d skilled workers at the same place. Ultimately, outsourcing to China allows for an opportunity to penetrate into one of the world’s largest markets (I.E. China itself).

Major substitutes for Printronix’s products are laser printers and inkjet printers. The company cons

Outsourcing offshore to China works for Printronix, a company that for over 30 years has designed and manufactured a broad range of line matrix printers, ultra high frequency radio frequency identification (UHF-RFID) printers, thermal bar code label printers, and continuous forms laser printers. A market leader in the printing business, outsourcing allows Printronix a competitive cost advantage but also creates challenges in communication, lead times, and forecasting.

The company has been outsourcing since its inception, but they hadn’t done it heavily until 10 years ago. The increase in outsourcing is a direct result of market circumstances, since their competitors also outsource. They chose China as the main destination for their supplier base because cheap labor and supplies are readily available and because many of their suppliers have moved there. New suppliers are chosen via quality supplier surveys and pre-production pilot batches. ISO certification is preferred, but not required. China has been a fast growing market with “centers for excellence” offering abundant resources and skilled workers at the same place. Ultimately, outsourcing to China allows for an opportunity to penetrate into one of the world’s largest markets (I.E. China itself).

Major substitutes for Printronix’s products are laser printers and inkjet printers. The company consi

rms laser printers. A market leader in the printing business, outsourcing allows Printronix a competitive cost advantage but also creates challenges in communication, lead times, and forecasting.

The company has been outsourcing since its inception, but they hadn’t done it heavily until 10 years ago. The increase in outsourcing is a direct result of market circumstances, since their competitors also outsource. They chose China as the main destination for their supplier base because cheap labor and supplies are readily available and because many of their suppliers have moved there. New suppliers are chosen via quality supplier surveys and pre-production pilot batches. ISO certification is preferred, but not required. China has been a fast growing market with “centers for excellence” offering abundant resources and skilled workers at the same place. Ultimately, outsourcing to China allows for an opportunity to penetrate into one of the world’s largest markets (I.E. China itself).

Major substitutes for Printronix’s products are laser printers and inkjet printers. The company cons

it heavily until 10 years ago. The increase in outsourcing is a direct result of market circumstances, since their competitors also outsource. They chose China as the main destination for their supplier base because cheap labor and supplies are readily available and because many of their suppliers have moved there. New suppliers are chosen via quality supplier surveys and pre-production pilot batches. ISO certification is preferred, but not required. China has been a fast growing market with “centers for excellence” offering abundant resources and skilled workers at the same place. Ultimately, outsourcing to China allows for an opportunity to penetrate into one of the world’s largest markets (I.E. China itself).

Major substitutes for Printronix’s products are laser printers and inkjet printers. The company cons

many of their suppliers have moved there. New suppliers are chosen via quality supplier surveys and pre-production pilot batches. ISO certification is preferred, but not required. China has been a fast growing market with “centers for excellence” offering abundant resources and skilled workers at the same place. Ultimately, outsourcing to China allows for an opportunity to penetrate into one of the world’s largest markets (I.E. China itself).

Major substitutes for Printronix’s products are laser printers and inkjet printers. The company cons

d skilled workers at the same place. Ultimately, outsourcing to China allows for an opportunity to penetrate into one of the world’s largest markets (I.E. China itself).

Major substitutes for Printronix’s products are laser printers and inkjet printers. The company considers that the propriety ribbons for its impact printers are a core competency that gives the company its competitive edge. The quality of the ribbon is essential for Printronix to compete head on with laser printers.

At first they had outsourced the manufacturing of ribbons to China. However, design and quality issues and the long supply chain of these important products made Printronix choose to move it to Mexico to be closer to the Irvine headquarters, as well as the Americas market. The quality issues, both in product design and process quality, could be given more focus in Mexico and are now solved. Ribbon products can be produced directly to customer orders and shipped in a day or two instead of weeks.

Financially, the company faces tough challenges due to their heavy investment in RFID technologies. Printronix operates in many different countries and will hedge against currency fluctuations where appropriate. Furthermore, the bulk of their outsourcing is in China, and since China’s currency is pegged to the US dollar, they do not feel threatened by the currency fluctuati