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In mid-January, show organizers for PrintChina 2011 hosted more than 40 journalists from around the world to raise awareness about the importance of PrintChina and to encourage foreign visitors to attend the show. WhatTheyThink represented North America at this event, which featured presentations from government, industry and supplier representatives as well as a visit to a Chinese printing factory. Interesting data, and some thoughts about the future of print in China. Read more.
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About Cary Sherburne
Cary Sherburne is a well-known author, journalist and marketing consultant whose practice is focused on marketing communications strategies for the printing and publishing industries.
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Discussion
By Margie Dana on Jan 30, 2011
Great coverage of this major global event, Cary! I look forward to more of your insights and certainly more info about PrintChina 2011. Have to assume you'll be there.
By Clint Bolte on Jan 31, 2011
The Chinese government imperative for several decades has been to provide manufacturing jobs particularly for the agrinimous population of the northern provinces.
From a printing application perspective this means running ancient equipment typically demanding a pressman per printing unit or a feeder per pocket on gathering machines, etc. As printers upgraded to used equipment, overwhelmingly European and definitely not Japanese, particularly for process color printing, manning was rarely reduced.
CTF and CTP helped these 1980s and 1990s presses to maintain some symbolence of quality, but again the only labor savings was in strippers.
The Chinese Printing Association(s) can point out many "modern" printing plants that belie the labor intensive tradition that I describe.
The reality is that this tradition of "over manning" will be difficult to break despite advancements in technology. And since the overwhelming market is China, it sounds like increasing volumes will be able to fill idle, languishing over capacity plants.
China will be an interesting maturation