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The site lets you key in data such as your average batch size hourly labor rate the cost of your current marking materials (labels and ribbons ink-jet ink etc.) preprinted label or case obsolescence due to graphics or copy changes etc. The site then calculates not only the difference in initial capital costs between Iconotech’s product and what you’re currently using (or evaluating) but also the annual operating costs. The calculators are thorough and sophisticated and they let you save specific calculations by name in a workspace right on the site. Assuming you have the proper data it’s an excellent way to speed up the buying decision before you even contact the company.
The only downside is the site requires you to register your name phone number e-mail address physical address and other data before accessing the calculators which will undoubtedly turn away many users. Better to allow unfettered access to the calculators up front while offering the site’s ability to save any calculations in a named workspace once you agree to register.
Video clips
If a picture tells a thousand words can you imagine what a 15-second video clip can tell? As an editor trying to describe a complicated machine in writing I’ve often wished I could show readers a video clip of how the darn thing works. On some suppliers’ sites now you can see for yourself.
The site of Universal Labeling (St. Petersburg FL) at www.universaL1.com, features a “Virtual Labeling Library” of short 10- to 15-second video clips on six different machines in action. The clips are disarmingly simple shot specifically for Web viewing. There’s just enough action to give you an idea of how it works but not so much that you’re waiting hours and hours for a download. There’s not even voice-over—just the cozy hum and click of packaging machinery in action which somehow inexplicably aids in comprehension.
Over a high-speed cable DSL or corporate network connection these clips which are in the MPEG format don’t take more than a minute to download though modem users should be prepared to wait much longer than that.
Prices online
The site of George Gordon Associates (Merrimack NH) is unique not for any specific bells and whistles but for what most machinery builder sites have lacked thus far: machinery prices. Yes you read that right. At www.ggapack.com, I was actually able to see honest-to-goodness prices (price ranges actually but that’s good enough) for every machine I clicked on whether palletizers placing/dispensing equipment wrappers or case packers. For example a Layer Pac/Gaylord Pallet Loader Large Size had a price range of $77 to $87. A price range is acceptable because buyers know that the price will change depending on how they want a machine configured. But at least it gives a general idea as to the cost.
Why is this so important? Because price is among the top three items packaging buyers look for in a packaging supplier’s Web site (see Packaging World May ’00 p. 79 or packworld.com/go/websurvey). Yet startlingly few suppliers list prices on their Web sites for fear of revealing information to competitors.
I’ve said it before in this space but it bears repeating: Suppliers do your customers a favor and list your prices right on the site. Your competitors already know not only your list prices but also what you’re actually selling your products for. The only party from which you’re hiding the information is the very one you’re courting: the customer.
See sidebar to this article: Capsule reviews
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