As part of its planning for the anticipated increase in demand, HMPO engaged with suppliers to bolster its stock of passport books as well as its ability to deliver completed passports to customers. It also shared information and demand forecasts with suppliers to help them prepare. Despite this, a number still faced performance issues when demand for services increased significantly. Thales, which prints passports, Sopra Steria Ltd., which registers, processes, and stores supporting documents, and Teleperformance, which is responsible for the customer support telephone line, all struggled at times.30