Packaging supplies procurement is one of the most complex processes. As long as you are not involved with packaging supplies procurement processes, you will not know what we are talking about and you might even think that it is an exaggerated statement. However if you have gone through the packaging supplies procurement cycle at least once then you will immediately be able to associate what we are talking about here.
The most crucial aspect of the entire sourcing process is initial screening. You would be required to purchase a variety of packaging supplies ranging from fire retardant corrugated boxes to polybags depending on the nature of the products you need to package and ship.
As soon as you understand your requirements fully after careful review of your shipping process and the journey of your product from the moment it leaves your factory to the moment it reaches the hands of the customers, you need to start scouting for wholesale shipping supplies companies. You will come across a wide variety of suppliers. Some of them will be sourcing from the manufacturers and reselling them to customers like you. Others would be direct distributors or l sealer machine manufacturers that sell directly to their customers. The ideal scenario would be to source directly from the manufacturers. You may not be able to purchase from all the manufacturers directly even if they sell to end users directly because of minimum order quantity requirements. All the manufacturers and wholesale suppliers of packaging supplies will have their own MOQ or minimum order quantity requirements. Only when you meet those requirements you will be able to obtain a quote.
If you meet the MOQ requirements then the next step in the screening process is to establish whether your suppliers enjoy good reputation in the industry. Your manufacturers should offer the widest range of products so that you are not required to deal with multiple suppliers.
Few other finer details should be addressed here. For example, if you are looking for custom packaging supplies your manufacturer should be able to deliver to your specifications. Secondly, they should have fast turnaround time so that your orders are delivered fast without undue delays. Your supplier should be flexible when it comes to meeting your requirements.
It is important to understand the turnaround times of your manufacturer because your ordering schedule will depend on their turnaround time and the lead-time that they require for each product.
Scalability factors too need to be addressed when you are trying to source your packaging supplies. Will your manufacturer be able to scale up as your requirements increase? This is important because you do not want to look for a totally new supplier when you have worked hard to identify a good supplier with whom you have established good working relationship just because your supplier is not able to scale up to your requirements either because they are too busy with other customers or because they do not simply have the required capabilities.
