Thermoformers under fire for poor service and quality

Suppliers of thermoformed packaging need to act quickly to improve their service and quality levels dramatically, according to new research carried out among packaging buyers.

Research commissioned by relative newcomer to the thermoforming business Delyn Packaging highlighted widespread dissatisfaction among food industry buyers with their existing suppliers. Pricing issues topped the list of complaints, with 41 of the 100 buyers interviewed citing inconsistent unit pricing. Lack of pro-active price management, such as suggesting a move from one polymer to another, was an issue for 33%.

Delyn sales and marketing director Mike Knight traces this pattern of poor service and low expectations back as far as the 1970s, when there was a shortage of capacity in the industry. "People in the industry have hung on to this attitude that the customer will come to them," he says. "And because customers pay for the tooling, they feel locked in, and are loathe to change supplier."

Delyn customer and organic beef supplier to Waitrose, Dovecote Park, contrasts thermoforming with other areas of packaging. According to production manager Peter Boyes, the labels industry consistently delivers the right quality of product on time. "But the thermoforming industry still needs to mature, in particular on the logistics side," he says. As well as overall customer service, quality can also be an issue, especially where suppliers are under time pressure.

Many other suppliers use polymer price fluctuations as a pretext for unplanned price increases, and change delivery lead times without notifying customers, Delyn reports.

If Knight is to be believed, food industry satisfaction is at an even lower ebb than the research indicates. "Over the next two to three years, the thermoforming industry is going to have to see a huge shake-up," he predicts. "When you visit people in the food sector, they tell you that quality and service are appalling: not just 'dodgy', but really bad. The retailers are demanding a high level of service from the food processors, but so far that hasn't fed through to the service level from their packaging suppliers."