大多数制造商至少将至少一些包装功能外包带来了重大好处，并且将来将在外面移动更多功能。因此，对包装世界1997年外包调查的受访者说。
上个月,我们的一个报告发现了一部分functions most likely to be outsourced, and also indicated which types of vendors were commonly used to provide those services (see PW, Dec. '97, p. 28). Part Two reports on the benefits companies receive from outsourcing, along with trends on which functions are being planned for outsourcing now and in the future.
超过120名读者完成了一项详细的邮件调查，该调查已发送到PW读者的小样本列表中。该调查是在独立研究咨询公司的市场研究支持服务（ITASCA，IL）的帮助下进行的。由于PW读者的广泛范围，本报告中的统计数据可能无法反映整个循环。尽管如此，将趋势数字和受访者的个人评论结合起来，毫无疑问，外包在各种类型的制造商如何处理各种包装功能方面继续发挥战略作用。
节省人工成本
如上个月所示，有十分之七的调查受访者在从事包装外包的公司工作。在这70.2％的受访者中，调查询问了外包给公司提供的最佳好处。问卷列出了六个选择，所有这些都显示了（图1）。
可以预见的是，最常被引用的收益是降低人工成本（27.8％），其次是削减间接费用（25.8％）。西海岸电气零件制造商的材料总监解释了他的公司从外包中获得的好处。他报道说：“几年前，我们向外部承包商转移到外部承包商方面是政府包装要求的。”“这也降低了我们的资本设备成本，我们的维护成本，库存成本和人工成本。这意味着我们不必雇用特殊的包装'人才'。”
该观点是由主要肉类处理器的工程项目协调员回应的。他说：“现在是由共同包装员生产的实验和小型订单。”“转移库存责任减少了我们的间接费用。与此同时，在外部进行的设备集成有助于我们降低人工成本。”
另一位受访者指出，与供应商合作的收益既节省了。“我们使用供应商来确定节省成本的机会，并探索提高原材料质量的方法。这不仅提高了我们的效率，而且还提高了我们与供应商的关系，”食品加工商的运营经理说。在西北太平洋。
The other four benefits of outsourcing totalled a bit less than half of the total "votes" of survey participants. PW readers report that outsourcing rarely permits a manufacturer to eliminate a department. In fact, as will be revealed later, outsourcing changes are often shifts from one vendor to another, rather than in-house functions being moved outside to suppliers.
At the same time, fewer than 10% of the respondents see outsourcing as principally improving the quality of a package. In Part One of this survey report, comments by several respondents indicated the same functions could be done better in-house. However, PW editors were surprised that 10.6% of respondents regarded outsourcing as a method of cutting a company's materials costs.
总体满意度很高
尽管近三分之一的被调查者s' companies don't outsource packaging functions, those that do report a high level of satisfaction (Chart 2). This may be due to the fact that a strong percentage of respondents say their companies have established partnerships with the suppliers that outsource for them (Chart 3). In fact, the positive responses to partnerships and outsourcing satisfaction were almost identical.
国家果汁处理器的技术资源经理是合作伙伴关系的强烈支持者。他说：“供应商合作伙伴关系为我们的项目带来了我们可能没有内部的项目的专业知识。”
作为两个问题的后续行动，要求受访者以“非常不满意”的规模评估其公司外包合作伙伴的表现（图4）。在这项调查中，受访者非常积极，其中三分之二以上说他们对伴侣的表现有些满意。实际上，不到2％的受访者表示，他们对公司合作伙伴的工作有些失望。
那是个好消息。但是也有一些负面指标。首先，当被问及外包合作伙伴是否正在从事内部工作时，十分之一的受访者说没有。也许最令人困惑的是，外包似乎并未显示出工厂水平的效率显着提高（图5）。几乎许多受访者（49.5％）报告的效率没有提高，而效率（50.5％）。
While this seems to be incongruous, it should be understood that many of the functions most frequently outsourced (ie., graphics, container development) typically have little effect on packaging line efficiency.
实际上，在我们的读者最常签约的前十个功能中，只有四个可能对包装操作产生任何影响：产品包装，包装线设计，机械选择和包装线集成。
One respondent who reported improved efficiency said it this way: "[Through outsourcing] our employees can focus on problem-solving and increasing internal efficiencies on those tasks that we do well," according to the director of manufacturing for a West Coast pharmaceutical company.
当前和未来计划
除了上个月确定的外包功能的前十名清单外，该调查还询问了受访者去年新外包问卷中指定的15个功能中的哪个。它还要求他们确定计划将来要外包哪些。
There was very little correlation between the Top Ten outsourced functions and those that were newly outsourced in '97 (Chart 6). In fact, among the five functions most often subcontracted in just the last year, only product packaging and packaging line design were among the top five outsourced functions overall. The other top three newly outsourced functions actually ranked six, eight and 14 in mentions among the overall list of 15 functions.
这表明，致力于外包的公司正在扩大与供应商的合同。有趣的是，去年与设备相关的前三个功能中有两个与材料相反。
The top five functions that were new to outsourcing last year do correspond with those cited as being the functions that participants say will be outsourced in the future (Chart 7). Packaging line design and bar-coding requirements appear on both lists, and equipment-related functions scored high.
Finally, the survey asked respondents how their companies found the vendors that were now performing the outsourcing (Chart 8). Past experience with that supplier was easily the most important factor at 42%. Recommendations from associates or other suppliers made up another 28% of the responses, while word-of-mouth and trade shows each were the choices of more than 10% of respondents.
