We have so many customers who come to us after they have used Chinese manufacturing for their retail packaging wondering why they tried to go this route alone. They are desperate, frustrated, and often out tens of thousands of dollars and still don’t have their stand up pouches, barrier bags, or other type of printed retail packaging. Chinese manufacturing for protective packaging can work but there are serious issues and problems that any size firm must be prepared to deal with.
Lead Time:
The Chinese firms are notorious for telling people what they want to hear. Lead times for retail packaging whether it is printed or plain tend to be in the 4-6 week range after artwork is approved however that doesn’t include freight, doesn’t include design work or changes, and when everything is added together door to door from China should be in the 10-12 week range.
Cost:
This is the most attractive part of dealing overseas for protective packaging. The price from China can be 30-50% cheaper than any domestic supplier in the US. The pricing is so seductive that seasoned professional buyers cannot help themselves and fork over tons of cash (upfront) to get what “they think” will be retail packaging every bit as good as they’ve had in the past. While many Chinese firms certainly can deliver excellent quality, not all of the miscellaneous charges are normally listed as a final “per piece price” (like freight, printing cylinders, freight to the port to ship the products, Customs charges, etc).
Problems:
Problems with protective packaging like printed barrier bags, stand up bags, and flat pouches are going to happen, that is a certainty. Whether on the first order, second or 4th, there are going to be quality issues, printing issues, and lead time issues, and there are going to be complications. The point here is what are you going to do about them? Do you have a system in place to deal with problems? Who are you going to call? Is your plant representative available when you need them…meaning during your work hours (remember China is 12 hours AHEAD of the Eastern time zone).
Representation:
This is the key part of dealing with Chinese suppliers for retail packaging. Most companies will go to an offshore website like Alibaba and chat back with someone that has an English name like George or Sally (remember you can chat but you cannot talk to them in person at this point). They will assume they are dealing with someone from the US or at the very least someone who is concerned about their order, their quality, and their timeline. This is usually a very bad and expensive mistake. So many companies try to go it alone or they assume their “contact” from Alibaba has their best interests in mind. When this happens, all control of the order, whatever type of protective packaging it is, is gone.
Angst:
Again, the pricing is so seductive for retail packaging that many people will overlook such issues like freight and Customs and other miscellaneous charges…meaning if the printed stand up pouches are so cheap the freight and Customs and Handling fees have to be really inexpensive too, right? Wrong. Usually once a buyer or a company representative discovers this it is too late to make changes and the fear and worry and angst that this brings can be debilitating.
Communication and Follow Up:
While dealing with Chinese suppliers can work quite nicely (with the right support) this is probably one of the toughest things to deal with. Having a Chinese supplier who doesn’t speak English as a primary language can be confusing and downright expensive as they just don’t understand how we need things done and what “our” needs are. Sure they will respond to emails and quite possibly some instant message chats but when there is a problem or fear or concern, human nature for all of us is we want and need someone to listen and respond over the phone or even face-to-face. Skype and other GoToMeeting communication platforms can work, but sometimes they are blocked and restricted in parts or all of China by the Chinese government.
This report is merely a listing of the issues dealing with China and overseas suppliers that companies will eventually encounter. The point here is there are answers, definite answers and ways to design and purchase incredible retail packaging that is done properly at the right price point for your company but only after certainly things are put into place. Again, Chinese suppliers for protective packaging can be an excellent resource but only if done correctly. We will cover this in subsequent Inside Reports.
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