Canadian Packaging Machinery Market Research Report - PMMI

Factors of Little Importance
There were three factors that were considered to be of little importance in the
purchase decision. These were:
• Cost of maintenance
- In view of respondents concern for efficiency and optimizing expenditures, it is
somewhat surprising to see this factor rated so low. It was, however, on the
boundary between the next level factors and those of little importance. This
factor is most certainly given due consideration in the purchase decision
equation but it was rated lower because so many other factors are considered
to be important.
• Availability of Financing and Credit Terms
- A significant majority of respondents to the survey utilize internal sources of
funds so supplier financing and credit terms were of no importance.
• Speed of delivery/delivery wait period
- This factor was given a low rating by most respondents but its importance was
very situation-specific. Companies in particularly competitive or fast moving
industry segments or with very aggressive package-centric marketing
programs felt this to be of higher importance. However, these companies said
that the important consideration was that suppliers must deliver on delivery
date/commissioning date promises.
2.6 CUSTOMER EVALUATION OF SOURCES OF PACKAGING MACHINERY
AND SERVICES
The companies who participated in the survey were asked about their perceptions of
and attitudes toward packaging machinery produced by the various countries active
in the industry. The survey asked respondents to comment upon and rank only those
countries with which they had had actual purchase experience. In particular, they
were asked to identify the specific factors that influenced their purchase decisions.
Overall Preference
Purchasers have very similar attitudes to those found in PMMI surveys of other
counties as they generally hold the most positive attitudes toward packaging
machinery produced by Germany and three or four other European manufacturers.
However, this preference is not translated into market leadership positions for these
countries as the United States continues to account for approximately half of the
packaging machinery imported annually into Canada.
SMG/Columbia Consulting Group Page 19