Archives for September 2018

Could Contract Packaging Optimise your Manufacturing Process?

When you operate a manufacturing business, you are always looking to optimise your processes, save money or make cost savings and ensure productivity is at its highest. Sometimes, this is best achieved by working with other companies to outsource parts of the process and one example of this is contract packaging.

What is contract packaging?

When you use contract packaging, you work with another company who takes the products that you make and packages them in a suitable way.  Examples of the kind of packaging you can use include clamshell and blister packaging, shrink and sleeve wrapping and also eco-friendly packaging options.

In addition to the packaging, companies can often add display units and other options to help display the products when they arrive at the seller.  This can include free standing display units, pop-up displays and banner stands.

How this optimises your process

The main way that this can optimise your process is that your business doesn’t need to have the equipment and supplies to make the packaging in-house.  This means no capital outlay to get the equipment or staff costs to run it.  You can simply pay the contract packaging company to handle it for you.

Additionally, this not only saves space and money, it also means staff aren’t required to switch between tasks, increasing their productivity and ensuring that they can concentrate wholly on their primary task.  You can ensure that the most important processes are carried out in the business, ensuring all products are to the highest standard and then send them to be packaged to a similar high standard.

Finally, you don’t need to worry about compliance and regulatory issues around the packaging as an expert company can tackle this for you.  Instead, you can focus on your own compliance issues and ensure your company runs smoothly and efficiently.

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5 Benefits of Outsourcing to Product Packaging Companies

Outsourcing is a big trend for businesses – it has a huge list of benefits and few negatives when you partner with good partners.  Product packaging companies are a perfect example of this kind of partner – they can take on the packaging needs of your company. But what are the benefits of using product packaging companies that make it such a good option?

  1. Reduce your operational costs

When you have to manufacture a product, you need a certain amount of space.  When you need to manufacture and package the product, you need as much as double space.  However, when you outsource this is to a product packaging company, you can cut down on the space needed for that process.  This can either save costs on the size of the unit you require or mean you can produce more than one item in the space.

The other cost-saving comes from the cost of labour to package the products.  Again, you can either save the cost of the wages for packaging staff or you can use those staff to work on another line or product to broaden your company’s range.

  1. Focus on your core business

Alongside the cost benefits, there is the benefit to the workload in your business.  Staff can concentrate on the central processes you require and not have to also learn about packaging.  Add to that is the fact you can often partner with a packaging company that offers other services such as creating free-standing display units or banner stands, meaning you can easily have your products packaged and displayed, ready for the seller to immediately handle.

  1. Increase staff productivity

Whether you call it job switching, multi-tasking or anything else, moving from one task to an entirely different one all of the time saps productivity.  People have to readjust to go from operating manufacturing machinery to packaging and back again, leading to lower productivity levels. By outsourcing the packaging, your staff can concentrate on the one task and therefore you will usually see an increase in staff productivity.

  1. Fewer compliance concerns

Each additional piece of equipment, process or procedure comes with its own compliance issues.  Therefore by reducing how many of these you have in your business, you can reduce the number of things you need to be compliant with.  Additionally, packaging specialists will have a handle on their relevant compliance issues, so you can be certain they comply with relevant British Standards or other regulatory definitions.

  1. Preserve your capital

Buying packaging equipment costs money and this dents the capital that you have in your business or means you need to take a loan or other finance.  However, if you outsource this, the monthly cost of the service becomes a business expense and you don’t have to worry about using your capital to buy equipment – you simply pay the contract packing company to handle it for you.

Get the right partner

It is important to get the right partner when you outsource anything.  You want a company who can handle the processes that you require, has a great customer service system and have plenty of experience in the area.  Look for companies who can offer a range of packaging options that suit your needs and also those additional extras such as free-standing display units.

You may also want to look for companies who are the cutting edge of what they do, which often involves using less plastic and having an eco-friendlier approach.  Also, consider the customer experience with easy to open packaging that is still theft proof. This offers a great experience for your seller and customer which reflects positively on your company.