Case Study - World carton board market interrogated to identify sourcing opportunities

22nd March 2012

Our Client: Our client is a relatively young family owned business that provides contract packing facilities for many leading healthcare and pharmaceutical companies. In addition to contract packing, it also includes a packaging manufacturing division, including design, origination and print for cartons, leaflets, labels and blister packs. With a turnover of just over £8m, they continue to grow year on year.

Project: Lime Associates was briefed to undertake a discreet global benchmarking exercise to gain a better understanding of the global carton board industry, to ascertain whether the client’s current board price and terms were in line with world market prices and to establish new suppliers in the event of expansion. A key driver was to establish if our client was now large enough to contract directly with the global board mills, or whether they should continue to conduct their purchasing via UK distributors.

Actions: In an industry that is suspicious of, and unwilling to share information with, newcomers, Lime Associates had to exercise caution. We used our global contacts to explore the South American, South East Asian and European markets and opened up opportunities in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Result: Lime Associates overcame the barriers and secured price and availability options from a range of global supply routes. We interrogated the world market to understand how global issues like an earthquake in Chile or American transport problems impacts on carton prices, availability and board allocations.

Summary: Working to tight deadlines, Lime Associates used its extensive Medical Industry knowledge and networks to deliver cost saving opportunities, potential new carton suppliers and a valuable insight into the complexities of the global carton board industry and sourcing options. Our work culminated in a detailed profile report for our client who used the content to negotiate better rates with their existing distributors and who continues to strive for direct board mill purchasing power as they grow in size.

To find out more or ask any questions, please feel free to contact us on 0114 213 8306, enquiries@lime-associates.com or www.lime-associates.com

Categories: Case Studies, Cost Control, Cost Reduction, Consultancy, Health Technology, Medical Device