Strategy
Built to the RFP and Delivered on Time.
The Brief
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources manages outdoor recreation and conservation across the state, and its Licensing and Registration Service was preparing for an event where five hundred lanyards and whistles would go to attendees. The requirement arrived as a formal solicitation with the specification written out in full and a completed bid form due within four days. The lanyards had to be forest green and printed in white with the service name and two state web addresses, repeated as many times as the length allowed. The whistles had to be a bright neon color. A proof was required before any printing began, and every item had to reach the Annapolis office by a fixed date.
Our Approach
Since government solicitations have to be followed according to the solicitation terms, we were intentional about going line by line and making every decision align with those specifications.
Week 1
Read the specification line by line.
We answered the solicitation against each written requirement, the color, the print, the repetition, the proof and the delivery date, so the response matches the specifications exactly.
Weeks 1 and 2
Priced it with our manufacturing partner.
We worked with our manufacturing partner to source both items to the specifications, and priced them competitively without taking away from the quality the department required.
Week 2
Proved every detail before printing.
We issued the digital proof the day after the award, answered the department's question accordingly, and held written approval in hand before anything at all went to print.
Weeks 2 to 4
Delivered ahead of the required date.
We assembled every set, checked the finished goods against the approved proof, and delivered them to the department's Annapolis office well ahead of the required date.
Curation
Every Item Sourced to the Written Specification.
We curated the items according to the written requirements. The specification called for a bright neon whistle, and from the range available we recommended lime green, because it complements the forest green lanyard while still carrying the high visibility the department wanted. The lanyard was supplied at three-quarters of an inch wide and thirty-six inches long, matched to the Pantone specified for forest green and printed in white with the service name and both state web addresses repeating along its length. Every whistle was a working official's whistle, which is the standard a state agency expects of an item that goes out under its name.
Production
Approved on the First Proof.
The department required a proof before any printing began, and that requirement shaped our schedule. We issued the digital proof the day after the award, answered the department's question accordingly, and had written approval the same day, which released the order into production with the artwork already confirmed. The finished goods were checked against the approved proof before release, and again on arrival. Our team then attached each whistle to its lanyard, so every set left us complete.
The Standard
Each line of the solicitation was met as written, with nothing substituted.
Printed in white on one side, in the font the department set out.
Laid out so the service name and both web addresses stay readable when worn.
Checked against the approved proof before it reached the Annapolis office.
Experience
Delivered Early and Ready to Hand Out.
The items arrived at the department's Annapolis office thirteen days before the required date, with proof of delivery sent upon delivery. All items arrived assembled and ready to hand out during the department's scheduled event.