TrendWatch GA has been tracking offshoring as part of its surveys for some time now. With offshoring having become such a hot-button issue in the commercial printing and publishing industries these days, we also added a detailed set of questions to our most recent Printing, Design & Production, and Publishing surveys in an attempt to get a sense of what is really going on. Our most recent report, Offshore Printing: The Market for Overseas Print Providers, released in August, sets the record straight regarding the state of offshoring.

"Offshoring" means print production outsourced to overseas print providers located outside North America, typically China, India, and other Asian and African nations. Offshoring does not include print providers in other North American countries.

When TrendWatch GA says "offshoring," what we mean is print production outsourced to overseas print providers. Geographically, we are talking about providers located outside North America, typically China, India, and other Asian and African nations. The discussion of offshoring in the context of the printing industry does not include print providers in other North American countries.