Don’t Let Printed Packaging Inventory Hinder Your Growth

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Don’t Let Printed Packaging Inventory Hinder Your Growth

Supply chain challenges of the last two years have taught us that canned, static business solutions often don’t meet the stresses of a dynamic marketplace. In our industry, packaging and labeling suppliers have long imposed restrictions on brand owners, marketers, and manufacturers that lead them to purchasing and stockpiling printed packaging inventory at higher-than-necessary levels, mostly to accommodate inefficiencies on the converter’s end.At Belmark, we understand the problems this common practice creates for our customers.

Too much inventory is a liability

Here’s the familiar tradeoff: Keeping a high level of printed packaging inventory on hand to ensure it never runs out increases the risk of obsolescence. Keeping too little on hand, there is a risk of stock outages that fail to supply demand for product, which means lost sales.Whether the packaging supplier or the brand holds the inventory, over-purchasing can eliminate the savings gained through buying more. One over-purchase can eliminate the savings gained from years of buying at a lower price point. Ingredient changes, government regulations, and fluctuations in demand can make that packaging obsolete before it is used. This is the inherent risk of relying on inventory management.

Where does the inventory formula go wrong for brands?

Packaging suppliers operate most profitably on long product runs rather than short runs that require frequent pauses to set up for the following order. It’s never in the brand’s best interest to discard obsolete packaging or keep printed packaging in inventory for too long. Excess inventory is expensive on several levels and in today’s inflationary environment, these costs can multiply. Brands can be left vulnerable to capital held hostage in product, transportation and warehousing costs, leaving them unable to effectively reinvest in their business and respond to changing market demands.

As consumer needs rapidly evolve so has the need for product innovation. Dynamic influences like new flavor iterations and product attributes (low-carb, gluten free, vegan, etc.) to distribution channels dictating varying package sizes and weight, cause packaging modifications to pace at an unprecedented rate. These conditions can make accurate forecasts nearly impossible.

At most packaging suppliers you will be given two choices. First, there’s the option to wait for the next order. This leads to outages, lost sales and loss of shelf space.

Option two is to place a smaller order (when the supplier’s capacity allows) just for your most needed items. A small order often means more expensive…and the likelihood of getting bumped to the back of the production schedule.

Sales forecasting is the front end of the inventory planning process. But as good as spreadsheets are, it’s impossible to predict some events. If a product becomes popular and is in high demand, but a label, packaging, ingredient, material, color, or size is no longer available, there may be stock outages. The only way to fully be protected from these occurrences is to lower the exposure and risk. This means ordering what is needed, such as packaging, when it’s needed.Belmark’s Web-to-Print^® digital printing allows brands to enter the marketplace with smaller orders and a lower investment. Belmark’s proprietary Trident MAX offers the benefit of quick transition to commercial quantities. Time and waste are minimized, reducing cost, while giving brands the crisp, vibrant packaging that they desire.

Speed – and no minimum runs – drive flexibility

Belmark prints what – and how much – brands want when they want it. Lead times are a fraction of current industry standards. Because we haven’t tied up material and press time on the packaging not needed for months (if ever), we can offer the capacity needed in a tight market. Get pressure-sensitive labels in days, flexible packaging and shrink sleeves in two weeks, and pre-made bags and folding cartons in three weeks or less. Need it faster, just ask – we can accommodate.Our flexibility makes what used to be an impossible request seem ordinary. We have material abundantly available that we can use for many different applications. And we have press capacity to handle business’s demand. Because we don’t waste money on warehouses and inventoried printed products, we can create capacity at every step of the process in anticipation of your brand’s growing needs.  Belmark partners with brands to help them grow faster and more profitably as well as offer the flexibility they need in challenging times. Contact us today for your printed packaging and labeling needs.