Every reseller of corrugated boxes faces the same question: hold a large stock, or buy as you go? The honest answer is rarely all or nothing.

What stock really costs

Stock takes warehouse space and ties up cash. It also carries risk: sizes that stop selling, cartons damaged in handling, and the work of moving pallets around. An empty shelf costs too: a lost sale, or a customer whose production line waits for packaging.

Where just-in-time helps

• demand for a size is regular and easy to predict,
• your customers run production lines and need packaging at a fixed moment,
• warehouse space is scarce or expensive.

Just-in-time means the boxes arrive when they are needed instead of waiting on your shelves.

Call-off: the middle path

With a call-off scheme the manufacturer produces a larger batch and delivers it in smaller tranches that you call off as demand develops. You keep the consistency of a single production run without storing the whole batch yourself. The details are agreed individually.

Questions to ask a supplier

• How big is the batch, and how is it split into tranches?
• Who arranges transport for each tranche?
• How is the delivery date confirmed at every call-off?
• What happens when your demand changes?

Learn how we work in just-in-time delivery and call-off production, read our wholesale terms for resellers and the guide to buying cardboard boxes from Poland, or send an enquiry through our home page.