Overseas Sourcing — China: A Limited Threat

“We came back to Canada with two conclusions,” Marcoux said. “That we would encounter increasing competition from China in some segments of our industry; and that the most vulnerable activity for Transcontinental is book printing, a segment that is part of our growth strategy.”

Not that China is without problems. Turnaround time is the greatest enemy facing the Chinese: Lead times are typically in the range of four weeks. Communications is an issue, along with service. And, as far as quality is concerned, some observers feel Chinese printing is, at times, severely lacking, while others fiercely defend the Chinese printed product as being superior.