When Cutting Just Doesn’t Cut It: Amalgamation is Good (Part 3 of 7)

When Cutting Just Doesn’t Cut It: Amalgamation is Good (Part 3 of 7)
Container and Packaging
by Container and Packaging
September 8, 2020, Updated June 16, 2021

Nasty cuts are easy to spot in this harsh, cruel world we live in. I have a scar from a brutal cut I received from a barbed wire accident when I was in grade school. It remains a constant reminder that some cuts don't heal to easily. Regretting a cut is really not all that uncommon. So once again, I raise my voice in warning: Avoid the kind of cuts that can leave scars or can cause permanent damage.

This is part 3 of 7 on a series of why you don't want to cut out the middle man; and the number two reason is amalgamation.

AMALGAMATION

The amalgamation factor is a big one and not just because it happens to be a five-syllable word. It isn't often I have an opportunity to use a five-syllable word and I don't think its inclusion in this post should be understated. An even niftier trick would be to insert five five-syllable words in one sentence; like this. Amalgamation and consolidation have similar meanings with consolidation getting considerably more air time than amalgamation due to its fixture in business lingo. Wow “ that was a first for me. I'm fairly pleased with how that sentence turned out. Back to point … in an effort to give amalgamation its five minutes of fame (a minute per syllable) “ we are going to use it throughout this post instead of the old and tired term of consolidation, knowing that they are pretty much synonymous.

How does amalgamation affect you?

Let us first examine a list of common packaging products: Bottles, Jars, Tins, Canisters, Pails, Tubes, Lids, Pumps, Sprayers, Droppers, Shrink Bands, etc. Upon looking at this list I can tell you that nearly every item on this list is produced by a different factory. If you throw in the variable of type of material then the list of factories could easily double or triple. Rarely does a factory make both the container and the closure. It does happen, but even then, the combinations and flexibility are limited.

What does all this mean in a seashell?

(I've never understood why nutshells are the only shells that are considered concise? My opinion is that seashells are equally concise, if not more so!) If you need 20 unique packaging components you would need to purchase from 20 unique factories. In addition, you would need to develop that many relationships, have that many negotiations, apply for terms that many times, and pay invoices on that many orders. And VERY often, they won’t even let you buy from them directly because … you’re not ordering hundreds of thousands of pieces each time you place an order. Our consolidation (ahem, amalgamation) of orders allows you to save all that time and effort and put it back into other parts of your business. This is a very significant service that can make a huge difference to you.

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This is what your life is like without a middle man. Imagine building relationships with 20 different companies, 20 different sources to negotiate with, 20 applications for terms, 20 different companies to pay invoices to … this is a recipe for a nervous breakdown.
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Life with a middle man is easy. One relationship, one invoice, one negotiation point gives you access to those 20 packaging components without the imminent threat of mental collapse.

The middleman time machine

As a matter of fact, I believe that with parts 2 and 3 of this series we basically just built you a time machine. With the money you save from Part 2 (our super-duper negotiated prices) you could easily buy a Delorean. And then in Part 3 we provide you with time. If you combine Time with a Delorean (throw in a flux capacitor and a dash of 80's music) you can pretty much overcome any problem you face by changing and manipulating the time/space continuum. I have no idea what most of that means; I just know that we make it possible with all of that amalgamation stuff that we do.

Read the entire series:
Part 1: Good cuts and bad
Part 2: It’s all about price
Part 3: Amalgamation is good
Part 4: The freight factor
Part 5: Middlemen stock stuff
Part 6: You need expertise
Part 7: CPS is in your corner


When

When Cutting Doesn’t Cut It:
6 Reasons Why Cutting Out the Middle Man Is An Epically Stupid Idea

Download a slightly compressed PDF version of this 7 part series from our CPS How-To Guides library, or read it all online