Local Plywood Supplier Vs International Plywood Distributor – Which To Choose?

If your business or the company you work for require sourcing plywood, there are two options open to you. The first is to source an international plywood distributor while your second option is to go with a local plywood supplier. Because resources are limited, you need to make the best decision that will end up saving your business money.

Here are some pros and cons of both international as well as local plywood suppliers. After going through this blog, you will be in a far better position to judge commercial plywood suppliers based on your needs.

International Plywood Distributor

When you are playing with an international plywood distributor, you will have access to the best marine plywood and structural plywood.

Advantages Of Doing Business With An International Plywood Distributor

• Enhanced value for your money: When doing business with an international distributor for plywood, you will ensure that your association with a famous foreign supplier and distributor will in turn enhance the worth of your company’s products. Additionally, the cost of labour and manufacturing is lower, leading to profit for your business.
• Increased capacity in production: The productivity of your business has a lot to do with where you sourced your plywood from. In the case of international plywood distributors, their low manufacturing cost will aid you when you look at the balance sheet the next time. Your resource gathering capabilities increase, along with the option to source from multiple foreign suppliers to keep the production line busy.
• The plywood will be high quality: If for example, you need plywood cut to size, an international plywood supplier will have better chances of supplying this as they have customers the world over and cannot afford to stain their reputation with low-grade plywood.

Disadvantages With International Suppliers Of Plywood

• Delivery time: When doing business with an international plywood supplier, you may have to wait longer as the plywood ships to you over great distances. Depending on location, this can be time-consuming and frustrating. Your business productivity will nosedive if shipments get delayed.
• Refunding: In large shipments, no matter how undesirable to the supplier, there are chances of defective plywood boards and defects in plywood cut to size. When doing business with an international supplier, returning defective pieces and boards is time-consuming and along with issues in communication, and the distance between the two parties, it is a bit dicey.
• Higher cost of shipping: Whilst with a local supplier, you hardly had to spend on shipping and transportation, it is not the same with international plywood suppliers. While the cheap labour and location decrease the price, the shipping costs will add up, with the potential of offsetting your profits.

Local Plywood Supplier

If you had to search low and high for a dependable local plywood supplier, here are the pros and cons of doing business with them:

Advantages Of Collaborating With A Local Plywood Supplier

• Easy Communication: As both you and your local plywood supplier live in Australia, you will always be in touch with the supplier and communicate your needs and specifications clearly with nothing lost in translation. Without the language barrier, you will be able to convey your needs in as many words, and with local suppliers knowing your business personally, it is easy to keep channels of communication open with them.
• Refunds:This is a big advantage of working with local suppliers. If you spot defective pieces of plywood, the supplier will immediately get them replaced. Again, with local suppliers, detection of a bad plywood piece happens sooner and the turn-around time is less. This has another advantage. With a defective piece, the plant machinery may not function properly, breaking down. With local suppliers, your supervisor will be in the best position to spot and get the defective pieces out of the production line so that the machinery does not malfunction.
• Reduction of supply chain cost: When you and your supplier live in the same place, maybe just a few miles apart, the cost of shipping plywood boards and other things to your business location will be cheap. It is just a fraction of the cost involved in international plywood transportation and shipping. Your saved revenue will come in handy with increasing the sphere of your business, and local suppliers of plywood are one of the rungs on the ladder of expansion and profitability.

Disadvantages With Local Plywood Suppliers

• Restrictions: According to your location in Australia, there will be local restrictions in place that may have a negative bearing on the flow of your business. Sourcing plywood locally is a bit of a challenge because of these governmental challenges. Two pertinent issues revolving around this are the exchange rates and the cost of logistics.
• Reduction in efficiency: If your local plywood supply chain is weak and unqualified, chances are you will have to pay dearly for this in the form of defective pieces and refunds. To avoid such a possibility, you can ask people who they favour in the locality for plywood supply and which local suppliers have the best street cred.
• Shortage of resources: This is a theoretical disadvantage. If you are based in an area that does not have sufficient natural resources, it will be well-nigh impossible for you to source plywood from a local supplier because there are none! Who would want to be a supplier of plywood where he does not have easy access to the material himself? Again, your local supplier might not have the correct machinery required for supplying quality plywood pieces: this will not go down well with you or your business. ‘

All things said and done, the current world situation, in the grips of a pandemic, calls for foresight and planning so that you can run your business optimally. In the last two years, the preference has been to do business with local plywood suppliers. By the look of things, this is going to be the order of business for another year at least, after which you will be in a better position to judge and take a call on where you source your plywood from.