By: Fabiola Grosshan
Submitted: 2010-05-19 06:52:06 | Word Count: 386
The printing industry is one of the biggest commercial industries in the United States. It is estimated that domestic printers provide jobs for almost 1 million people nationwide: far more than the ubiquitous car industry, which employs less than 800,000 people. 1 million might seem like a huge number, but if you take some time to consider the nature of the printing industry in the U.S. and other developed countries, it makes sense. Our society is very much preoccupied with keeping records, and information is the most sought after commodity.
Everything from newspapers and tabloid magazines to t-shirt tags, car manuals and furniture assembly instructions is dependent on the printing industry somewhere along its manufacturing process. Like many other important industries in the U.S., though, the printing industry goes largely unnoticed by the public, and like many other industries, outsourcing for it has grown in recent years, mainly to countries like China.
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Why Outsource?
Things like package product printing and food printing are being more and more often outsourced to China. The obvious reason is the monetary savings that outsourcing offers. Companies can save over fifty percent on domestic printing costs by printing in China. But outsourcing one’s printing process offers other benefits as well.
Outsourcing and Centralizing Commercial Printing
Diversification works well when it comes to investments and income sources, but when it comes to business processes, outsourcing and centralization offer clear advantages. Business process outsourcing (BPO) is relatively new to the printing industry, but in recent years more and more corporate leaders have started jumping on board. Some of the more famous companies who’ve implemented an outsourcing model for their printing processes include Discovery Communication, BP Oil and AOL.
Whether you’re a large or medium-sized business, outsourcing your printing can offer a lot of benefits. For one thing, it completely shifts your production mentality. When you stop having to oversee your printing domestically, you tend to stop thinking about work on a project to project basis and switch to a philosophy of managing the big picture. If done well, BPO can help businesses consolidate their manufacturing processes faster, allowing them to deliver more cost effective services.
