HEAD-TO-HEAD on outsourcing

摘要

As an exercise, I decided to take a random sample of office products' 'Made in' marks. The result was conclusive, China seems the place to be. Each of these products, from the fax machine to voice recorder, featured printed graphics. Regarding the printing industry, one can argue that the economics and logistics of the UK's low to medium volume, high value-added production will always prevent this type of business migrating such distances. However, as Europe expands, new low labour economies (just a modest lorry drive away) will be pushing hard to win new business in all areas of the screen and digital printing sectors. Yet, if the printing industry can mirror the other sectors that have pioneered the offshore outsourcing route there are benefits for all.