Because Liberty Packaging is in the industrial packaging business, when information comes out regarding exporting, we pay attention. The big picture in this fragile economy requires U.S. manufacturers to export more and Liberty Packaging wants to do our part to help. For our economy to grow and come out of this unemployment slump, we can’t depend upon our government or U.S. consumers to drive sales; there is not enough demand here for the type of high value manufactured goods that our country produces. As most every informed citizen knows, a great quantity of the manufacturing of low end consumer goods has left our shores to be produced in economies with less expensive labor.
The U.S. government understands this need to export and has been reaching out to the private sector with “how to” education and the establishment of lofty goals. In Presidents Obama’s January 2011 State of the Union Address he stated, “We need to export more of our goods. Because the more products we make and sell to other countries, the more jobs we support right here in America. So tonight, we set a new goal: We will double our exports over the next five years, an increase that will support two million jobs in America." Just this month (April 2011), the Obama Administration reached an agreement with Colombia that will open the door to Congressional approval of trade pact agreements, with South Korea and Panama next in line for similar agreements.
Of course, many American companies have already been exporting and understand that managing the supply chain to maintain product reliability isn’t always easy. The atmosphere to which U.S. companies ship overseas may not be as clean as desired. Along with being hot and humid, some of those emerging markets may not have the climate controls to which we're accustomed. During shipment overseas, products can be damaged from corrosion (rust, oxidation), physical damage, and other types of degradation. That is where packaging becomes so important; it makes sense to create a durable packaging “skin” to protect your products when exporting.
Another hurdle is legislation; other governments don’t want our packaging trash and the disposal problems affiliated with packaging waste. As a good business friend once said: “It makes no sense at all to ship materials that are going to create problems for someone else on the other side of the planet”.
It’s a delicate balance that U.S. companies face when building valuable products to export. Fortunately, there are solutions, but they may require companies to change and think differently about their supply chain and their chosen packaging materials.
Intercept Technology Packaging products fit within a sustainability strategy because they are reusable, recyclable, do not contain or use volatile components (No VOCs, Not a VCI) and leave a smaller carbon footprint than most traditional protective packaging products.