Yesterday, ProPrint reported that speakers at a meeting of Victorian public sector print buyers and approved suppliers to print manager Finsbury Green had said the new approach would be more transparent.

When questioned by ProPrint this morning, Finsbury Green made it clear that presentations at the meeting centred on the new model and were not intended to cast judgement on previous supplier Stream Solutions.

However, Stream has questioned the use of the word “transparency” to compare the two different print management models.

Stream Solutions general manager Clive Steele (pictured) told ProPrint: “We qualified printers based on quality and capability, then our system was that the lowest price wins. There was no bias: it maximised the lowest price for the Victorian government.”

He added that the model has been adopted by leading corporates across Australia as well as the Federal government.

One of the changes to the Victorian government model is that departmental buyers can now choose to source print from a specific supplier, regardless of price.

Steele said the Stream model was designed to avoid “subjective decision making”, which he said could lead to higher costs.

“Our model ensures that every printer has a fair chance to win business no matter who they are. It lets small printers beat big printers,” said Steele.

He also highlighted Stream’s treatment of its suppliers. He said that Stream was very proud of the fact that “we had more than 110 printers service us in the last 12 months of the contract, of which 8% were regional country Victorian printers”.

Finsbury Green announced it had won the $15m public sector contract in late March. Stream had supplied the Victorian government since 2007.

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter