The National Australia Bank has agreed to build a co-operative working relationship with Printing Industries and Australian printers to help it meet its future print and communication needs. Printing Industries CEO, Philip Andersen, welcomes the move, which followed a meeting in Melbourne recently between the Association and NAB senior management.
The meeting was in response to industry concerns that the NAB was mandating the outsourcing of up to 50 per cent of its printing requirements to offshore printers.
Andersen says the NAB officials strongly reiterate the view that it was never their intention to exclude Australian companies from the tendering process or to mandate overseas production.
"The officials reaffirmed the NAB’s commitment to Australian suppliers and the local printing industry," he adds.
"They have told us that they want to continue developing relationships directly with Australian printing organisations. They consider this an important part of maintaining their customer / service provider link."
Andersen says the NAB had also agreed to work co-operatively with Printing Industries, as the peak organisation for the Australian printing industry, and industry companies directly to explore ways the industry could continue to fulfil the needs of NAB and other major corporations in the evolving print and communication areas.
"We welcome this decision and the confirmation that NAB will not mandate offshore sourced print in any future print tenders," he says.
"The NAB has also confirmed that any decisions on how the tender specifications would be met would be left to printing companies bidding for the work.
"They have emphasised that the bank wants to ensure it is able to take advantage of technical innovations, new services or service enhancement that may result from using Australian printing industry expertise. This may include logistic based solutions including inventory management and print and distribution services."
Andersen says he looks forward to formalising arrangements over coming weeks with the NAB progressing this to ensure Australian printing industry expertise and advice become established at the forefront of the bank’s print and communication strategy.
