How to Select and Qualify a Packaging Supplier
Packaging defects do not show up until the filling line stops or the labels peel in a warehouse. Specify properly, approve against physical samples, and check consistency across lots rather than once.
Why Packaging Suppliers Need Qualifying
This guide is for brand owners in India sourcing primary and secondary packaging.
Packaging problems are expensive in a specific way: they usually surface at the worst moment. A bottle with slightly wrong neck dimensions stops the filling line. A label with the wrong adhesive peels in warehouse humidity. A carton with insufficient board strength collapses in transit. A cap liner that does not seal properly fails the induction seal.
None of these is visible in a quotation, and most are not visible in a single sample. They show up in production or in the field, by which time you have the full quantity.
Qualifying a supplier means specifying what you need, approving against physical samples from their actual production, and checking that subsequent lots match. It also means agreeing obligations in writing, particularly around printed material.
What to Specify Per Component
Each component needs its own detail.
| Component | Specify |
|---|---|
| Bottle or jar | Material, weight, capacity, neck finish, colour, light transmission |
| Cap or closure | Type, thread, liner material, torque requirement |
| Induction seal | Material, diameter, sealing parameters |
| Label | Face material, adhesive type, size, finish, die line |
| Shrink sleeve | Material, shrink percentage, print specification |
| Carton | Board type and GSM, dimensions, print, varnish |
| Shipper | Board specification, bursting strength, dimensions |
| Pouch or laminate | Full laminate structure, thickness, seal strength |
| Dropper or pump | Dose volume, material, compatibility |
| Scoop | Material, volume, accuracy tolerance |
| Desiccant | Type, capacity, format |
| Tamper evidence | Mechanism and specification |
Label adhesive is the most commonly under-specified item, and in Indian humidity the wrong adhesive produces peeling and curling that looks like a quality failure to the consumer. Specify the adhesive type for the substrate and the storage conditions.
Sample Approval Properly Done
Beyond looking at it.
From Actual Production
A sample made on the supplier’s production equipment, not a handmade prototype, which may differ in dimensions and finish.
Tested With Your Product
Fill it, cap it, seal it, label it and store it. Compatibility and adhesive performance only show up with the real contents.
Dimensional Check
Against the specification, particularly neck finish and anything the filling line interfaces with.
Through a Transit Test
Pack it as you will ship it and send it through your actual route. Carton and shipper performance is only knowable this way.
Retain an approved reference sample of every component, signed and dated, and keep it. When a later lot looks different, the reference sample is the only basis for saying whether it has changed.
Consistency Across Lots
Where qualification becomes ongoing.
- Define incoming checks per component: dimensions, weight, colour, print.
- Define an acceptable sampling plan rather than checking every unit.
- Check colour against the approved reference, not against memory.
- Check print against the approved artwork version, including the version code.
- Check label adhesive performance on a sample of the actual lot.
- Check cap and liner fit on filled units, not loose.
- Record what you checked and the results, per lot.
- Raise drift early, since colour and board weight drift gradually.
- Require notification before any material or process change.
- Re-approve when the supplier changes material, press or plant.
Printed Material Obligations
Specific to anything carrying your brand.
Agree in writing that surplus printed material is reconciled and destroyed, with documentation. Printed labels and cartons bearing your brand are the raw material of counterfeiting, and loose surplus is the most common source.
Agree that the supplier holds no printed material for anyone else bearing your brand, and that reprints require your written approval.
Keep a record of artwork versions and which version each print order used, with the quantity. This lets you reconcile printed quantities against production and identify material that should not exist.
Require proofing against the approved artwork version with a written sign-off before the press runs. Most label errors reaching the market were approved by somebody in a hurry, and a formal sign-off step with a named person reduces that.
And require that obsolete artwork is withdrawn and destroyed when a version changes, so old claims or declarations do not reappear on a later print run.
Checklist
Before committing to a packaging supplier.
- Write a specification for every component, with full detail.
- Specify label adhesive for the substrate and storage conditions.
- Obtain samples from the supplier’s actual production equipment.
- Fill, cap, seal, label and store samples with your actual product.
- Run dimensional checks against the specification.
- Run a transit test through your actual distribution route.
- Retain a signed and dated approved reference sample per component.
- Define incoming checks and a sampling plan per component.
- Check colour and print against references and the artwork version code.
- Record incoming check results per lot and watch for drift.
- Agree surplus printed material is reconciled and destroyed, with documentation.
- Agree reprints require your written approval.
- Keep artwork version records against print order quantities.
- Require written proofing sign-off by a named person before press.
- Require obsolete artwork to be withdrawn and destroyed.
- Require change notification and re-approve after any change.
- Compare minimums and lead times across at least two suppliers.
Need Packaging Sourced and Specified Properly?
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why do packaging problems surface late?
Because they are invisible in a quotation and often in a single sample. Wrong neck dimensions stop a filling line, wrong label adhesive peels in warehouse humidity, insufficient board strength collapses in transit, and a poor cap liner fails the induction seal.
How should I approve samples?
From the supplier’s actual production equipment rather than handmade prototypes, filled and sealed with your real product, dimensionally checked against specification, and sent through a transit test on your actual distribution route.
What is most commonly under-specified?
Label adhesive. In Indian humidity the wrong adhesive produces peeling and curling that reads as a quality failure to the consumer. Specify the adhesive type for the substrate and the storage conditions.
What should I require for printed material?
Reconciliation and documented destruction of surplus, written approval for reprints, artwork version records against print quantities, a written proofing sign-off by a named person before press, and withdrawal of obsolete artwork.
Why keep approved reference samples?
Because when a later lot looks different, a signed and dated reference sample is the only basis for saying whether it has actually changed. Colour and board weight drift gradually and are hard to judge from memory.