Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Five years ago today, on March 17, 2020, the managers of DPPS gathered all of the employees together in the shipping area and told them we were pausing operations due to the COVID pandemic. At that moment, none of us had any idea what was to come, and none of us would have been right if we thought we knew.

Shortly thereafter, we started producing signs and stickers all over campus saying “wash hands” and “keep 6′ away” so that those who still had to be here as essential employees could operate safely. We also started making PPE products for the hospital, including face shields and mask fitters.

As luck would have it, everything worked out for DPPS: We got through a rough patch by pivoting and being innovative, we grew back to above previous revenue numbers over time and later moved to our new facility to expand and grow even more as a group.

So where do you see yourself in five years? No idea. But the future looks bright at DPPS.

To revisit the journey of us pivoting to PPE production, check out this article from the UW archives: https://it.wisc.edu/news/a-printing-production-pivot-dpps-makes-face-shields-for-uw-health/

Staff member Linda Vonallmen fabricates custom-made medical face shields – also known as personal protective equipment or PPE – at the Division of Information Technology’s Digital Publishing and Printing Services (DPPS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on April 2, 2020. Several DPPS staff at the group’s main production center are manufacturing nearly 1,000 face shields per day and delivering to UW Health for use by staff caring for COVID-19 patients infected during the global coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Jeff Miller / UW-Madison)