For a start-up brand or the person in charge of packaging and purchasing for the first time, choosing a suitable packaging company is often full of challenges: price, quality, delivery date, and environmental protection requirements. If any link is ignored, it may affect the product listing.

As an expert in the field of flexible packaging, MTPAK has summarized a set of effective selection methods based on years of service experience to help novice purchasers avoid stepping into the pit.

So, from which aspects should we select the packaging companies that meet our own needs? The following is a detailed introduction for you.

Step 1: Do you understand the real needs of the brand?

In many cases, it may just be an unclear task assigned by the boss. As a purchaser, you need to know the needs of your own brand before choosing a packaging company. The most suitable supplier can be selected only after the requirements are defined.

First, determine your product attributes and target market. Is it food, drink, or other products? Is the sales market mainly concentrated locally or globally, or in a specific region? Whether there are specific environmental requirements, such as degradable or recyclable, that determine your requirements for packaging materials, processes, and compliance.

Different products require different types of packaging. If carton packaging is required, it is generally used for transportation packaging of daily consumer goods, electronic products, etc., which is widely used because of its low cost and strong printability; If plastic packaging is needed, such as food packaging bags, cosmetic containers, etc., it has good flexibility and barrier; Or it needs metal packaging, which is suitable for high-end products, beverage cans, etc., showing the characteristics of durability and high texture. Or your product needs special packaging, such as shockproof packaging of fragile products, fresh-keeping packaging of food, etc. Defining the packaging type is the first step in screening packaging companies.

Second, estimate the amount of packaging you need. If it is a small batch customization demand, such as the pre launch trial packaging of new products, it may pay more attention to the flexibility of the packaging company and the ability to accept small orders; For long-term and large-scale packaging procurement, such as the daily packaging needs of large chain enterprises, the production scale and capacity of packaging companies are the key factors to be considered.

Then, according to the demand, make a reasonable packaging budget. This step sets the general direction of procurement, but it should be noted that the lower the price, the better. Too low a price may mean poor packaging quality, and the cost may be increased due to product damage, re-packaging, and other problems in the later stage. Within the budget, we should comprehensively consider factors such as packaging quality and service, and look for packaging companies with high cost performance.

Step 2: How to filter suppliers?

Once the requirements are defined, the next step is to select a supplier. During the selection process, it is important to pay attention to the following key factors.

Compliance and certification are the most important, especially if your packaging will come into direct contact with food or drink, and ensure that the supplier has food contact certification. In addition, environmental protection certification is also important. You can choose a packaging company with FSC/PEF certified paper, or use environmental protection materials that comply with ISO 9001/14001.

A suitable packaging company should be able to provide a variety of packaging materials and processing technologies, and provide solutions according to your needs. In addition, learn about the delivery date of suppliers in advance to see whether they can meet your production and logistics needs. For novice brands, flexible small batch orders can reduce inventory pressure and test the market in advance. If suppliers can provide small batch customization services, they can be listed in the candidate list.

Step 3: What should be paid attention to when evaluating the capability of a packaging company?

After selecting several potential suppliers, we need to compare and evaluate their actual capabilities.

Advanced production equipment is the basis for ensuring packaging quality and efficiency. An excellent packaging company should be equipped with high-precision printing equipment and automatic forming equipment to meet the needs of different packaging processes. For example, companies with digital printing equipment can achieve more complex and exquisite pattern printing; With advanced die-cutting technology, they can produce various unique shapes of packaging.

In addition, it is also necessary to determine whether the packaging company has the ability to accept your orders by understanding the plant area, the number of production lines, and the number of employees. Large-scale production facilities mean higher production capacity, which can ensure that large quantities of orders can be completed within the specified time and avoid delivery delays due to insufficient production capacity.

Most importantly, check whether the packaging company has a relevant quality system certification, such as ISO 9001 quality management system certification. This is an authoritative recognition of its quality management ability, indicating that the company has strict standards and processes in raw material procurement, production process monitoring, finished product inspection, and other links.

In fact, asking for samples from the packaging company and carefully checking the packaging materials, printing clarity, and workmanship can help directly understand the real situation. For example, whether the thickness of the paper meets the standard, whether the ink has a peculiar smell, whether the seal of the package is firm, etc. Through the inspection of samples, we can intuitively understand the product quality level.

In order to avoid quality problems, it is also necessary to ask the packaging company how to deal with after-sales problems, such as quality issues. A responsible company should establish a sound quality feedback mechanism, respond quickly to quality problems, actively communicate with customers, and take effective remedial measures, such as return and replacement, rework, etc.

An excellent supplier can not only meet the demand of one order, but also provide more customized services in the future market expansion. You can ask about the cooperation cases of packaging companies, especially the cooperation experience with enterprises in the same industry or of a similar scale. Rich industry cooperation cases show that the company has a deep understanding of the packaging needs of different products and can provide targeted solutions.

At the same time, successful cooperation cases also prove the strength and credibility of the company. You can ask the packaging company to provide the contact information of relevant customers for further understanding and verification.

Next step

For novice purchasers, choosing a suitable professional packaging company requires comprehensive consideration of various factors. Through the above steps, novice purchasers can determine their needs, select suppliers, and then evaluate their capabilities, and finally make appropriate choices for packaging companies.

As a flexible packaging customization expert, MTPAK is committed to providing brand customers with sustainable, compliant, and efficient flexible packaging solutions by virtue of professional material selection, accurate printing process, and flexible production delivery time.

If you want to know more about our case regarding flexible packaging customization service, please contact MTPAK in the following way to obtain relevant information, or you can customize samples or inquire about quotations.

Email: account@mtpak.com

Contact us: https://mtpak.com/contact-mtpak

How to Choose a Professional Packaging Company As a Novice Purchaser