The Contract Packaging Association has prepared an excellent outsource evaluation list:

Why Select a Contract Packager?

When choosing a contract packager, you are developing a partnership. As such, a contract packaging partner must be able to complete your project at a competitive cost aligned with your time schedule with quality assurance. They may also solve common problems in start-up businesses, limited production facilities, concerns about equipment investments, physical facilities, personnel training and more.

Here are some reasons why you may want to consider selecting a contract packager:

* There is no available in-house equipment or expertise for a particular job
* There's an alternative use viewed as a higher priority for the in-house equipment
* A series of geographically separated facilities could serve the product better for national distribution
* New packaging forms unfamiliar to your staff and equipment are being considered
* Your actual or projected product volume under or over employs your own manufacturing lines, either short or long term
* There's a short run for a new product market test, gift pack or seasonal appeal, which may require your company to invest in new equipment
* Promoting your product with non-standard packaging or promotional inserts requiring special machinery or labor intensive work is specified
* The pressure of new business or deadlines creates a heavy, short term workload for which you require experienced help to supplement the efforts of in-house staff
* A product may more economically be shipped in bulk to a distant market, then unit packed locally
* There's a specific, short-term requirement that may be better served by specific experience or equipment you don't have
* Operations problems such as your plant closing for maintenance or your being faced with a labor availability problem cause you to consider alternative options
* There's a warehouse full of a product that needs re-working to make it saleable
* There's a new package form that is to be market tested before general introduction
* There's a corporate downsizing in personnel, facilities or both
* The company is faced with a high investment to meet regulatory and environmental requirements

If you identified a need from this list, let Fresh Warehousing & Fulfillment fill those needs for an outsourced contract packaging solution. Our expertise in secondary contract packaging includes food products, consumer packaged goods, and industrial contract packaging solutions for the hardware, wire, paper goods, automotive, and all manufacturing industries.