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Printing in China 2222 Responses
Last post: 1 year, 9 months ago | Thread started: Feb 13, 10, 12:11 p.m.
- gramme
I've got a client in Beijing who wants to save money by printing a project over there. This is new territory for me. I need a print broker, preferably in China, who speaks English fluently and can act as my proxy at a press check. I also need help in writing specs, since I know absolutely nothing about Asian paper brands. Given their budget, flying to China is not an option at this point.
it's a stationery project, pretty straightforward litho job but I want a decent vellum sheet, comparable to say a Finch Opaque or Mohawk Options, and someone who can make sure color and registration is correct. I just have no idea how to start looking for vendors.
Anyone got a broker over there? Much obliged...
- Feb 13, 10, 12:11 p.m. – Permalink
- luckyorphan
When I get back to the office on Monday, I'll try to get some names. If you don't hear from me by EOD Monday, please email me a reminder.
That being said, I've had some considerable difficulty getting a good product from overseas on my own. They often show a sample on good stock, then go to print on a cheaper version. However, if you have a good broker (I'm not sure if we've got one yet), they can hold the printer to their word.
Now that I'm at a huge company, they are more careful about meeting our standards, but don't even get me started on packaging and shipping standards.
Your work is strong, and I can tell you have an eye for quality. That will always be tricky when printing overseas.
- Dog-earFeb 13, 10, 2:23 p.m. – Permalink
- e-pill
hey gramme, cant you get Jevad to be your merchandizer?? he is in Hong Kong.. you should make a deal with him.. or see if he can help you find a person in China who can be your liaison between you and the factory. i also emailed a bunch of friends in Taipei/ Hong Kong for you asking if they want to be a merchandizer for you .. not sure if it will pan out but lets see.. what imean is its their new years now, so i highly doubt i will get any responses for all of february.. as most anyone i know is on their holiday over there.
- Dog-earFeb 13, 10, 5:04 p.m. – Permalink
- gramme
Haha, yes China is outsourcing to me. :) They need a westerner's approach for this project (according to them). If all goes well, it'll actually be pretty cool portfolio stuff, based on what I know about their business.
Thanks for the info luckyorphan. Five years ago I had an in-house gig and often had to print overseas, but they had offices in Taiwan and had someone doing press checks. Even then though, getting quality was really tough. I know there are some good printers in Hong Kong... might check there. At least shipping from there to Beijing will be cheaper than from St. Louis.
That's a good idea about Jevad, e-pill. I think I'll shoot him a note on Monday. I forgot he's over there.
Thanks guise :)
- Dog-earFeb 13, 10, 6:11 p.m. – Permalink
- luckyorphan
^ No sweat, gramme.
Quick story: We're in the middle of a total packaging design overhaul because our overseas vendors can't get their shit together. We require that our boxes be shrink-wrapped with slip sheets and placed on either plastic or fumigated wood palettes.
What did we get recently? Loose boxes with no shrink wrap or slip sheets, stacked and packed tightly, and directly in the container. Each set is on a thin piece of corrugate that is pushed into the container by a forklift (in order to get more per container, we're told).
Thus, when they finally arrive state-side – or worse, in Europe – they have spent weeks at sea rubbing up against each other. Most boxes emerged from a recent shipment with barely visible product images, and text that was largely missing from the box. We had to re-print and package all boxes at the destination cities.
We fired that broker, and are giving that vendor (one of three that service us at the moment) one more try to make it right. Good times.
- Dog-earFeb 13, 10, 8:37 p.m. – Permalink
- __TM
always check what software they use. It's not uncommon for chinese printers to not have a copy of indesign. A friend of mine ended up converting a 200 page book to individual illustrator (CS1) files, page by page as the chinese printer didn't have indesign and couldn't handle hires PDFs... different standards over there.
- Dog-earFeb 13, 10, 8:42 p.m. – Permalink
- ephix
In general, it will be easier to find a fluent speaking person in Hong Kong. Here's the contact we used a lot there. Wing Yat Printing Company Limited
They were mostly great and didn't have any problems communicating with them either. They made an error once but did a total re-print at their cost - about 10,000 pieces, foil, emboss, spot colour.
- Dog-earFeb 13, 10, 10:47 p.m. – Permalink
- gramme
Still no luck in finding a stationery printer in Hong Kong who speaks fluent English. Getting down to the wire here. I tried ephix's contact, they emailed me back right away but seemed to be confused about where the stationery was being shipped. They said the cost of shipping could be 2–3x the cost of printing. I reminded them this isn't coming to me in the States, it's going to my client in Beijing. I can't fathom why it would actually be so expensive to ship within China.
I tried getting in touch with Wren Press, since they have locations in both the UK and Hong Kong and seem to do high-quality stuff. Judging by their website though, they still think it's 1897. No response.
Anyone else got a resource? I'm borderline desperate. I tried picking Jevad's brain, and the guy must be extremely busy. I really don't want to just hand files over to the client and say "good luck finding a printer on your own. In Beijing."
- Dog-earApr 28, 10, 3:32 p.m. – Permalink
- MrMackem
years ago when i worked in the muddy world of inhouse, the company i worked for wanted to save money on the printing of the annual 400page plus product catolouge, we looked at printing in China, but difference in paper weights and printing techniques and the logistics of getting thousands and thousands shipped over proved to be a nightmare.
Mind you that was in 2005.
Oh and we couldn't find a reputable english / chinese speaking print broker / person either.
- Dog-earApr 28, 10, 3:40 p.m. – Permalink
