While it is true that we are advocates of the stance of under promise and over deliver, sometimes a success story is just too good not to share with future potential customers. We’ve always said that our standard lead time on most custom printed boxes is about 2-3 weeks on a first time order. This is a great general guideline and still applies in almost all scenarios. However, we pride ourselves on being the most accommodating company in the packaging industry, in that we LISTEN to our customers needs and do everything in our power to try to go above and beyond in order to surpass their expectations.
A Holiday Packaging Miracle
Let’s face it, historically, the month of December is one of the busiest times in the packaging industry, and machine and board availability are scarce, as often the equipment is scheduled for weeks or months in advance with orders that were placed in November or October. We typically start encouraging our customers to begin thinking about holiday packaging as early as June or July, and send out a “Last call” reminder sometime in mid October. So when we received a phone call from a company in mid December asking if they could have printed boxes in hand by the end of the month, it was quite the challenge. After a few initial email conversations, we ended up receiving a purchase order on a Monday, finishing production on Wednesday, and delivering custom boxes to the West Coast the following Wednesday, a 9 day total turnaround during the week between Christmas and New Years.
There were several factors that allowed this to happen, working in our favor. We had the machine availability at the time, and the board arrived within 1 day of order. This will not always be the case, but it is certainly possible depending on the board type, color, grade etc., as well as the overall box size.
Lead Time Expectations
Our customer was overwhelmed by the fast turnaround, stating that they were previously used to their former box supplier taking anywhere from 6-8 weeks to produce boxes! Sadly, this is not uncommon in this industry, and Salazar Packaging is the exception to the rule. While we may not always be able to turnaround boxes in a week, we will almost never take longer than the stated 2-3 week average, unless there is a special board such as triple white, coated board, or perhaps in cases where adhesive needs to be applied for resealable mailers. Even then, the lead time should only increase by another week or two at most.
How are we able to produce fast turnarounds? If you take a look at the manufacturing map below, we have the capability of manufacturing in plants all over the country, meaning we can not only check board and machine availability on any order to know where the fastest turnaround may be, but we also can ship from a plant close to your location to cut down on transit time. And we ALWAYS produce domestically. Additionally, we also have the experience, expertise and know-how to understand what may cause delays in the process from initial inquiry to final production and shipment. We are able to avoid potential problems and speed bumps before they happen.
Want to know more about our processes and turnaround times? Eager to cut your lead times on your custom boxes in half or more? Ask us how we can help today!
Please Contact Us Today
As always, if you have any questions, one of our branded packaging advisors is standing by to assist, with decades of experience behind them. Want to know more about custom packaging options? Please call us at 630-551-1700 or contact us via email at www.SalazarPackaging.com.
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https://www.salazarpackaging.com/custom-e-commerce-packaging-rest-easy-weve-got-this/