Quoting Labels and Flexible Packaging is a Race

Large companies often require that procurement departments get three quotes for every purchase as a strategy to save money and drive competition with their suppliers. What often goes left unsaid is that procurement is under more time pressure than price pressure. What does that mean to your label converting business? The first quote in greatly increases your chances of winning the business. We have heard buyers from big brands say that they require three quotes to be accepted but they often don’t wait for the other two quotes when making time-sensitive purchases.  The brand needs the quote now. Realistically, procurement departments are influenced by whose quote arrives first. Quoting is a race (from the customer/brand owners’ perspective). The customer’s language is “quote” or RFQ (request for quote) while the label converter's term is “estimate”, which is the critical object in a label converting business.