Sep 24 2010
Everybody wants BOPP bags; it just hasn’t been easy to get them.
BOPP bags have become the packaging of choice for food, animal feeds, lawn and garden materials and other consumer products that require a combination of product protection and high-end graphics. So much an improvement over traditional paper packaging are BOPP bags that “big box” retailers have begun requiring BOPP packaging for those products. It makes perfect sense. Waste due to bag breakage or seepage is reduced to near zero for BOPP packaged product. And the sharp graphics supported by BOPP packaging virtually scream at consumers as they pass those products on retail shelves.
The biggest challenges related to BOPP packaging have revolved around timely delivery and the related costs. Most bags, at least the raw materials, originate in Asian and Pacific Rim countries. From the time a U.S. producer orders bags, it is typically about 16 weeks to delivery – often longer because neither production nor shipping schedules from the East are anywhere close to reliable. Some domestic supply is available on shorter schedules, but higher production costs render those bags cost-prohibitive to most producers.
Anduro Manufacturing entered the BOPP bag production field early in 2009 recognizing the issue and determined to resolve it. Company founders purchased a BOPP manufacturing facility in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, a trade-free zone with low production costs and convenient shipping access, with the intention of localizing the entire process producing its Durofab™ brand bags.
The plan has come to fruition. Anduro has installed looms for weaving the polypropylene fabric of which the bags are made at a partnering fabric manufacturer near the Anduro manufacturing facility in San Pedro Sula. Simultaneously, Anduro announced agreements with printing sources in Central America and the U.S. to deliver the specialized high-end graphics required for the bags. All other production, including assembly, lamination and testing, is performed at the Anduro manufacturing site, and finished Durofab bags are shipped from there to client locations in the U.S. and Latin America.
“With the complete bag production process localized in Central America, we have enhanced quality controls as well as resolved the issue of reliable, timely delivery of BOPP bags without sacrificing our competitive cost structure,” offered Marc Datelle, Anduro President and CEO. “American producers now can get superior quality bags cost-effectively in an unprecedented 45 days or less.”