Selecting a supplier from the crowd may often turn into a baffling task. When everyone is promising quality, you have to dig a bit deeper to learn more about the operation, working ethics, environmental responsibilities of the suppliers before jumping into a decision. Hence, we bring you 13 essential questions that you need to ask your existing or would be cardboard core supplier before switching supply.
1. What’s your production range?
Choosing a paper core supplier with a wide range of production capacity is mandatory. Even if you plan to place a small order, with a better structure, and diverse product line, a supplier always makes a difference, slicing down lead-time to the least.
At JPT, we boast one of the highest available production capacities in the UK with a line of high-quality cardboard tubes, label cores, flexible film cores, postal tubes, transit packaging cores, and industrial cores of different sizes. We won't need to see if we can squeeze you into our "production schedule", we know we can handle it.
2. What’s the difference between paper cores and tubes?
With identical shape and size, paper cores and tubes often make people confused about their use. Simply put, you can put things inside of cardboard tubes, where you can wrap them around cardboard cores. Postal paper tubes, for example, are used to carry posters, maps, or other marketing materials inside them, where carpet & vinyl cores are used as cores of carpet or vinyl rolls.
3. What’s your lead time?
A must ask! Getting your ordered product at the shortest possible time should be a priority for you. You should look for a solid deadline and timely delivery from your supplier.
At JPT, we distinguish ourselves from the competitors, shipping cardboard cores across the UK within 24 hours. If you pick up your products from our factory, we ensure same-day delivery. Our 24/7 production and huge storage back our promises up. We count our lead-time in hours, not days.
4. What traceability method do you use in production?
In production, traceability is of paramount importance. More prompt a supplier in tracing out any unwanted production fault, better their services are.
We use the most advanced computing system during production for tracing out faults. We have sensors and cameras that scan our tubes during production over 150 times per second, if they are out of the intended specification, then our advanced manufacturing system quarantines these tubes. We only ship out products that are in pristine shape.
5. How environmentally friendly your production is?
Producing high-quality paper tubes and cores is one thing. But does your supplier maintain an eco-friendly production facility? Operating in a time of high environmental concerns and global warming, you wouldn’t want to opt for a supplier who poses a threat to the environment. Ask what they use to power their site, some may use gas. Others may use electricity so ask if they are buying from carbon neutral electricity generators.
Here, at JPT, we are 100% committed to not causing any damage to the environment. We’ve adopted an environmental management system to ensure zero harm for the environment. To recognize our efforts, we’ve been certified with ISO 9001:2015 and 14001:2015. We have significant solar, and biomass generation on site, along with any imported electricity having a carbon emission of zero.
6. Where do you source your raw materials from?
For paper core suppliers, sourcing paper for raw-materials is unavoidable. Where does the supplier source the paper from can be a good question to ask. At JPT, we use 100% recycled paper for production, ensuring no tree has been cut down for our production. Our suppliers are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.
7. Can we visit your factory before making the decision?
Yes, we encourage you to ask this question to your suppliers and pay a visit to their production premises prior to making the final decision. For us, we always welcome our clients and customers to visit our production sites. We always boast about the technology we use in our production and our overall operation. We love to stay welcoming and true to our clients.
8. How have you operated during COVID-19?
We have stayed open and operational throughout the period. JPT has delivered packaging solutions to the essential UK food and Pharmaceutical industry. During the initial months of COVID19, we’ve prioritised urgent orders, such as tubes for facemask materials for the NHS, testing kits, and vaccine research. We take pride in contributing our bit during this deadly pandemic. We were the only cardboard tube manufacturer not to reduce our production capacity during the lockdown.
9. How have you ensured safety during COVID19?
We were the first UK cardboard tube manufacturer to publish our COVID-19 Secure Risk Assessment online. This document details our operation ensuring safety and security. We’re committed to protecting our staff members, customers, and the local community alike.
10. How can we reach you with queries?
Multiple channels of communication with easy access are crucial. You don't always want to pick up the phone, or have the time to send a quick email, This is frustrating.
We still have traditional methods of contact, Email, telephone etc. Our telephone lines are manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 365 days of the year.
However, keep ourselves reachable through all the available digital channels. You can chat with us live through our website, learn about us and our initiatives on social media like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Furthermore, you can reach our Whatsapp for business (+44 1757 630226) with queries at any time of the day.
11. Are you supporting any local community projects?
JPT is supporting a charity called Selby Hands of Help. SHH helps people in difficult situations in our local community. On a regional level, we also support an enterprise charity, namely Young Enterprise, which is dedicated to providing employment opportunities to young students and help them develop skills so they are ready for the modern work-place.
12. What is your latest expansion or development?
Knowing about the latest development or expansion of a supplier helps you understand how well they are going about with their business. To tell a bit about JPT, a couple of years ago we opened an 800 sq. meter warehouse at our Selby headquarters. It is equipped with the latest technology in drying facilities. In 2020 we've invested heavily on vision technology to monitor our production 150 times a second, its going to enable us to enhance our quality even more.
13. Do you have any price list for your products?
All our products are tailor-made according to the required specifications of our customers. The orders that we serve generally differ from one another. For which, we don’t maintain a price list. But when you send a quotation request, we’re always prompt at replying with our best price.
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