3 Ways to Reduce Lead Time in the Textile Industry

In the textile industry, as in many other industries, time is money. And when you’re working on a deadline to meet pending orders, it’s important that your timeline doesn’t suffer from lagging lead times from your textile packaging partner. After all, you rely on your paper cones and tubes vendor to work with you to meet your needs and avoid the struggle with timing. Those extended timelines can bring your whole operation down in productivity.

So, how can packaging lead time be reduced in the textile industry? It ultimately comes down to three main points:

1. Choose a reliable paper cones and tubes partner
2. Ensure your packaging vendor understands your needs
3. Vendor equipment maintenance

Let’s explore each point further to fully explain how lead times can be decreased, starting with selecting a vendor partner.

1. Choose a reliable paper cones and tubes partner

Many times, the root of the problem with extensive lead times is inefficiencies with your chosen textile packaging partner. That’s precisely why this point is so important to explore. Choosing the wrong paper cones and tubes vendor can not only result in long lead times to get what you need for your operations, it can also leave you with a sub-par end product.

A reliable textile packaging partner will have a facility structured for accommodating customer requests, whether you’re requesting a single size cone or tube, or ten different sizes. The right partner will be ready with an established process to get you the right size and specification needed for your textile yarn carrier’s application.

It’s all about understanding the customers’ needs, which leads us into our next way to reduce packaging leads times in the textile industry.

2. Ensure your packaging vendor understands your needs

One of the most common oversights in textile packaging that can lead to longer lead times is your paper cones and tubes partner not understanding and anticipating your recurring needs. For instance, at Conitex, we make a point to pay close attention to our customers’ schedule in relation to their ordering cadence. Some clients place orders every two weeks, and others order every two months. We find that it is important to take a proactive approach and anticipate those upcoming orders, so when we receive them, we’re ready to start processing their order right away. That, in turn, reduces the lead time for our customers.

Taking a proactive approach not only means having the paper cones and tubes on hand, it also requires maintaining the equipment so each piece of machinery is ready when our customers place their orders. Which leads us into our next point.

3. Vendor equipment maintenance

The biggest delay in textile industry can occur when your paper cones and tubes vendor’s equipment is not maintained properly. The question with machinery is never “will it break?”, it’s “when will it break?”. When the equipment is non-operational, that means orders are delayed, causing longer lead times. That’s why we make equipment maintenance such a high priority at Conitex.

After all, you never want to hear from your textile packaging partner, “Our equipment is down at the moment, but we’ll get your order started as soon as it’s fixed.” That being said, don’t be afraid to ask your vendor partner how they maintain their equipment, and how regularly.

Remember - it all boils down to the right vendor partner

As you can see, there are multiple factors that can affect packaging lead time in the textile industry. However, it really comes down to selecting the right vendor partner that takes the time to understand your needs, and one that has properly maintained equipment to meet your orders and keep your production schedule on schedule.

Interested in working with us at Conitex for your paper cones and tubes? Have questions about what we do? Contact us for more information.

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