As a distributor of FIBCs, our overseas manufacturing partners greatly impact the product we sell. A great amount of the value we add as a distributor comes from the relationships we have with our manufacturers and our ability to properly vet them and the products they ship. These manufacturers not only make the bags themselves; they conduct QA (quality assurance) and product testing on site before the bags are shipped – an extremely important part of the procurement process (for a deeper look into what quality distributors do to vet their suppliers, check out this blog).
If you’ve been following the National Bulk Bag blog, you’ll know that providing readers with quality information about FIBCs is a top priority. The hope is that if our readers are armed with the best information, they can make the best purchasing decision and ensure they get a quality bag from a quality distributor. A big part of that process is quality control and quality assurance (QA).
Globalization has impacted the lives of Americans and American Companies in significant ways. Perhaps one of the most impactful effects of globalization has occurred in product supply chains – and the FIBC industry is no exception. As we have noted several times in the past, the vast majority of bulk bags are now produced overseas – primarily in Asian countries. The benefits of this shift have been great for the industry as a whole, but it hasn’t come without drawbacks.
We’ve asked this question quite a few times on the National Bulk Bag blog: how do buyers know they are working with a quality distributor? Quality overseas suppliers is a key attribute that sets US distributors apart from the competition. If you don’t have quality suppliers, you won’t have quality product – and you, the customer, end up paying the price.
Uncertainty is often the enemy of markets and industries. It’s been in the headlines for almost 2 years now – the “looming” trade war with China. Now, to be sure, we’re not here to analyze the dispute as a whole or pass judgement on whether it’s a full-blown trade war or simply the start of one. No matter what one may think of the current situation between the United States and China, there is no doubt it has created a great amount of uncertainty around the industries that source materials and products from Asia.
If you’re currently using flexible intermediate bulk containers in a production facility, then you know it’s quite a monumental task moving bags throughout your facility. Moving empty bags, filling them up with product, moving them across your facility to ship and/or discharge; it can be quite the manual process involving a lot of labor. However, there are solutions that can significantly reduce the amount of manual labor required to do all these tasks while simultaneously improving the overall safety of your facility. We are talking about automated bagging systems.
Recently we discussed using full bottom discharge (diaper bottom) flexible intermediate bulk containers with certain products like wet coffee grounds and other wet or high moisture products. This brought to light that we at the National Bulk Bag blog have not talked very much about the use of bulk bags with wet/high moisture products and/or materials. Let’s change that. In this post, we discuss the best practices when handling wet products and/or materials and what bag features to look for that can help mitigate some of the issues that come with those products/materials.
Updated: 1-19-2023
Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBCs) are an ideal bulk packaging option for businesses all over the world. These industrial containers provide a cost-effective option for a wide range of applications. Whether you are storing and/or transporting a dry flowable product, food grade products, or even hazardous materials, bulk bags can store and transport your product safely and efficiently.
ISO (International Organization of Standardization) is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 162 national standards bodies. Through its members, it brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant international Standards that support innovation to global challenges.
When it comes to FIBCs, quality is one of the most important aspects to purchasing. Any buyer needs to know that they are getting a quality product from their distributor of choice. Why you ask? Safety. Bulk bags are used to carry thousands of pounds of products and raw materials in facilities all around the world. If a bag fails, people can get hurt. Even worse, if a bag fails under the wrong circumstances, fatalities can occur.
We spend a lot of time answering questions from bulk bag buyers with various degrees of knowledge. We get questions ranging anywhere from construction to specific questions about our in-stock bags and the many different applications that they can be used for.
There is a lot of misinformation about FIBCs on the internet. If you’ve read our blog in the past, you probably know this as we’ve talked about it before. However, we feel it’s important to bring it up in the context product density as there is a lot of bad info regarding this topic. Hopefully this post will help address some of that and set the record straight.
If you have been to Sam's Club or Costco, you know that there are many benefits to buying products in bulk. Buying FIBCs is no different. If you are buying $250,000 or more in bulk bags a year, you are considered a large buyer and are in a unique position to leverage your annual business.
You may see the seal on our website, you may even see the acronym come up when shopping around bulk bag distributors and manufacturers, but do you know what it stands for?
We are committed to educating and sharing our industry knowledge with our website visitors and customers. That is why we continue to put together educational blog posts like this one that are informative and hopefully add value to your organization.
At National Bulk Bag, we get a lot of questions regarding lead times on FIBCs. It’s a topic we’ve covered in the past (check out this blog if you want to hear more about lead times or download our case study discussing how National Bulk Bag handles extended lead times on custom bags). It’s an important topic as it impacts how quickly you can get the bags you need to keep your company and facility running at 100%. The last thing you want is your operation slowing (or worse…) because your shipment of bags is stuck in a California port. In this post, we discuss how supplier stock can impact lead[...]
At National Bulk Bag, we are committed to educating and sharing our industry knowledge with our website visitors and customers. We have built NBB on producing exceptional results for our clients and being transparent and honest in all aspects of our business.
Some industries have been slow to adapt to changing technology. The internet has changed the way we live, work, and perhaps most of all, changed the way we buy things. The FIBC industry isn’t always the fastest to adapt to changes, but it is becoming increasingly common in the industry to get quotes online (for example, the National Bulk Bag ‘Get Quote’ form here).
At National Bulk Bag, we get a lot of questions regarding the various products and applications in which FIBCs can be used. As bulk bags are used with increasing frequency in the food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries, the demand for bags that can withstand high temperature exposure will also increase.
Bulk Bags (also known as Jumbo Bags) have proven to be effective for storing and transporting a variety of products and materials but a new use for these versatile woven polypropylene bags has recently emerged. The most common method of damming off property is stacking polypropylene sandbags but recently, FIBCs have been found to be great for emergency water control and building cofferdams.
