The 10 Key Benefits of Outsourcing Production
For many businesses, producing and packing products in-house can seem like the obvious choice. But as volumes increase, products become more complex or demand becomes harder to predict, managing production can quickly become a challenge.
Outsourcing production to a specialist partner such as Wyepak can provide a practical alternative. Rather than investing in additional machinery, premises and staff, businesses can use a well established production facility with the experience and capacity already in place.
For businesses producing liquids, cleaning products, household chemicals, personal & home care, and other non-food products, outsourcing can offer some significant advantages.
1. Reduce the cost of production
One of the most obvious benefits of outsourcing is the potential to reduce the cost of running production in-house.
Setting up your own filling and packing operation requires machinery, maintenance, factory space, storage, trained staff, utilities, rent and rates, and ongoing investment. Those costs remain whether your production line is running at full capacity or not.
By outsourcing to Wyepak, these costs are built into a specialist production service, allowing you to use the facilities and equipment you need without having to invest in them yourself.
2. Access specialist equipment and expertise
Liquid filling and packing is not simply a case of putting a product into a bottle.
Different liquids, viscosities, containers, closures and fill volumes can all require different approaches. Wyepak has extensive experience filling liquids with the capability to fill products from 20ml up to 25 litres. In some cases, Wyepak can also fill as little as 2ml but it is product specific.
This gives customers access to specialist equipment and practical knowledge without having to develop that expertise themselves.
3. Increase your production capacity
Perhaps you already have your own production facility, but simply don’t have enough capacity.
This is a common reason businesses turn to contract manufacturing and packing. A new customer, a large order or a particularly busy period can put pressure on an existing production line.
Using Wyepak as an additional production facility allows businesses to increase output without immediately having to invest in another filling line, extend their premises or recruit additional production staff.
It can effectively give your business an extra production line without the capital expenditure.
3. Increase your production capacity
Perhaps you already have your own production facility, but simply don’t have enough capacity.
This is a common reason businesses turn to contract manufacturing and packing. A new customer, a large order or a particularly busy period can put pressure on an existing production line.
Using Wyepak as an additional production facility allows businesses to increase output without immediately having to invest in another filling line, extend their premises or recruit additional production staff.
It can effectively give your business an extra production line without the capital expenditure.
4. Scale production up or down more easily
Demand is rarely consistent throughout the year.
Some products experience seasonal peaks, while others may suddenly see increased demand following a new contract, promotion or successful launch.
Outsourcing provides greater flexibility to increase or reduce production as required. Instead of carrying the fixed costs of additional machinery and staff all year round, production can be arranged around actual requirements.
That flexibility is one of the reasons contract packing has become increasingly popular with both growing businesses and established manufacturers.
5. Avoid major capital investment
Buying filling, capping, labelling and packing equipment can represent a significant investment.
There is also the ongoing cost of maintaining and upgrading that equipment as production requirements change.
Outsourcing allows businesses to access an established facility without making that initial investment. This can be particularly valuable when launching a new product or testing a new market, where committing to dedicated production equipment may not yet make commercial sense.
6. Free up your own people and resources
Production can be time-consuming to manage.
Recruiting production staff, managing shifts, maintaining equipment, dealing with breakdowns, organising materials and managing finished stock can all take valuable time away from the core business.
Outsourcing these activities allows your own team to concentrate on areas where they can add greater value – whether that is sales, product development, customer relationships, marketing or growing the business.
In simple terms, you concentrate on selling the product; Wyepak concentrates on producing and packing it.
7. Improve speed and responsiveness
Having an established production partner can make it easier to respond when requirements change.
Wyepak offers short production lead times, emergency cover, trial runs, new project start-ups and additional capacity requirements. This means outsourcing doesn’t necessarily have to be a long-term commitment to move your entire production operation elsewhere.
It can also be used as a flexible resource when you need additional support quickly.
8. Benefit from established quality systems
Quality is critical when another company is producing and packing your products.
Wyepak operates an ISO 9001 certified quality management system and has extensive experience working with major brands and their supplier requirements.
Using an established contract manufacturer means you are not starting from scratch when it comes to production processes, quality control and traceability. Instead, you are working with a production partner that already has systems and processes in place.
9. Reduce the pressure on storage and logistics
Production doesn’t start and finish at the filling machine.
Products, packaging components and finished goods all need somewhere to go.
Wyepak has on-site storage capacity, allowing materials and finished products to be managed alongside the production operation. This can reduce unnecessary handling and transport between different locations and make the overall supply chain simpler.
For some businesses, having production and storage managed under one roof can be just as valuable as the filling service itself.
10. Grow your business without growing your factory
Perhaps the biggest benefit of outsourcing production is the ability to grow without having to build your own production infrastructure around that growth.
You don’t necessarily need to move premises, buy additional machinery or employ a large production team every time your sales increase.
Instead, you can use a specialist partner to provide the production capacity as your business develops.
Outsourcing doesn’t mean losing control
For some businesses, the idea of outsourcing production can initially feel like handing over an important part of the operation. In reality, the right contract manufacturing partner should become an extension of your business.
At Wyepak, customers remain in control of their products, specifications, packaging and requirements, while we take responsibility for the practical side of filling and packing.
From liquid filling and capping through to labelling, packing and storage, Wyepak can provide a complete production solution for personal care, home care and laundry, janitorial, automotive and other cleaners, lubricants, and other non-food products.
Whether you need additional capacity, are launching a new product, want to move production out of your own facility or simply want to remove the day-to-day pressures of filling and packing, outsourcing could be a much simpler way to produce your products.
If you’re considering outsourcing your production, talk to us about what we could do for your business. Get in touch to find out more about how Wyepak can help.
