Managing the packaging supply chain from end-to-end is a complicated and time consuming process. For that reason, many brand owners turn the management responsibility over to each of their product manufactures. However, along with the savings in time and resources comes a multitude of issues that the brand owner may not even be aware of.

Alliance Foods, a professional packaging solution and management company, identifies opportunities for improvements to the packaging supply chain that yield a higher quality of printed packaging at a lower total cost to the brand owner. Alliance Foods also provides the intellectual property and resources to manage the day-to-day operations at a continued high level, meaning the benefits of the previous model remain intact.

Below are a few examples of common issues within a packaging supply chain controlled by product manufacturers, and how Alliance Foods’ systems and processes work to improve upon them.

1. If finished goods are purchased from multiple locations, packaging is likely sourced from several different printers with different printing methods/capabilities. This often times leads to an inconsistent brand image on store shelves.

Alliance Foods consolidates printer sourcing, managing the same print quality standards for all production locations. This give the brand owner consistent quality results throughout their stores.

2. Artwork must be released to product manufacturers, who often make changes to design elements without the consent of the brand owner in order to reduce packaging or artwork development costs. These changes may often reduce the quality of the printed packaging, or make the packaging illegal or non-compliant with FDA and/or USDA regulations.

Alliance Foods reviews all artwork for regulatory compliance, maintains color and copy standards on record, and reviews every production run for consistency. This ensures that no design has been altered in any way, and is always produced with the highest of quality standards.

3. The brand owner's total volume is likely split across a multitude of printers, and isn’t being leveraged to the fullest extent.

Alliance Foods uses a leveraged volume approach with our printers, utilizing our entire customer base, and allowing the brand owner to achieve the benefits of large volume buys without the extended exposure to inventory levels.

4. The printer's quality and safety standards are often unknown and may not align with the desired safety requirements of the brand owner.

Alliance Foods pre-certifies each of our printers to the highest levels in system quality and material safety standards. These standards are customized to match the expectations of each brand owner.

5. The brand owner may not be getting the most value out of the appearance and performance of their packaging if decisions on materials and printing options are left to the product manufacturer.

Alliance Foods offers expertise and advice in packaging improvements that may reduce overall cost or increase the packaging performance and overall aesthetics on store shelves.

6. There may be an inappropriate balance between the risk of packaging obsolescence and inventory shortages. Packaging inventory levels are set to better suit the needs of the printer and/or product manufacturer.

Alliance Foods utilizes a demand driven forecasting model that is capable maximizing the total value of packaging. This can be tailored to meet the specific desires of our clients in regards to cost optimization and risk management.

7. Packaging related cost increases effect finished goods pricing, and are difficult to challenge or validate as the client isn’t in the packaging business, therefore unaware of the markets driving the increases.

Alliance Foods tracks multiple packaging raw material publications to validate cost increases and their true impact on the supply chain. By controlling inventory levels on our client's behalf, we can also ensure that increases do not impact printer inventory that was produced prior to, but sold after cost increase announcements. Our attention to raw material markets also ensures that any decreases are received at equally appropriate levels.