In recent years packaging manufacturers have faced greater competition from outside the UK, with countries such as Turkey increasing production capacity as it continues along its path towards full EU membership.
This competition is only going to increase as investment in production continues; the Turkish packaging industry for example claims an average annual growth rate of 10%.
To counter this threat, UK manufacturers need to do more to capitalise on the one factor that other suppliers can never replicate – our proximity to customers.
Simply matching non-UK competitors for speed of production means we can always offer faster turn-around as our delivery times are shorter.
However, too few UK manufacturers are investing in the machinery or using the production techniques that allow them to harness this need for speed.
We see speed as crucial to our success. Everything about our business – our proximity to our board manufacturer, our focus on high volume packaging, our investment in machinery – is focused on being lean. Offering high quality, but as efficiently as is possible.
So when recently at 5pm on a Thursday when we received an order for 50,000 glued cases we were able to ensure our delivery arrived with the client by Tuesday morning.
By making a virtue of this advantage, as well also the other benefits of being UK-based (e.g. reduced likelihood of damage in transit, ease of product inspection, greater accountability, lower carbon footprint due to lower mileage for delivery) we can continue to counter the growing competition from overseas.
Andrew Carver is director at eCorrugated. eCorrugated was founded in October 2011 by directors Andrew Carver and Paul Lavelle who between them have over 40 years of experience in a wide range of packaging manufacturing operations.
