line finishing equipment
Workload balance between print centres
21/08/2019

9. Print ordering & logistics system (PAL)
Deployed in the Print Shop, Mass Mailing area and the Distribution Centre.
Uses Avanti software
Provides an end-to-end solution for OPS clients:
Workflow allowing for direct ordering to a centralized order department or intake person
On-line submission of artwork
confirmation on submission of order
Print on demand, online ordering and secure custom catalogue
Comprehensive reporting available for inventory forecasting
Client order history and job status, including order tracking
Notification when job is completed including job cost summary
Repeat previous orders
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10. Technology challenges ahead
Integration of our new printing equipment with PAL
Planned within next six months
Upgrade of the Avanti platform
Vendor requires client to migrate in next 2-5 years to new cloud-based platform
Replacement of our legacy Publications ordering system
Need to address changing expectations for digital content
21/08/2019

11. Replacement of Publications Order Management System
Need to replace both our legacy back-end system and our e-commerce system
Likely to be a two-year project (or longer), with costs unknown at this time
Have done market research and identified number of companies who provide e-commerce/order management systems
Starting on business case with our IT department to look at options(e.g., build or buy) and costs
New system needs to support modern e-commerce and the trend in publishing and retail, including support for digital content and online subscriptions
21/08/2019

12. Other changes impacting Queen’s Printer and PO
Ontario Gazette website recently moved to Ontario.ca, a new centralized website where all government content will be housed.
Because of the change, had to make all editions of the Gazette going back to Jan. 1, 2012 accessible.
Over 6,000 pages were converted from regular PDF to accessible PDF.
E-Laws site also slated to move to Ontario.ca but technical challenges have delayed the move.
With ministry web sites migrating to Ontario.ca, has implications for publications.
Looking into impacts, how content will be structured and accessed.
21/08/2019

13. Open Government: To charge or not to charge
Debate going on inside government whether citizens should be charged for information provided on web
Has implications for Publications Ontario’s revenue stream, although about 85% of our publications are free
This issue will only become more pressing as trend to digital continues
The challenge will be funding infrastructure to support distribution of publications, in an environment of fiscal constraints and shrinking revenue.
21/08/2019

14. Shift to digital
PO has experienced steady decline in sales of print publications averaging about 10% a year
Still strong demand in some areas (e.g., Building Code, health & safety training)
More and more end users want digital content usable on mobile devices
Need to address demand for new formats
According to some experts, PDF format will be replaced by e-pub format
21/08/2019

15. Conclusion
Shift from print to digital and move to open government is changing citizens’ and business’ expectations of government service delivery.
Technology is also changing rapidly, including how IT applications and services are managed and delivered and how digital content is rendered.
At same time, fiscal constraints will put pressure on service providers to find more cost-effective ways of delivering services.
Government organizations need to be responsive to these trends and challenges and find ways to modernize and adapt.
21/08/2019

16. Questions?
21/08/2019