OVERSEAS VS. DOMESTIC PACKAGING
by David Deal
When a product you have been awaiting lands on your doorstep, do you ever stop to wonder about everything that had to happen in order for it to end up there? Usually, online product information or a label on the box will tell you about where the product was manufactured, but what about the packaging? Has it passed through a container loading inspection performed by jonble? Has it even been inspected at all? These are some popular questions that might be asked but we’re here to inform you of what goes on behind the scenes.
More often than not, the eye-catching packaging that encouraged you to buy a product was sourced from manufacturers overseas. The thought of sourcing packaging from another country might evoke unease in some people. But this process actually has more positives and fewer negatives than one might think.
Time and Money
Lead time is a frequent concern for people to have when considering sourcing packaging from overseas. When you begin a project, time is an important factor. If you’re not on a strict timeline, getting packaging from overseas suppliers is usually well worth the additional time it takes.
The price of internationally-sourced packaging is usually around half of what it would cost to produce the same product domestically. So, while a longer lead time may seem like a downside, it is typically worth the benefit of reduced costs for the same quality results.
Hidden Advantages
Less expenses and higher quality both sound wonderful, but what about your brand’s emphasis on manufacturing products locally? You could opt to use a full page thermal printer in house for your tasks, but if you have a large scale production this might not be very practical for you. The good news is, sourcing packaging materials from another country doesn’t mean you have to break the “Made in USA” promise to your customers. You can still advertise products as locally or domestically manufactured, even if the packaging is not.
Another advantage we have discovered through working with overseas factories is that most of the time, they are used to providing a high-quality, printed sample at a low cost plus shipping (sometimes free of charge, depending on the type of job). Most manufacturers in the United States do not make samples for free. Instead, they require approval of the packaging based on a digital PDF and sample of the raw material being used.
As you can see, foreign manufacturers are a strong option for producing high-quality packaging.
The Value of an Agency Partnership
Understandably, working with an overseas packaging manufacturer can seem tricky and overwhelming if it’s your first time. There are language barriers, time zone challenges and issues of trust. That’s why it can be extremely helpful to team up with production professionals with years of experience and existing relationships with many trustworthy printers.
At Deal Design, we often manufacture the packaging we design for our clients with one of our overseas partners. Because we have over 25 years of printing experience, we are able to make sure our clients get the physical result that matches their expectations of our designs.
If you go directly to a manufacturer, they will probably try to convince you to go with the packaging method they specialize in. This is why our clients benefit from our access to hundreds of specialist manufacturers to obtain the perfect match and the best prices. Our long-standing relationships with overseas manufacturers allow for the ease of working with a U.S. agency while still getting high-quality results for a low cost.
