Connect to solutions, savings and suppliers - Editorial

Food & Drug Packaging, Nov, 2003 by Lisa McTigue Pierce

Welcome to our second annual Buyer's Guide, where we bring you viable vendors, sensible solutions and innovative ideas to help you cut costs or rev up revenues.

During conversations with you and your peers in the last year, I've been surprised at your willingness to look at new technologies to help solve your packaging challenges. Yes, you may still have your preferred suppliers, but you're open to new ideas from alternate sources. Whether you're looking for a local vendor or one that has manufacturing facilities in all corners of the world, you'll find leading companies and agile entrepreneurial firms in this guide, all eager to earn your business.

Again this year, our point of difference is identifying companies that cater to the special needs of your market: Foods, Beverages, Pharmaceuticals, Medical Items and Personal Care Products. Nowhere else can you pinpoint the suppliers that understand your unique requirements for product handling and marketing creativity.

Once you find them, how do you connect with packaging machinery manufacturers and sources of materials, containers and supplies? Is telephone your preferred mode? E-mail? Do you like to scope out a company first by visiting its web site? Here, we give you all the information you need to contact them whichever way you prefer.

Or, if you're more comfortable clicking through the digital realm, you can access an electronic version of this Buyer's Guide throughout the year on our web site, www.fdp.com. Just like this printed version, the online guide lets you sort suppliers by product category and by your specific market. Think of the time you'll save by calling only filling machine makers that understand the nuances of packaging bottled water or shampoo or whatever your product might be.

As you use this guide throughout the year, let us know what works, and what doesn't, so that next year we can continue to improve to deliver a Buyer's Guide that best fits your needs.

On a related side note: You can gain a lot when you actively participate in our dynamic packaging community. Check out the Calendar of Events for 2004, as well as the list of Packaging and Market-Specific Associations.

Happy Shopping!

Lisa McTigue Pierce

Editor-in-Chief

lpierce@stagnito.com

Member of the International Packaging Press Organization (IPPO)