Growing worldwide competition has put pressure on packaging companies like never before. Consequently companies with substandard supply chain management can find themselves failing behind their competitors with more innovative and efficient processes. Still, many managers continue to source without a well-developed plan. In order to improve your supply-chain and procurement methods for PET resin and sheet, there are three uncomplicated steps sourcing managers can implement quickly to see improvement.

The first step simply begins with collaboration between the buyer/vendors and being adaptable to changing needs.

OCTAL (octal.com) found a successful way to collaborate with customers who expressed shipping challenges. OCTAL decided after a review to offer a variety of custom shipping options for PET Resin such as selecting any type of container.  Shipping bulk in containers to meet the processing needs of a large user saves cost and makes for fast turnaround in off-loading, clearing the premises for other shipments.  Additionally,  OCTAL offers supersack shipments for facilities with the capability of offloading bowl containers.Offering options like these shows the buyer that vendors are adaptable and establishes solid relationships.

Step two would be to implement leading-edge practices from financing to ensure the product is delivered in the most efficient manner.

A case in point, payments for OCTAL’s PET resin and DPET™ sheet shipments are DDP (Delivered Duty Paid). “Delivered Duty Paid - DDP' agreement places all of the risks and costs with OCTAL until the delivery is successfully made to the plant,” says Vivek Harkauli, OCTAL’s director of marketing - PET Resin. “This option has helped many of our customers gain additional benefits by selecting OCTAL as their supplier of PET Resin and DPET™ Sheet. It makes OCTAL look like a local supplier as opposed to an importer.“

Last step is to look beyond just using materials from today's sources but to look for sustainable suppliers that have their sights into the future.

“The OCTAL DPET™ process brings the major advantage of a carbon footprint 25 percent below that of traditionally produced APET films. The direct-to-sheet process eliminates the most energy-intensive and defect-prone processes to deliver a spotless sheet with a fraction of the energy,” states William J. Barenberg, Jr., OCTAL’s chief operating officer. “Thermoformers have been able to reduce cost by ordering a thinner sheet, gain additional business by providing a clearer package and meet many new sustainability requirements from brands and end users.”

Just by taking these three simple steps for smarter supply change management practices will help packaging companies remain competitive in the marketplace.