The printing industry has characteristics similar to both manufacturing and services industries. Like a manufacturer, printers produce tangible goods but as a service, the product is often highly customized requiring co-production by customer and printer. Offshore printing ensures a lower cost of production. Is offshore printing really better than onshore one?
What is offshore printing?
In the field of industry, there are two types of printing processes, they are onshore printing and offshore/overseas printing. Onshore printing means the printing process executes inside the country.
On the other side, offshore printing uses printing services from another country. The country may vary, from Asia to America, since many countries have developed this type of printing nowadays.
Benefits of Offshore Printing
The reality is though – printing offshore requires experience. The advancements in warehousing, distribution, shipping logistics and the print technology all are providing businesses with real cost savings for any large scale printing jobs.
Here are some vital benefits of offshore printing:
Lowest available pricing
If you are ramping up for a large printing job, getting the most competitive pricing can make or break an entire project. One of the primary reasons why companies print offshore is because of the savings in cost that they will generate compared to printing locally.
For most companies, this is important because it trims their overheads. In some cases entrepreneurs also see this as an opportunity to add more elements to the design such as a fifth or sixth colour or using a higher quality paper.
The labor cost is also another thing that makes offshore printing will be cheaper than onshore. Take an example of printing in Australia/USA, or any other first world country. The labor cost is pretty high, meanwhile there are some countries with lower labor cost, such as Indonesia. The lower cost for labor will effect to the printing job cost as well while still maintaining the same quality.
Printing Quality
Many business owner have a thought that the lowest cost will result in the printing job quality. Is that true? Absolutely not. As we already discussed above, some countries cost lower price for printing job might be because of the low cost of labor and material. These factors will automatically reduce the production cost of a job.
Weakness of Offshore Printing
Shipping Cost
Executing printing job offshore will give you lower cost, yet you have to consider about the shipping as well. Shipping products between countries are known as a bit pricey, since the products mostly will be delivered through air shipping.
To encounter this problem, it is better to do printing job in a large quantity. In this way, the shipping cost will be fit with the product quantity.
Delivery Process Time
Beside the shipping cost, consider also about the delivery process time. Since it sends between countries, the duration for offshore printing job will be longer than the onshore.
While the onshore printing job may take 2-7 days for delivery, the offshore may take around 7-14 days for shipping and delivering the printing job.
Communication
When you decide to use offshore printing, have a research and finding abut the printing service with good communication or customer service. This is important because a good and responsible communication will raise the trust between the printing service and the business owner.
Find a printing service which its customer service communicate well in more than language. At least they can communicate in English, this will minimize the misscommunication.
Finding Qualified Offshore Print Service
Now the question is how to find quality offshore printing service? Just the same as finding the best printing partner for your business, here are some added information that you need to tick before going on to proceed.
• Look for a reputable print provider. Find a reputable company that has direct contact with offshore print companies that can offer you high quality printing. Make sure that your print provider can meet your expectations and standard of print work. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to know that a quality print provider will ensure you job is completed without any hassles.
• Be in constant communication with your print provider. Communicate your vision for your print job as well as the specific details that you want included in the project. Simply submitting a design won’t cut it. The paper quality, exact colours and sizes are just some of the details that your print provider needs to know. An experienced print provider will set your mind at ease.
Payment method availability. You have to consider also the payment method. Since this is between countries, some printing companies may not have various options for payment methods. Find a printing company that has many payment method options. You may be lucky to find one that is open for your local bank payment. This payment method surely will reduce the money transfer fee between countries.
Responsiveness of Offshore Printing Services
One of the major hesitations businesses have with offshoring their printing is that they may not be able to work effectively with a print service provider all the way on the other side of the world in some other part of the world. Your print service provider’s responsiveness is vital for the success of your print job. This is why working with a company and representatives that you can trust is important.
• Experienced print management. A print management company that knows all the processes involved in printing. If this is your first offshore printing job, you need an experienced print management company who will guide you through all the steps in offshore printing. Your print management company will be able to lay out the answers to every one of your questions such as price, design and timetables, quality, deliverables and more.
• Customer service. Good customer service should start right from the initial contact all the way through to the delivery and aftercare of your products. Good customer service will help you maximize your offshore printing, saving you both time and money. This means that your printing provider or print management company has the experience to go between you and the offshore print companies.
Where to Find Offshore Printing in Indonesia
Some cities in Indonesia has capabilities to execute offshore printing recently. In Bali, MK Printing comes with the capabilities of high quality printing, excellent customer service, as well as responsible shipping logistic.
We’ve been working with worldwide clients since 2003 and still counting. As a result, you are provided with the peace of mind because your printing job is in safe hands.
Why MK Printing?
- We’ve been working with worldwide clients since 2003, and currently on-going partnership with international brands.
- We have and currently still sending our products to 100+ countries.
- We use FEDEX for worldwide shipping with tracking features and more safe. We’ve never received any complaints regarding our shipment.
- We are always learning especially in communication as we are working with international clients. We make sure the best communication for both sides. And of-course, fast responds on working hours.
- Last but not least, we have various payment methods to accommodate all clients from all around the world. Bank transfer, Western Union, and more. Just talk to us and we’ll find the solution together.