Five critical aspects to consider when selecting a Packaging Partner

September 16, 2021

Whether you are starting your new business or want to cut down some costs in an existing one, or increase your sales by offering something unique and unusually more attractive to your customer, packaging, and labeling is a major contributor. You might want to pick up a packaging partner, manufacturer, or sourcing house, who understands the nuances of optimization transportation costs, quality of graphics and material and process finishing, and is able to deliver cost-effective packaging solutions.

When hiring, if forced to choose between virtue and talent, choose virtue. -- Charles Koch, CEO, Koch Industries The same holds for your packaging partner

Imagine - 77% of consumers think packaging should and does reflect the environmental values of the business they purchased from. So it translates essentially to the partner you pick. So here are Five critical aspects to consider when selecting a Packaging Partner

1. Infrastructure:

your packaging partner should have sufficient printing, post-press equipment - purchasers often look at the quality of equipment - top-notch, world-class, but forget to question the quantity. Quantity of lines is essential to avoid supply chain disruption during breakdown of 1 line. Take PRPL for example - we have the following infrastructure spread in over 9 acres of land - with ample space available for future expansion based on clients' demand.

2. Industry experience:

The first mover always has an advantage. They can always be outrun by those who execute better - but in terms of industry experience, technical expertise - if you had to choose between two industries with similar quality consciousness, I would recommend you go for the one who has more experience- but a young team. Take PRPL for instance, despite 30+ years of experience in packaging industry - our average age of 400 employees is 30 years. that means we ensure adequate rotation and induction of energetic young employees while ensuring our experienced team is there to guide them

3. Consolidation:

Packaging is a vast line - you have primary packaging, which may be of plastic or poly film or a food protective composite multilyaer structure, then there is secondary packaging - which is there to display information for customer and ease out handling, and finally, there is tertiary packaging - 3 ply, 5 ply or 7 ply corrugated fluted cartons as master cartons to ship multiples of your product or wood or steel packaging. Now imagine having 100s of SKUs with different sizes and following up with multiple vendors to provide you these. Wouldn't it be better to have a single one-stop source - which can provide you a consolidated supply? PRPL does exactly the same - offering mono cartons, lmaitube,s rigid boxes, corrugated csrtons, labels, paper bags, etc, and whatnot. Even if we don't manufacture a certain item, we have an exhaustive network of 500+ vendors in the packaging space and we can connect them to you / give quote accordingly"

4. Innovation:

Lets' face it, packaging innovation is a continual process. You can experiment with anything - graphics, structure, material, process, user unboxing experience - and come up with 1000s of permutations. But how easy is it for you to hire a full-time designer and experiment with these? Imagine having a packaging vendor who can offer you a whole library you can pick and choose from? PRPack has already 370+ innovative solutions in library master bank - you can choose from, and an in-house design studio where you just let us know your market segmentation and design brief and we develop the packaging from scratch.

5. Proactive:

Any packaging vendor would be proactive in communication and supply. And however you try to do it culturally, it only comes through systems. When an organization maps the turnaround time of replies to customers, adequate information provision, audits random CRM checks, and you have a detailed escalation matrix- only then a true responsive relationship is established between client and supplier. PRPL has set up unique flow chart monitoring systems linked to individual KPIs that do this trick, where the team is proactive in communication and very enthusiastic to deliver your orders on time."

So, remember these 5 critical aspects when selecting a packaging partner, overseas or domestic. If you want us to give a quote, send a free sample, or give you a free design consultation - reach out to us at contact@prpack.net