Who you gonna call…
Posted: February 14, 2013 Filed under: Press Releases Comments OffThe peace and tranquillity of our office was shattered one sunny afternoon last year when a now well-known MVNO contacted us in a panic. They had nailed their wholesale deal with their MVNA partner and were desperate to get their packaged Sim cards to market in a matter of weeks.
“But how will it be possible in such a short time frame?” they enquired.
“Fret not,” we replied and organised a conference call for the following day.
Our team were gathered around the boardroom table, the big screen was fired up and we waited, poised, croissant in hand for the MVNO to dial in. After several bites of almond pastry, a voice emanated from the loudspeaker and we sprung into action.
Within hours, a diagram of the packaging they had in mind was in our hands and we set to work translating it into a tangible product. Toiling over CAD diagrams, tweaking, altering, missing lunch breaks such was our determination to get the packaging perfect, first time.
Our in-house graphic designer was slaving over her Mac designing the branding for their Sim cards that would sing out in majestic colour, delivering the MVNO message to the customer as they enjoyed their unpacking experience. She sent one to print and we watched, breath held. We waited. Moments later when the print bed lifted it revealed the newly branded Sim card with full colour logos where they should be, high res images sharp and crisp. It was splendid.
Wikipedia says: A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from. Not to contradict the all knowing Wikipedia, but this was so much better than that! It was a fully branded Sim card encased in a pristine full colour Sim pack that was shrink wrapped in crystal clear film. In short, it was as close as you can get to a production product. We knew the pack would work; we’ve got over 10 years experience in cardboard engineering, but the customer needed to approve it. The courier left us with our words ringing in his crash helmet.
“Take care, but don’t save the horses.”
Soon the MVNO was back on the phone in the boardroom. We sat iPads in hand ready to take notes. Nothing, I repeat, nothing needed changing. It was late, so late that dinner had been delivered to the office by the time the call came through. “Approved”. The Sim pack was going to market. Buoyed up with the jubilation of success we steadied ourselves for phase 3. Production.
With time against us, we set to work sourcing the correct grade of 100% recycled cardboard for the Sim pack. Thankfully, we had a bank of suppliers to call upon so it wasn’t too long before the stock had been ordered and was being loaded onto a pallet. Phew!
No more than 24 hours later with tooling and printing plates made and the cardboard loaded on the press we began the process of transforming 25’000 bulk packed, unbranded white Sim’s.
Our Sim fulfillment line could now be put into action working its lightening fast yet bullseye accurate magic, applying the newly branded Sims to printed packaging with a single perfectly placed glue dot. Meanwhile our shrink-wrapping line was running, sim card after sim card on its conveyor belt. Each perfectly packed and labelled.
On the tenth day since the original call came through the packaged, paired (with magstripe encoded top-up cards), barcode labelled, shrink wrapped, packaged and dispatched Sims arrived at their destination. Our hands were raw from work and high fiving. Was it worth it we asked each other blurry-eyed? You bet we shouted in unison. No sooner had the kettle been filled when another urgent call came through; this time a different time pressed MVNO partner was in distress.
…to be continued.
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Cellpak : Delivering Intelligent Capability in Supply Chain with a range of integrated Packaging Products & Services tailored to Mobile, Card & Device.
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Breeze by Cellpak explained
Posted: February 6, 2013 Filed under: Press Releases Comments OffWhen asked to explain Breeze plenty of words spring to mind; MVNO Supply Chain Partner, Sim Card Fulfillment, Virtual Warehousing, Sim Card Packaging I could go on. However pictures speak louder than words so we figured a short video would be better.
Be warned the choooon is catchy so put your tea well away from your keyboard!
If you like it please share it.
Cellpak : Delivering Intelligent Capability in Supply Chain with a range of integrated Packaging Products & Services tailored to Mobile, Card & Device.
Web Content Output by Cellpak is licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 unported license. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available under the Cellpak Content Usage Guideines
What happens to all the old gadgets now that Santa has delivered shiny new ones?
Posted: January 8, 2013 Filed under: Company News Comments OffWith iPhone 5 expected to drive the biggest upgrade in consumer history, add into that the Samsung Galaxy SIII that has made its way into the hands of over 20 million users in 100 days, there are or will be an abundance of unused phones and devices cluttering up the kitchen junk drawer. Recycling is an option, but how does it work after you have ‘simply popped’ your old phone into the pre-addressed envelope?
You can always opt to use an application like Checkmend (.com) that checks the history of any electronic device before you send it. If you didn’t buy your phone from a reputable shop, perhaps in an online auction, it may be worth considering, as your phone will be returned if its history is dubious.
Then, aside from you getting a cheque in the post, often chances are that once your phone has been wiped of data it will find a new loving owner in a developing county like India, China, Africa or Pakistan, where there are very few landlines.
Before you get a warm fuzzy feeling about connecting poorer people throughout the world its worth remembering that the recycling company you choose don’t donate your handset, they sell it. Hence how your payment is feasible.
If your phone is broken or unusable, you won’t get any money for it but it can still be recycled. Did you know your handset contains precious metals like silver and gold? The flash memory can be re-used and the plastic can be melted down and turned into something else, such as a road cone. Fancy that, your old iPhone is now an iCone!
Cellpak : Delivering Intelligent Capability in Supply Chain with a range of integrated Packaging Products & Services tailored to Mobile, Card & Device.
Web Content Output by Cellpak is licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 unported license.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available under the Cellpak Content Usage Guideines
STOP PRESS… New Royal Mail Guidelines
Posted: December 17, 2012 Filed under: Company News | Tags: cardboard, cartons, distribution, eco-friendly, fulfilment, handsets, iphone, packaging, shipping, smartphone, storage, supply chain, trade-in Comments OffThe new rules (Dangerous Goods download) on handset posting come into action soon. Are you ready?
We have a range of rigid packaging mailer’s that conform to these new Royal Mail guidelines. Additionally we will be launching a completely new Visi-Grip Handset mailer that will further simplify the handset mailing process whilst further reducing mailing costs.
Visi-Grip `Retention film` transit packs are designed to enclose the handset in a stretchable film which will securely hold the product in place within the transit pack, this is combined with a rigid outer corrugated carton. The secure inner film pouch will accept all models of Mobile Smart phone. The dimensions of our Visi-Grip range of cartons are mail service friendly allowing mobile handsets and other devices to be mailed both simply and economically.
Our Visi-Grip range is available to order from our website now.
Cellpak : Delivering Intelligent Capability in Supply Chain with a range of integrated Packaging Products & Services tailored to Mobile, Card & Device.
Web Content Output by Cellpak is licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 unported license.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available under the Cellpak Content Usage Guideines
Efficiency in the Telecoms Supply Chain
Posted: December 10, 2012 Filed under: Company News | Tags: cardboard, cartons, distribution, eco-friendly, fulfilment, handsets, iphone, packaging, shipping, smartphone, storage, supply chain, trade-in Comments OffIn a climate where companies are increasingly relying on their suppliers to reduce costs, improve quality, refine processes whilst maintaining ethical standards, it is organisation’s that build agile, adaptable, and aligned Supply Chains that will continue to be the most successful.
Ask yourself the following question;
Can your Supply Chain partners quickly respond to short-term changes in supply or demand without breaking into a sweat?
At Cellpak we have honed our approach in each of our Supply Chain relationships to ensure that we are fully aligned with our partners expectations. By doing this we ensure that there are no weak links in the chain. Whether we are providing a fully managed Supply Chain or parts there of, our specific knowledge of the Telecoms industry prove’s to be invaluable, time and time again.
We understand that the Mobile and Connected Device Industry has radically shifted from being supply-driven to demand-driven. The impact this has had on MVNO’s and Hardware resellers is that it is now paramount to achieve operational efficiency, this is where we can help. Our range of Tailored Products and Order Fulfillment Services can be deployed at short notice therefore avoiding disruption, downtime and excessive costs. We call it Delivering Intelligent Capability.
Cellpak : Delivering Intelligent Capability in Supply Chain with a range of integrated Packaging Products & Services tailored to Mobile, Card & Device.
Web Content Output by Cellpak is licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 unported license.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available under the Cellpak Content Usage Guideines
iPhone 5 trade-ins: earlier than expected, but we’re ready
Posted: November 20, 2012 Filed under: Press Releases Comments OffWe’ve got it on good authority that iphone 5s are already being traded-in with numbers increasing daily.
We can’t help but wonder if this surprising news has something to do with glitches in iOS6, specifically maps.
Which begs the question: What are people using instead? Are they going back to their trusted iphone 4s or have they turned their backs on Apple all together and giving Android a go?
As ever, we’re providing solutions to today’s market and are launching our iPhone 5 Bulk Shipper (holds 100 iphone 5s, or any combination of previous models), and iPhone 5 Retail Box much earlier than we anticipated (early December).
As with our previous handset packaging solutions (also see blog September 21) we’ve invested time and effort to make sure that, what is to some just a box, is in fact a finely crafted piece of cardboard engineering.
Order iPhone 3 and 4 bulk shipper now and watch this space for our iPhone 5 shipper that’s coming soon…
MVNO strategy: Thick or Thin – the advantages of being Lean
Posted: September 26, 2012 Filed under: Opinion | Tags: Breeze, customer satisfaction, customer services, fulfilment, innovation, mobile, MVNO, outsourcing, ROI, sourcing, strategy, value chain Comments OffBy outsourcing supply chain, distribution and customer services, MVNO start-ups can benefit from economies of scale, infrastructure, and otherwise unavailable expertise and prior learning, to reduce risk, time and cost in bringing their service to market. But why stop there?
Many MVNO experts extol the benefit of outsourcing to start-ups – quicker implementation, better cash flow etc. – but believe that it proves more expensive and less flexible/responsive over the longer term. This may be true of IT systems outsourcing, but it is not necessarily the case with supply chain and customer services where an ongoing relationship allows for maximum innovation, responsiveness and flexibility as well as ongoing reduced costs.
Imagine the comparable cost of employing a team of senior-level execs who can bring track records of high performance across direct mail, packaging and point-of-sale, multi-channel fulfilment, distribution, storage and reverse logistics, customer services, response handling… that’s what a specialist and dedicated MVNO outsourcing service gives you at a fraction of the spend and turning supply chain into value chain.
We call this the lean MVNO approach.
Concrete customer benefits in a virtual relationship
Cellpak is well-known for our best-of-breed SIM card packaging and fulfilment services. We have applied our expertise in pragmatic yet high results solutions to also offer device sourcing to MVNOs and now outsourced customer services and response handling.
Blended with our expertise in direct mail, personalisation and multi-channel fulfilment, we’re best placed to offer complete, competitive customer support: reducing the overhead of managing your third party relationships and ensuring that your brand is delivered consistently across all customer touch points.
As always, we develop bespoke solutions based on your individual needs but without starting from scratch: we’re able to deliver quickly and offer you clear advice on what works, what’s essential and what you can manage without. Our in-depth MVNO experience delivers maximum benefit for your desired level of spend.
MVNO supply chain outsourcing allows existing players to maintain lower costs against higher service levels and focus on their absolute core business activities: branding / differentiation, marketing, pricing, allowing for a truly lean MVNO enterprise with minimal asset costs, including headcount, and a fluid infrastructure that can best weather unpredicted and unpredictable growth.
