For a lot of people, getting packaging supplies in our current climate is different even than it was five years ago. Because of a lot of bad supply chains, the disruption of the oil industries and businesses struggling to figure out what to do, it’s getting more and more complex. The stressors of this are forcing people to rethink how they’re sourcing the packaging supplies that they have, both internationally along with domestically. What are the benefits of this though? Is it the right move? How can it impact your supplies and getting this?
The protocols today for onshoring
Onshoring has changed in the last ten years, with more companies looking to purchase more affordable types of supplies for packaging, and you want something that’s as affordable as they can. Most companies will buy from suppliers overseas noticed that they have a lot cheaper prices, and those which are kept at a warehouse are also something important.
Companies are looking to buy more American-made and local products, and they also want to supplement this with Chinese purchases. Right now though, there is a 25% increase on different tariffs which are imposed in China, and this is something that they’re looking to bring back to America. This is because of the lack of access to packaging supplies, compounded by disruptions of your supply chain, larger and higher shipping, different delays, and other problems that are there.
A lot of packaging supply access, along with supply chain issues have created disruptions. Plus, with the trucker protests, the backlog from the pandemic, supply chains are a mess which is why keeping everything closer to home matters.
You should make sure that you have inventory stocked for client demand, and there are new offshoring protocols there too. You can also get inventory, put it in warehousing, and then, supplement it with overseas imports. You will eventually pay more for premium if you bring this over, and it’s something that a lot of businesses need to look at. While the tariff price may not be much, this does add up.
Leads for Supplies
Another thing to look at as well is the lead times for supplies. If you’re changing the process to get it to meet certain levels, longer lead times will destroy your business. So understanding the lead times for both international and domestic supplies is vital. Those that are made of paper, plastic, cardboard, or other materials also come with larger lead times, especially in our current world.
Lead times for packaging can be anywhere form a couple weeks to almost a year, so you should definitely keep that in mind with packaging supplies.
Dependability of Manufacturers
Another thing, is you want manufacturers which are dependable. Some countries are shut down still, and there are many scrambling to catch up. There were even places where container ships weren’t there. It’s important to make sure that you’re not buying from limited areas. As things start to tighten up, you have to factor in the population, how reliable it is, and also, what you need to look at as well for product needs, and how long this will take to get to point A to the customer.
You also need to understand that this is something that you might not get from everyone either. The cost of this is a major factor that domes with this, and you need to understand costs as they’re related to businesses, so factor all of this in when you’re looking to change your suppliers, to fit the ever-changing supply chain out there.
