Is Printing Offshore Really Cheaper?

You may be interested to learn whether printing offshore can really result in a cheaper job. Depending on the lead time you have available to get your job completed, printing offshore can often be a very viable and cheaper option than printing domestically.

Garry Barnett, director of Barney’s Print Management set up, with his wife some years ago, a representative office in China. They have people working in that office who have been trained in Australia, so they understand the expectations of the West. It is important that any work completed overseas is quality checked and reaches the standards expected by the West.

Barney’s gives you the option of whether you want the work completed domestically or printing offshore. If you decide on offshore, do you have the lead time? There are two lead times. Goods can be air freighted back to Australia, or they can be sea freighted which usually takes an extra three weeks, as it takes a week loading on at the port of origin and a week loading off.

A small parcel or carton takes about three days to arrive. Sometimes you may want to ask for a small shipment to be air freighted ahead of time so you can get the project underway.

There are a lot of things to do with offshore printing which Barney’s takes care of for you automatically. This includes taking care of customs, duties, the fluctuating exchange rates, picking the goods up and packing them for international shipping. When the goods arrive in Australia, Barney’s arrange for them to be delivered to your office.

The people in Barney’s team overseas are Chinese nationals, so they are fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. They can therefore trade with Barney’s and also trade with the local marketplace. They are able to speak to people in factories where no one speaks English. These factories are often very good factories, but are not usually accessible to foreigners because of the language barrier. Having access to such factories gives Barney’s the edge and can result in real cost savings for you the customer.

A thorough checking process of the work produced overseas is carried out. This involves Barney’s being sent photographs, samples and first books off the printing press. Random inspections throughout the job also occur to ensure the highest standards are maintained.

When you work with Barney’s printing offshore, all your expectations and deadlines are reached, every time. Trust you next printing job to Barney’s and give them a call today at 1300 663 812.