How to Perform a Readiness and Risk Assessment of Packaging Suppliers

Mitigating the compliance and financial risk these regulations create requires true transparency into your packaging suppliers’ operations. Whether your product factory handles packaging or you’re evaluating packaging design and production, you need to know where risk exists in your supply chain.

Key Areas to Evaluate in a Packaging Supplier Assessment

A readiness and risk assessment will help you determine whether a packaging supplier can support your compliance program and help you take advantage of growth opportunities. 

Always complete a risk assessment that includes compliance, quality assurance, sustainability, scalability, and supply chain integration with your current and future packaging suppliers.

Whether you let your product factory handle packaging, have a dedicated provider, or are re-thinking your packaging program, asking these questions will help you evaluate whether they have the processes in place to support a sustainable, compliant, and cost-effective packaging program.

A. Regulatory Compliance and Sustainability

Can you provide documentation showing that you adhere to regulations like PPWR, CSRD, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws?

Any packaging supplier that you work with, current or future, must be able to produce this documentation. If they can’t, or if they make you jump through hoops to get it, you could suffer the consequences of any audit findings or missed filings. This request will give you an idea of what to expect if you face an audit or must file compliance reporting with regulatory bodies.

What to ask for:

• Documented compliance processes and standards
• Sample compliance documentation

What sustainability practices has your facility implemented? 

Asking about this more generally will give you insight into how mature your packaging supplier’s sustainability program is. Less mature packaging suppliers will have less documentation and may not be able to provide answers about sustainable material use. More mature companies can show documented proof of their sustainability standards and practices.

What to ask for:

• Sustainability reports and documentation
• packaging supplier standards and requirements
• Documentation of packaging supplier audits
• Willingness to answer questions about sustainability practices and goals

Are you able and willing to consistently provide the compliance data we need to report to regulatory agencies?

Even if a provider says they’re sustainable and compliant, if they can’t provide the data you need in a usable format, they’re likely to create unnecessary risk as a packaging supplier down the line.

What to ask for:

• Could they share a sample of the sustainability and compliance reports they provide to clients?
• How and when do they provide reports to clients?
• Do they proactively provide reports, or do they have to be requested?
• How long does it take them to provide reports on request?

How Trillora does it

• We have a dedicated Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) department that works with our suppliers to ensure compliance with labor laws and safety regulations and helps them work towards clean energy sources.
• Our team monitors and audits our packaging suppliers, tracking energy sources, labor practices, health and safety, as well as anti-corruption measures.
• Our dedicated sourcing department ensures reliable, high-quality packaging solutions at competitive costs.
• The Quality Management and Customer Service departments also safeguard product quality and delivery reliability.
• We provide thorough, comprehensive packaging supplier qualification, ongoing scorecards, and proactive risk management.

B. Quality Assurance and Consistency

How do you handle quality control and ensure consistency across production batches?

Even with the most well-designed packaging, mistakes happen in production. Whether those mistakes affect your final product depends on your packaging supplier’s quality control measures. For brands whose production factories handle packaging, transparency into quality control processes is especially important. 

What to ask for:

• Do they have documented QA processes and requirements?
• What happens when a packaging supplier’s product doesn’t meet their QA standards?
• What data do they track to determine whether the packaging is continuing to perform?
• What is their process for addressing high damage rates?

What is your packaging testing process, and do you have any industry-recognized certifications?

You can’t always predict and avoid damage in transit, but packaging testing can help your packaging supplier find weaknesses before you get hit with high damage rates. Some industry organizations, like the International Safe Transit Association, offer certifications for testing labs that indicate their testing process is thorough and effective.

What to ask for:

• Do they have documentation on their standard testing process?
• Could they share samples of the testing reports they provide to customers?
• Do they have an ISTA-certified testing lab, or do they contract out to one?

How Trillora does it:

• Our dedicated packaging design department ensures packaging integrity through rigorous validation testing and distribution center audits, giving customers confidence that their products will arrive safely to end consumers.
• Once packaging is in production, our Quality Management department ensures our customers receive consistent, reliable packaging that meets the highest standards.
• We continuously monitor packaging suppliers and conduct thorough inspections and audits.

C. Operational Capacity and Scalability

How do you ensure we can scale production and adapt to changing demands when necessary?

When you find new growth opportunities, your packaging supplier shouldn’t get in your way. Asking about how your current or potential packaging suppliers handle scaling up production and ensuring new volume is handled efficiently is critical to making sure they’ll support—not stymy— your growth.

What to ask for:

• What is their current production capacity?
• What are their processes and required lead times for increasing production?
• Are they able to tap additional facilities and packaging suppliers for increased capacity?
• What is their current geographic footprint?

How do you keep up with changes in the market, and what is your lead time for requested changes to design, materials, etc.?

While you should understand your company’s responsibilities when it comes to sustainability, regulations,  and changes in the market, your packaging supplier shouldn’t be in the dark. They should also keep up to date with anything that affects your packaging. Asking how they keep up with changes and how agile they can be in implementing changes is critical to making sure they aren’t a liability for your brand.

What to ask for:

• How much lead time do they need for new or redesigned products?
• How do they handle raw material price increases or supply chain interruptions?
• How do they monitor changes in compliance and other market forces?

How Trillora does it: 

• We leverage a robust packaging supplier base across Asia to ensure flexibility and scalability.
• Our dedicated Sourcing Department strategically manages packaging supplier relationships and maintains rigorous performance standards.
• Our ESG department works with our suppliers to ensure compliance with labor laws and safety regulations
• We also maintain multiple industry certifications and conduct regular assessments to ensure packaging suppliers are following regulations and phasing out harmful materials.

D. Supply Chain Integration and Communication

How well integrated are you with the broader supply chain?

While post-pandemic delays and shortages have mostly been resolved, they have shown us that supply chains are vulnerable to disruption. Packaging providers who rely on a small number of packaging suppliers open you up to costly delays and frustrated customers, so you should ensure any provider, whether it’s your product factory or a dedicated provider, has a strong network of packaging suppliers.

What to ask for:

• How many raw material packaging suppliers do they work with?
• How do they handle material delays or supply chain disruptions?
• How do they handle packaging supplier quality or timeliness issues?
• How do they evaluate potential packaging suppliers for compliance and quality?

How do you handle communication with your customers? How and when do you provide updates and share data?

A lot of brands are very disconnected from their packaging, which is beneficial for providers who want your packaging to be as cheap and easy for them to handle as possible. To turn your packaging program into one that works for you and your customers, you need to be in regular communication with packaging suppliers and understand what is happening with your product at any given time. Packaging suppliers who are hesitant to share information make that impossible.

• Do they have examples of how they’ve collaborated with customers in the past to solve problems?
• How do they manage client communications in general?
• Do they have samples of the reports and communications they share with customers regularly?
• What meeting cadence do they have with customers when there aren’t any pressing issues?

How Trillora does it

• We act as your full-service packaging department, managing communications with your packaging suppliers.
• Our Customer Service department is a vital bridge between you and your OEM/factory, ensuring seamless experiences from order to delivery.
• Customer Service handles new customer setup, order placement, delivery follow-up, coordinating shipping and logistics, payment support, and any claims or complaints from our customers.
• This team also tracks “Perfect Order” rates, which include a combination of factors like deliveries being on time, delivered in full, damage-free, and with the correct paperwork.

Move Forward with a Risk and Readiness Assessment

Using a risk and readiness assessment like this will better prepare your brand to choose packaging suppliers who can provide the transparency you need to move forward with confidence. Without packaging supplier transparency, you’re opening your brand up to unnecessary risk and increasing the chance you’ll be fined or even have your product banned from the EU.

Trillora acts as your full-service packaging department, handling everything from package design to sourcing and packaging supplier management. Because we act as an extension of your team and manage your entire packaging program, we can act in your best interest and help you protect your brand.