An MRP system, in the realm of contract packaging, is intended to simultaneously meet three objectives to better serve the Fapco customer:

• Ensure materials and parts are available for assembly, production and packaging for delivery to customers
• Lower customer costs by maintaining the lowest possible level of inventory needed
• Improve forecast and plan for manufacturing activities, receivables, delivery schedules and purchasing activities to accelerate getting product into the distribution system

“MRP systems are very complex because by nature the system must have its fingers into every aspect of the company,” says Materials Manager Jo Ann Pressey. “It begins when the customer order enters the system. It populates the choices of raw materials for our buyers to have on hand and acquire, and it lets production know what is due and when to meet the customer’s demand.”

Pressey explained that MRP is all about customer satisfaction. MRP is driven off the sales order. If the customer changes the quantity, the date of delivery, or materials, the system automatically recalculates everything to better meet the demands of the delivery.

“When the customer does change the quantity or the delivery date, and we can no longer support the delivery, the system notifies the purchasing department to expedite the order,” states Pressey.

In laymen’s terms, an MRP system is like having a constant “Plan B” always ready to react to customer changes and demands. With Fapco’s MRP system, the scenarios are programmed into the system to respond in real time to expedite and problem solve.

Pressey explained that MRP “schedules backwards.” MRP systems look at when the customer wants it, how long it takes to build it, when will the parts arrive for small part kitting or packaging, how long it takes to order and receive the parts and all the material specifications and cost surrounding the order.

“For example,” Pressey says as she points to his computer screen, “when the delivery date gets moved up, it used to really throw a wrench into the works. Take this part here. This part was ordered to arrive on 5/13. But they now changed the date to 3/29. So immediately, the system reports to our purchasing team so they can go back to their sources and expedite the entire process.”

She expounds that the principle of having a plan in place from which to modify and react to better serve a customer, is at the foundation of the MRP system.

MRP systems are common in manufacturing but not so prevalent in contract packaging. Fapco’s ability to partner with OEMs to purchase parts and become part of the supply chain drove the move to expand its MRP systems.

“As we move from a pure consignment house packaging parts, to a full-service contract packager actually purchasing parts for the OEMs as a supply chain partner, we found it essential to enhance our MRP capabilities. Now that we have become more inline with our automotive Tier One partners, taking in parts and converting them, we have essentially taken on many aspects of a manufacturer,” concludes Pressey.

Whether its clamshell packaging or cold seal packaging, or skin packaging, Fapco Inc. will work to help your business grow. Get Started with Fapco Inc. today!

The post Fapco Implements Improved Customer Service with Material Requirements Planning (MRP) appeared first on Fapco.

There are two types of customers that Fapco Inc. can help with retail packaging and fulfillment:

1. Large manufacturers who may be used to doing some of their packaging in-house or using strategic partnerships with small specialty contract packaging firms. These larger manufacturers may push products to regional distribution centers that then fulfill to retail stores.
2. Smaller manufacturers who would like to increase their sales to the retail sector, but have a hard time breaking into larger markets because they lack the bar coding and sales projection expertise of an experienced contract packager. Smaller firms may also need help supporting the volume and product tracking requirements to sell directly to larger retail outlets.

Scott Sloniker, operations manager for Fapco, explained how Fapco partners with both kinds of businesses. “We can design and present bar coding and packaging solutions, shipping ASNs, (Advanced Shipping Notification), and all of the services retailers need to order, scan, put a product on the shelf, and replenish it once it is sold and goes out the door.”

Fapco Can Make Your Product Retail “Case Ready”

“Here at Fapco-we have the ability to walk a manufacturer through the paces to become ‘case ready,’ which means the product is ready to stock, packaged and organized in such a way as to make its integration into the retail environment seamless and foolproof,” said Sloniker. “Whether it’s in a tear away box, hanging bag, or blister box packaging packed on cards ready to hang, we help manufacturers large and small through the process of making their products and parts case ready for sale.”

Integrating Retail Inventory and Tracking with Fapco

“We can break down a bulk order of product, inventory and track the items within the Fapco and client’s systems, package to spec, and then distribute to the sales point,” said Gardiner. “Rarely does the packaged product return to the manufacturer for distribution. Fapco usually expedites these programs by shipping the packaged product directly to the client’s distribution center or the retail outlet level. If a client wants us to develop the ability for retailers to order and track online, we can design a program for that as well.”

“Some companies need a bit of extra help with design and integration into our systems, which is not a problem. At Fapco, it’s all about getting it right and developing a long-term relationship with the customer,” concluded Gardiner.

Let’s get started today with one of our solutions such as our retail fulfillment systems or custom small hardware parts. We have the capabilities to meet all of your needs, regardless of the application. We’ll help you design the perfect packaging solution for your products.

The post Partnering Solutions: Fapco Knows Retail Fulfillment appeared first on Fapco.

Fapco is not only a Tier One parts supplier — they can also help all types and sizes of businesses with their entire parts fulfillment program.

Taking the complexity and cost out of spare parts management is at the core of Fapco’s successful Tier One Parts Purchasing Program. “When we purchase parts, receive them in-house and convert parts and products, we essentially become part of the manufacturing process supply chain,” states JoAnn Pressey, Materials Manager for Fapco. “We don’t actually make the component parts. We just purchase the inventory on behalf of the OEM and provide it when they need it.”

Whether it’s assembly, packaging, small part kitting, warehousing or shipping to the distribution chain — passing parts management cost savings onto OEMs has become a significant part of Fapco’s business growth.

Pressey explains that this growing business segment makes us a value added contract packaging firm, and a Tier One parts supplier to the OEM.

“When it comes to our major automakers and our niche OEMs, they now consider us a Tier One parts supplier because they simply acquire the parts from us. We are purchasing the parts from the tier two suppliers. We believe this customer/service business relationship to be the wave of the future in value added contract packaging, ” says Pressey.

Top Five Best Practice Scenarios for Fapco’s Parts Purchasing Program

1. Limited Warehouse Space

“It is incredibly valuable to partner with an integrated parts flow management supplier who has strategic warehousing services to meet the demands of today’s tight deadlines,” said President and Founder of Fapco, Inc., Larry Gardiner. “At Fapco, we offer completely customizable, one-stop warehousing services to OEM and Tier One suppliers in a wide array of markets. These services are far more affordable and require less labor for an OEM than staffing, equipping and maintaining their own stand-alone internal facility,” said Gardiner.

Parts purchasing is a perfect scenario for many of our clients that lack warehousing space. We can secure the parts and keep them out of the weather in one of its centrally located warehouse facilities. The OEM can then “lean-up” its manufacturing, shipping and receiving space to maximize operations. Parts are then shipped to the supply chain JIT from our facility.

2. Too Many Parts Suppliers in the Mix

Our Tier One Parts Purchasing Program can relieve headaches in receiving, inspection, shipping and accounting by consolidating parts from various sources to one location. Each OEM is assigned a dedicated Fapco Manager to their account. One major industrial compressor OEM has consolidated parts from 245 suppliers into one convenient distribution center at Fapco. This means one contact at Fapco for all parts suppliers, questions and challenges.

“We have the capability of taking customer’s orders through e-mail, fax or integrated online services,” said Fapco’s Materials Manager Troy Taylor. “Every part in our warehouse is stored within our systems in such a way that we can pull parts and fulfill them on an as needed basis. Fapco can pull and ship parts with any shipping supplier a customer prefers, whether it’s FedEx, UPS or airfreight, to meet the tight deadlines of distribution centers or dealerships anywhere in the world. Shipping directly from Fapco eliminates one leg of the freight process and saves our clients money.”

3. Focus On More Key Competencies in Manufacturing

Our Program can also eliminate the need for packaging equipment and all its associated costs. From equipment capital expenditures, to maintenance, to labor and facility overhead, the cost of our customer in-house packaging when partnering with Fapco can result in significant savings. In addition to cost reduction, many OEMs have improved their lean manufacturing processes and improved product quality by increasing their focus on what they do best.

“There’s not a state we don’t ship to,” continued Taylor. “Under the OEM’s instruction, we also load and ship ground, air or various carriers to meet presubscribed cost parameters. Overnight (OVN) parts are also shipped by the customer’s designated carrier overnight for delivery the next day. All of this expertise in shipping and transportation leads to cost savings for our clients. The more legs of the distribution network that we can eliminate for our customers, the less money they will spend unnecessarily.”

4. Better Expediting Emergency Orders

Completely versatile to its customer’s needs, Fapco also does emergency or backorder items. Hot orders that come into the facility are packaged in an expedited fashion and shipped — many times within 24 hours. For one large automaker, Fapco ships Emergency Back Orders (EBOs) for repairs directly to dealerships within one day.

Whatever the emergency, be it a “machine down” in the field or a missed JIT shipment that threatens to shut down an assembly line, having a full range of repair and production parts ready to ship at Fapco provides a simple solution. By direct shipment to a dealership and bypassing the distribution center, or using overnight air freight to expedite a pallet for the assembly line, partnering with Fapco provides OEMs a competitive edge.

Fapco also ships less than truckload (LTL) shipments from its warehouse facilities to regional distribution facilities located nationwide. “We’ve designed our warehousing facilities so that there is no size limit to the part kitting we can handle,” said Taylor.

5. Value Added Packaging Engineering

With the Fapco Parts Purchasing Program in place OEMs benefit from experienced professionals ready to engineer and provide packaging solutions at the lowest price based on high volume purchasing.

Wrap It Up

Customer Service Manager, Jim Page, is a 19-year veteran at Fapco with 30 plus years in the packaging business. Page heads up the Fapco Tier One Parts Customer Care Program for Fapco’s largest OEMs.

“From the major automakers we serve, to international construction equipment and industrial compressor OEMs, our customers are very pleased with our Tier One parts program,” says Page. “They like the streamlined, day-to-day parts consolidation and fulfillment we provide, the warehousing, packaging design, as well as the economies of scale resulting from our volume purchasing. But most of all I think the manufacturer enjoys the efficiencies of the program — such as dealing with just Fapco instead of multiple different parts suppliers. Customers also like having a partner watching their back with inventory ready to ship when working with normal schedules and emergency situations,” he concludes.

Let’s get started today with one of our solutions such as our spare parts management, auto parts fulfillment, or cold seal packaging. We have the capabilities to meet all of your needs, regardless of the application. We’ll help you design the perfect packaging solution for your products.

The post Streamline Your Parts Fulfillment Program To Save Money And Gain A Competitive Edge appeared first on Fapco.

“From companies suffering from business contractions due to the tough economy, to new acquisitions that are being reorganized and streamlined by their new holding companies, we have identified five company profiles that are perfect candidates for our Tier One Parts Consolidation programs.”

1) Companies Hurt by the Tough Economy or with Labor Issues

During the recent tough economy many OEM companies had to lay off workers. From staffing shortages in the packaging, shipping and warehousing departments, to less staff in accounting and purchasing, these companies are prime candidates for Fapco’s Tier One Parts programs. These companies benefit from keeping staffing costs low through partnering with Fapco.

2) Mid-sized Companies Short of Manufacturing Space

Many mid-sized OEM manufacturing firms captured additional work from downsized plants in their systems, influx of additional models to build, or new acquisitions and consolidations. Manufacturing space is at a premium in these facilities. Sacrificing and relocating packaging, warehousing, product staging and freight consolidation space increases the manufacturing footprint. Fapco’s Tier One Parts Consolidation program helps its OEM customers concentrate on what they do best—building great products.

3) Manufacturing Firms Leasing Facilities

Fapco can help cut costs with its Tier One Parts Consolidation program for OEM manufacturers that have outgrown their leased facilities far before their lease is up by freeing up space in the existing facility for more manufacturing. For those looking to lease more space for warehousing, small parts quality inspection and packaging and distribution, Fapco can transfer these leasing and equipment costs to its facilities and can reduce the OEM’s overhead.

4) Labor Problems or Lack of a Qualified Workforce

The lack of qualified people, high turnover rates, and high retraining costs to staff a packaging, warehousing or distribution facility has driven many OEM manufacturers to consider consolidating and outsourcing these services to Fapco, contributing to a healthier bottom line.

5) Manufacturing Regulations or Specification Changes

Many companies that build parts in their own facilities must change processes to meet new, tighter regulations or quality specification changes. This can include product standards, packaging standards and inspection specifications. Current suppliers can no longer meet these quality standards so they come to Fapco to take specific processes off site by utilizing Fapco’s Tier One Parts Consolidation processes and use it for Tier One automotive parts for an example.

Gardiner summed up the similarity he has found after Fapco’s Tier One Parts Consolidation systems are employed.

“We’ve found their customers are usually happier,” concludes Gardiner. “They’re getting their parts on time. How do you quantify that? All we know is that customers are telling us pretty frequently, ‘Our customers are a lot happier than they used to be.’ That’s big on their end. Customer satisfaction – that usually pays offs for our OEM customers.”

The packaging experts at Fapco can help you with nearly any packaging needs, providing top-quality cold seal technology, clamshell packaging, along with many other types of part kitting packaging. Get Started with Fapco Inc. today!

The post Tier One Spare Parts Consolidation: 5 OEM Profiles that Benefit Most appeared first on Fapco.

1. Reclaim Space

Having Fapco house all of your parts, such as small parts kitting, will open up space in your warehouse or on the factory floor as you transition your parts inventory over. This freed up space can then be used for increased production capacities or other purposes to help generate more income for your company. This additional space could also be sold or leased to reduce overhead costs or generate additional revenue.

2. Stop Worrying About Inventory

You’ll no longer need to have employees spend time on spare parts inventory, packaging, warehousing, product staging, or freight consolidation. With Fapco providing vendor inventory management, inventory overhead cost and volume issues will be a thing of the past. Whether your company has 30 SKU’s or 3,000 SKU’s, Fapco can provide a customized solution to manage your inventory needs and take away your inventory control management headaches.

3. Save on Labor Costs

Fapco handling your inventory, complex part kitting, and parts supply management and fulfillment will reduce staffing in your packaging, shipping, or warehousing departments. Other areas where staff costs could be lowered include purchasing, receiving and accounting. This staff can be reallocated to other departments within your organization to help improve your bottom line or make your company more productive and profitable.

4. Lower Transportation Costs

Transporting parts to and from a single location like Fapco is much more cost efficient than transporting freight to and from multiple locations. Managing rising freight cost is often overlooked but can have a significant impact on your profitability. Having a larger volume of inventory shipped to and from Fapco provides an opportunity for lower per unit freight costs on parts. To put it simply, we help you save money.

5. Improve Quality Control

By using a Tier One Parts Supplier like Fapco, OEMs can improve on parts quality. Fapco’s in-house parts inspection team can improve quality assurance for clients with even the toughest of expectations. Our critical OEM parts replacement and inspection process reduces the cost of receiving, inspection and inventory of bad parts for the OEM. And because we are acting as the Tier One Supplier in the process, Fapco has ownership of the parts, giving us a high stake in making sure the parts are right.

Why Fapco?
“Our Tier One Parts Consolidation program takes a lot of the burden and overhead off the customer. We really free up the customer to do what they do best. We do all of the work of purchasing, receiving, processing, and product distribution,” said Fapco’s General Manager Scott Sloniker.

The packaging experts at Fapco can help you with nearly any packaging needs, providing top-quality contract packaging, trapped blister packaging, along with many other types of packaging. Get Started with Fapco Inc. today!

The post Immediate Benefits of Spare Parts Tier One Supplier Consolidation appeared first on Fapco.

A link to Fapco’s pressroom allows users to view Fapco’s current press releases and newsletter articles containing news and information about the company.

Most importantly, for customers who need solutions to managing parts flow, cost cutting and driving unsurpassed performance, the website highlights Fapco’s complete list of services.

A drop down view lists all the types of packaging Fapco has to offer. Each packaging type is a clickable link that leads to further explanation. For a condensed version, a matrix of all packaging services is provided to show which applications complement each packaging or value-added service.

A separate page shows Fapco’s capabilities including Tier One Services, Distribution, Warehousing, Information Systems, Private Labels, Daubert Cromwell, Reddi-Pac Distributorship Capabilities and Recall Campaigns.  Fapco is a reputable and well known leader in Spare Parts Management, Packaging, Warehousing and Distribution.

Visit our website at www.fapcoinc.com to see the many ways Fapco can solve your business problems. Whether its plastic clamshell packaging or cold seal blister packaging, we’ll work to help your business grow. If you see the solution your business has been looking for, give us a call for further information. And if you don’t see a service that exactly fits your need, contact us and speak to a specialist!

Fapco’s New Capabilities DVD Now Available Online!

Fapco’s new “Capabilities DVD” is now available on their website to extend the reach of Fapco’s most dependable, high-quality packaging and parts flow management services in the industry. The DVD emphasizes that partnering with Fapco will keep your business parts operations running smoothly by utilizing Fapco’s equipment and many years of packaging experience to handle low, medium, or high-volume products at a much lower cost than your in-house operations.

Fapco emphasizes high quality service with fast turnaround time. Fapco’s goal is to pack and ship 60 percent of parts within 24 hours of receipt. They also consistently achieve 98 percent turnaround within 48 hours.

Advantages of partnering with Fapco to do your packaging and parts flow:
• Focus on your core business
• Save on equipment costs
• Save labor costs
• Save space in your facility
• Reduce packaging materials, inventory and costs

“When it comes to packaging, nobody does it better than Fapco!”

View the entire “Capabilities DVD” with images of the facilities and operations by visiting www.fapcoinc.com. The video is located in the “About Us” section. To receive your own copy of the DVD, call us today at 800-782-0167!

The post Fapco Inc. Showcases New Website appeared first on Fapco.

Operations Manager for Fapco, Scott Sloniker, explained that Fapco has made small parts kitting and packaging its bread and butter since the company was founded.

“This is the fast turn business we started with. With automated parts sorting and kitting assembly machines in-house, such as our Kit-Veyors, small parts kitting and packaging that can overwhelm an in-house packaging department are standard procedure here at Fapco.”

THREE SECTIONS TO SMALL PARTS KITTING AND PACKAGING

Sloniker broke down the small parts kitting and packaging business into three segments. “The first is low volume kits – less than 50,000 units per year. Many times these jobs are hand packed in-house at the OEM parts supplier. At the other end of the spectrum are the high volume kits of over one million pieces a year, where it makes sense to invest in the automated equipment to package as the product comes off the production assembly line. The mid-tier segment with runs of 50,000 to one million kits per year is a perfect match for us.”

These markets in the middle, niche markets, are where Fapco shines. These markets usually include replacement part kits, short runs of specialty products produced in the states, and flow-through consolidation of parts from multiple suppliers that are too cumbersome for the manufacturing company to handle.

“This business is what our automated Kit-Veyor machines drive. We take bolts, washers, and nuts, items that will not nest together in the equipment, and package them into ready- to-assemble kits. Those are the types of hardware kits you see in anything from ready-to-assemble furniture to carburetor rebuild kits to retail parts packages. We can package the kit into bags, blister packs, a cold seal, clamshells, skin packs, chipboard or corrugated packaging – whatever the customer needs.”

“One of our greatest strengths in kit packaging is our partnership with fastener manufacturers. The combination of Fapco’s experience and equipment designed to efficiently package at competitive pricing for fastener manufacturers provides a lower total cost for them than kitting in-house,” stated Business Analyst, Mark Tumbleson of Fapco.

PARTNER WITH FAPCO FOR YOUR PARTS PURCHASING, CONSOLIDATING, INTEGRATED PACKAGING AND FULFILLMENT NEEDS

When it comes to volumes of kits under one million per year, Fapco can process these volume packaging system jobs without an OEM dealing directly with all the outside suppliers. Packaging of wide range small parts like overhaul or replacement kits where multiple outside suppliers of gaskets, seals and fasteners all ship to the OEM for sorting, consolidation, kitting, packaging and fulfillment, can be completely taken over by Fapco’s packaging system.

“We’re finding many customers don’t want to manage five to ten items, all coming in from different sources, with a small parts packaging operation in-house. Instead, they would prefer us to purchase, consolidate, kit, package, warehouse and fulfill orders for each kit. Instead of dealing with millions of parts they can just purchase the complete kitting system needed from Fapco,” said Sloniker.

More Than Small Parts Packaging and Kitting

Fapco has expanded its capabilities towards also purchasing and owning the materials, managing parts and inventory management and selling finished packaged goods to the distribution chain for OEMs. The benefit of partnering with Fapco is the customer no longer has to manage hundreds of thousands of individual component part numbers, but rather just a few thousand pre-packaged kits fulfilled when needed in the distribution chain. Fapco becomes the focal point for various OEM small parts packaging and distribution companies, thus reducing overhead, lowering labor, accounting and stocking cost.

MANUFACTURING COMPANIES BENEFIT FROM FAPCO’S PARTNERSHIPS WITH FASTENER COMPANIES

Fasteners are usually the key element inside any small parts package. Fapco’s close relationships with its fastener company partners increase the efficiency of small parts packaging services.

“Instead of us handing all the fastener inventory in-house, the fastener company manages the inventory management, then we order and pack it for our customer as needed. On the small parts kitting side, we manage the inventory based on the end customer needs,” said Sloniker. He explained this could include the OEM designating where to buy the fasteners and how many to have on hand. He said in this economy many manufacturers are going to smaller and smaller lot sizes. “They leverage having just enough inventory available with fastener companies and Fapco.”

THE GROWING TREND FOR SMALL PARTS KITTING, PACKAGING AND FULFILLMENT

Purchase and supplier agreements with Fapco for a small parts packaging kitting system are true partnerships with risk assumed by both parties. These include agreements for minimum buy quantities, order quantities, the numbers of kits per year and the quantities of materials to produce the kits. Labor and material costs are also a factor. Questions like, “How many times a year is Fapco going to that bin to pick and package? Does one component go into 15 other components and is there enough to handle both components? If one kit gets hotter than the others, how will the allocation change?” These are all questions that Fapco and its partner customers are used to working out to make each kitting assembly program efficient and profitable.

“Today we are seeing a trend in companies that would rather pay an outside supplier, even if its more expensive in the short run, so they don’t have the administrative overhead built into their costs. Labor, inventory management, overhead and transportation costs are all included when they do the numbers. They want to just call Fapco and say ‘we need 250 kits and we all do what we do best,” he said.

Sloniker concluded that this packaging system trend continues to build. “For the past five years Fapco has done business with many companies. Some that are terrified of packaging components correctly and consistently in-house, and to those companies that are not afraid of packaging in-house but can’t handle the financial burden of the inventory, labor and equipment that it takes to package products correctly on what they consider to be a large scale. We have the packaging machinery and solutions for both.”

GET TOP-TIER SMALL PARTS PACKAGING AND KITTING SERVICE WITH FAPCO

When you work with Fapco, you’ll be able to see a clear improvement in your business’s small parts kitting and packaging operations. Our packaging and kitting for small parts can help maintain efficiency while providing you with top-quality products. You don’t need to remain concerned about inadequate service and products when you work with Fapco.

In addition to small parts kitting and packaging, we offer many other contract packaging services for a wide range of industries and products. We can provide packaging solutions using kits, bags, blisters, clamshells, custom folding cartons, and other types of reliable packaging systems.

Get Started with Small Parts Packaging and Kitting Today

To start with the design and development of a custom small parts kitting and packaging, or one of our other wide range packaging solutions, such as bag packaging, contact Fapco today.

The post Small Parts Kitting and Packaging appeared first on Fapco.

When OEMs implement vendor consolidation practices with a full service contract packager such as Fapco they utilize one of the most progressive vendor management models available in logistics today. OEMs consolidate parts purchasing from multiple suppliers into one supplier and streamline their supply chain to better control quality and improve parts flow during peak demand periods.

Four Key Benefits of Consolidating Parts Purchasing to One Full Service Contract Packaging Firm

1. Consolidation with a Tier One contract packager lowers transportation costs.

Transporting parts to and from one location is more cost efficient than transporting freight from multiple locations. Freight is a key aspect of inventory. More volumes shipped to and from Fapco translate to lower per unit freight cost on parts.

2. OEMs improve quality and lower costs through parts inspection with a tier-one parts suppler/contract packager.

Fapco’s in-house parts inspection team (see article page five) assures that OEMs with tough expectations benefit by improving quality assurance. Fapco’s quality assurance managers follow the same procedures and guidelines as your in-house quality assurance department. Receiving all vendor parts at one location and inspecting and rejecting parts with Fapco’s team, assures that parts sent to the OEM for distribution, aftermarket or even production are virtually flawless. Fapco’s parts inspection process reduces cost of receiving, inspection and inventory of bad parts for the OEM. It’s important to remember this is not a parts consignment and fulfillment program. As the Tier One supplier, Fapco owns the parts and has a high stake in making sure the parts are right.

3. Consolidating vendors to Fapco’s Tier One program results in reduced soft costs of management, administrative and accounting functions.

Take the burden of dealing with multiple parts suppliers off the books. Fewer bill payments and fewer vendors to pay reduce cost associated with cutting checks. At an estimated cost of $100 just to open a P.O. number in-house, OEMs save a bundle with Fapco purchasing the parts. Fewer vendors also translate to fewer mistakes in accounts payable to improve the OEM’s credit rating. There are also soft cost savings in terms of procurement–not having to handle and track so many different vendor orders pays off.

4. Control capital management and the cost of parts ownership until parts ship using Fapco as your Tier One parts supplier.

With Fapco as a Tier One parts supplier, OEMs control the cost of ownership until the part is actually distributed. OEMs eliminate parts staging and warehousing. OEMs save additional revenue related to the incidence of returns and delays at the manufacturing facility or distribution centers. The result is lower overall inventory and cost of ownership. With Fapco having Tier One contract packaging services in place, manufacturers benefit from virtual JIT parts ownership. Fapco owns the inventory from the vendor until fulfillment time.

Wrap it Up

• This consolidation model allows for immediate soft and hard cost reductions across the supply spectrum for the OEM.
• Over time, this model may even move vendors to improve pricing because of increased volumes, more predictable production schedules and regular shipping to one Tier-One supplier–Fapco.

Whether it’s cold seal,  contract packaging or blister packaging, Fapco Inc. will work to help your business grow. Get Started with Fapco Inc. today!

The post From Contract Packager to Tier One Supplier appeared first on Fapco.

Fapco’s automatic bagging equipment can process individual or multiple items into a poly bag that is either preprinted in up to six colors and/or individually printed with product identification on each unit.  Bagging is an inexpensive and efficient method to package items not requiring extensive protection; Fapco bagged more than seven million items last year.

For the retail point of purchase channel, Fapco’s capacity in blister packaging, clamshell packaging or shrink-wrapping is equally impressive.  A single blister packaging machine can run at rates of up to 18,000 units a day.

High volume parts packaging must be as agile and flexible as possible.  “If our customer needs us to provide single box parts or multi-box parts in an over-pack into a chipboard box, then in a corrugated box to be sent out individually in eight or ten box packs or even skid quantities, we can handle that,” said Kolecki. “There are even times that they want the raw stage parts right back at them to use in production, we can send it back in bulk. Keeping everything here in its raw state makes us more flexible.”

“Remember when you go into the big box stores you can buy one part, or you can buy a contractor pack of 24. Whether it’s a plumbing component or an electrical switch, we are prepared to package and fulfill products in any volume the customer requires,” he said.

Bar coding is usually pre-printed on the card or box but Fapco has the ability to run labels in high volumes as well.  “Bar codes can carry part and lot numbers or carry customer specific information or logos, whatever the customer needs.”

From a seasonal aspect, Kolecki explained Fapco provides a safety net for spikes in demand. “If they have automated equipment in-house, they may run millions year around, and then give us the overflow to handle when they have seasonal spikes in their business.  Whether it’s snow blower parts in the winter, lawn irrigation parts in the spring, or outboard motors in the summertime, when the customer gets hit with peak seasonal demand, that’s when we gear up with the additional capacity for our customers.”

Quick changeovers are also an important factor when looking for a private label parts supplier and a packaging partner.  “Labor is very expensive.  Fapco specializes in flexible setups to run different products and different product groups all in one day.  This is hard to do cost effectively in-house,” concluded Kolecki.

Whether its warehousing or our cold seal shrink wrap solutions, Fapco Inc. will work to help your business grow. Get Started with Fapco Inc. today!

The post Packaging Partner that Understands Market appeared first on Fapco.

Take a close consideration at automated packaging technology before considering any in-house packaging possibility.

The Auto Bagger with Printer

This machine is designed to fill, seal, label for identification, and is adjustable from small to larger bags.  It can handle a variety of sized parts, such as for custom small hardware parts. Fapco bagger sealers will increase production, simplify the bagging operation and decrease packaging costs.  Fapco has over 20 baggers of different levels of complexity.  Average cost around $35,000, total Fapco investment, over $800,000.

Cold Seal Packaging

If you are hand picking and packing items into boxes, cartons, poly bags, bubble or padded mailers, then Fapco’s automated cold seal machinery could be a very cost effective and labor saving option for you. Cold Seal packaging works to create a secure, movement free package ready to ship.  Fapco has two state-of-the-art cold seal machines—Average cost, $85,000, total Fapco investment, almost $200,000. 

Skin Packaging

Skin Packaging is the process of adhering a flexible plastic material to a printed-paper board for the purpose of packaging a product for display, shipping or protection. Product instructions, pictures, warnings, warranties, as well as prices and sizes can be printed on the back and front.  Fapco has two machines worth a total of $200,000.

Blister Packaging

Blister packs have been a popular choice in packaging for many years, providing a cost-effective means of effectively displaying a product line.  A blister package is made up of two separate elements: a transparent plastic cavity shaped to the product and its blister board backing. These two elements are then joined together with a heat-sealing process.  Fapco’s investment in blister packaging technology is well over $50,000.

Shrink Wrapping

One of Fapco’s most affordable solutions, heat shrinking is one way of sealing shrink film to a package.  After the shrink-wrap is cut and drawn across the package, a conveyor belt sends it through a tunnel, heating and sealing the shrink film.  It is one of the easiest packages to open.  Fapco has 5 shrink wrap lines with over $100,000 invested.

“Manufacturers make products.  That’s what they know.  They’re not necessarily good packagers or retail providers after the packing is complete.  Pulling this business in-house can be a volatile and expensive prospect.  If one of your staff is pushing in-house operations, call Fapco for a plant tour and we will provide you true, cost effective solutions,” concludes Fapco President, Larry Gardiner.

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