Strategic Sourcing Contract Targets Printers, Copiers Five small businesses and six large ones are at the forefront of an effort to change the way the government produces its most conspicuous product: words on paper. GSA has awarded blanket purchase agreements for printers and copiers to the 11 contractors (see below) in a strategic sourcing initiative. The BPAs will offer lower prices than those currently available to the government. Officials say agencies could save $600 million in four years by reducing the cost of printing, copying, scanning and faxing. “For too long, the government has purchased as if it were hundreds of medium-sized businesses, rather than the world’s largest purchaser,” said Dan Gordon, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. “With this initiative, we are pushing agencies to work together and leverage their spending to reduce costs and improve performance as part of the Campaign to Cut Waste.” The bulk of the anticipated savings, about $330 million, depends on changing federal employees’ behavior. GSA will launch a “PrintWise” campaign this fall. Agencies will be instructed to remove personal desktop printers, print in black-and-white instead of color, use double-sided printing, print in draft mode and choose more efficient fonts. GSA will distribute a set of guidelines called Seven Steps to Lowering Print Costs. The contractors are: *ABM Federal, a service-disabled veteran-owned business; *ASE Direct, an SDV; *Cannon IV, a small business; *Canon USA; *CTI, a small disadvantaged woman-owned firm; *Konica Minolta; *Lexmark; *PrinTree, a small business; *Ricoh; *Sharp; and *Xerox.