Apr 10, 2018 | Uncategorized
We are thrilled to announce we’ve received our ISO 9001:2015 certification! This new standard replaces our previous ISO 9001:2008 certification and is effective immediately.
The biggest change to the standard is the new core concept of risk-based thinking. While this has always been part of the standard, the new version gives it increased prominence. In short, risk-based thinking is used to prioritize processes and drive improvement. This focus is intended to prevent undesirable outcomes such as nonconforming products and services.
ISO 9001:2015 brings a number of other benefits as well, including putting greater emphasis on leadership engagement, addressing supply chain management more effectively, and using simplified language and a common structure and terms. Overall, these changes are intended to allow organizations to focus less on documentation and more on managing processes.
One other change of note is that the new ISO 9001:2015 has seven quality management principles compared to the eight principles of our previous certification:
- Customer focus
- Leadership
- Engagement of people
- Process approach
- Improvement
- Evidence-based decision making
- Relationship management
As we mentioned in a previous blog post, our ISO certification is only the starting point for a successful customer relationship—we have to prove our products and services are as great as we say they are. Whether you’ve been a customer of ours for years or you’re just researching new poly bag suppliers, we look forward to offering you the high-quality products and customer service you deserve.
If you have any questions about our ISO 9001:2015 certification, please feel free to give us a call at (800) 272-2634 or send us a note through our contact page.
Jan 10, 2018 | Uncategorized
Happy New Year! We hope 2018 is off to a great start for you both personally and professionally.
Well, 2017 was quite a wild year for polyethylene pricing. The best summary we’ve seen comes from a recent Plastics Exchange newsletter, so let’s take a look:
“The market rallied in the 1st quarter and bottomed out near the end of the second quarter. It staged a modest recovery during the summer for what should have been its last hurrah before several new polyethylene plants came online with added production. Hurricane Harvey then rocked the market and sent prices absolutely soaring. The market peaked in mid-Sept and has been sliding ever since. Most PE resins still remain several cents higher for the year, but grades did not necessarily move together or to the same magnitude.”
Indeed, while prices have been trending down since the steep increases last fall, they’re still ahead of where they were for much of last year. What’s more, resin rose $.01/lb over the last week, and one producer just nominated another increase for February of $.04/lb. While it’s too early to tell if that will take hold, there are some rumblings that other producers will follow suit. As always, we will keep you updated on any major developments.
As for our schedule, we’re currently looking at 2- to 3-week lead times, and we expect those to tighten up a bit now that the holidays are behind us and 2018 is in full swing. If you’re planning any orders for the next month or two, now would be a great time to reorder or request a quote.
If you have any questions or comments about this update or would like to place an order, please let us know. Thank you for your continued business, and we look forward to serving you.
Dec 4, 2017 | Uncategorized
Author, entrepreneur, and marketing legend Seth Godin recently posted a thought-provoking piece called The Unfair Advantage. It’s short, so there’s no point in summarizing. Here it is in its entirety:
Here’s a sign I’ve never seen hanging in a corporate office, a mechanic’s garage or a politician’s headquarters:
WE HAVE AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE:
We care more.
It’s easy to promise and difficult to do. But if you did it, it would work. More than any other skill or attitude, this is what keeps me (and people like me) coming back.
When I read this, I was immediately struck by how relevant it is to our perspective at A-Pac Manufacturing. Our quality policy is “to provide the best bag- or film-buying experience available in our product niches.” We take that to mean not only using the best raw materials to make the best quality poly bags we can, but also providing an exceptional experience for our customers throughout the buying process. Maybe we haven’t explicitly said it, but we truly do believe we care more than the competition. We hope we have proved that to you with friendly interactions, quick response times, and always going over and above what you expect from your poly bag supplier.
Our commitment to providing the best bag-buying experience is a comprehensive one—that is, one that not only includes the end product but how you’re treated along the way. We believe we care more, and we believe that gives us an unfair advantage. We hope you agree.
Nov 3, 2017 | Uncategorized
As you know, there’s been no shortage of news related to resin pricing over the last couple of months thanks to Hurricane Harvey. Now that November is here and some of the dust has settled, we thought it would be a good time to send out another update.
The proposed resin pricing increases of $.07/lb we mentioned last time have indeed gone through, with some producers even adding in an additional $.03/lb, for a total of $.10/lb since August.
To help understand why this has happened, let’s look at what The Plastics Exchange said in their most recent update:
Harvey’s impact on PE production was extreme, with many reactors shut for varying lengths, [and] operating rates only averaged 75% in Sept. Rapidly rising spot prices curtailed incremental exports, with less than 600 million lbs sent offshore, while domestic demand remained healthy. Together overall demand contributed to a massive 435 million lb upstream inventory drawdown, which was quite evident in tight Sept/Oct supplies.
Now that most petrochemical plants have come back online and supply issues seem to be easing, we hope this will be the last of the increases for a while.
As for lead times, we’re currently looking at a 3 to 4-week window. If you know you’ll be placing an order in the next month or two, please let us know as soon as you can so we can schedule accordingly. We always strive to meet 100% of all our due dates, but any advance notice you can give us would be much appreciated.
If you have any questions or comments about this update or would like to place an order, please send us an email or call us at (800) 272-2634. Thank you for your continued business, and we look forward to serving you.
Oct 10, 2017 | Uncategorized
We’re delighted to announce that we’re in the process of obtaining our Food Safety System Certification, or FSSC 22000. This certification was designed to provide companies with an independent, ISO-based food safety management system that controls and minimizes food safety hazards. Companies that package food products now look for their suppliers to meet the high standards of the FSSC 22000, and it’s our hope that by obtaining our certification we can become the preferred supplier for companies that use poly bags to package food.
In order to obtain the certification, we must meet a number of operational requirements. Many of them we already meet unofficially, but there are some policies we will be updating, enforcing more strictly, or adopting for the first time. Here are just a few:
- Food and beverages are not allowed at any machines, and all food must be stored and eaten in designated break rooms or outside the plant. We will be building an additional break room to ensure all employees have easy access to comfortable places to eat and store their food.
- We already have a no-smoking policy in our plant, but we are now adopting a strict no-tobacco policy.
- All employees have been expected to wash their hands after eating, tobacco use, or using the restroom, but we will now require it without exception.
- Where appropriate, employees will be required to wear hairnets and other protective articles of clothing.
Receiving the FSSC 22000 can be a long and arduous process, but we believe it will be worth it in the long run for both us and our customers. It will push us to be the best company we can be, and it will give our customers who package food products the peace of mind they require.
We will post another update when our certification is complete, but if you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please feel free to send us an email or call us anytime at (800) 272-2634.
