How businesses can benefit from using a second supplier

In the current climate, business uncertainty is seemingly ubiquitous as the economic difficulties caused by the war in Ukraine and inflation continue to grip the country and the world. This, paired with the residual effects of Brexit and the cost of COVID-19 continue to impact businesses across the board.

Technoprint’s clients have of course not been exempt from recent difficulties, with material shortages causing issues for many. Earlier this year we outlined how a business can work to best secure its supply chain and therefore, continue to service customers and clients. In this blog, we highlighted the importance of having a second supplier.

Now we examine this in more detail, exploring why alternative sourcing could benefit businesses and help to keep the cogs turning and clients happy.

Reducing the reliance on one supplier

The trouble with using a sole supplier can be that a business becomes reliant on them, and this means that if the supplier encounters difficulties such as financial struggles, the customer is left high and dry.

Having an alternative source, or a second supplier, also ensures that you can meet periods of high demand and guards against supply chain limitations.

Technoprint acts as a second supplier for many of our customers and we give them peace of mind that orders will be fulfilled, helping them to plan ahead.

Greater flexibility to cope with the unexpected

The UPM strike in Finland has dominated industry news since the turn of the year as the Paperworkers Union, Paperliitto, took action for an unprecedented four months. This strike had far-reaching consequences and impacted businesses in a whole host of sectors, with some unable to meet demand.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a crystal ball to predict what will happen in the future but having a second supplier allows the flexibility to cope with the unexpected, such as the paper mill strike in Finland. Having a second supplier alleviates the risk of a business being held hostage in tricky circumstances, that are out of their control.

However, at Technoprint we have a reliable supply of paper so we can guarantee that our client’s orders will be fulfilled. By working with us businesses can greatly reduce the impact of supply chain issues and make sure our customers can operate with confidence.

Speed of meeting demand

Businesses often thrive on speed of delivery so it is vital that a supplier can respond to orders in a fast, yet effective, way.

Technoprint customers trust us to get the job done, no matter the circumstances. Our team are always willing to go the extra mile so if any last-minute orders come in, they will be ready to get the job done.

A recent example of this was back in March when we got a phone call from a customer on a Friday requesting delivery with a very short turnaround time. Some of our dedicated team came in over the weekend so that the order could be fulfilled and as a result we were able to ensure we met the delivery deadline. This is another advantage of working with an independent business such as Technoprint, we have the agility to move quickly

We also have a 48-hour speed launch service that gives our customers a reduced lead time for individual batches upon request. Put simply, it’s a faster service that doesn’t compromise on quality.

If you want to find out more about our using us as a second supplier, or any of our products and services, you can always get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.