Designed to provide an improved service to its clients, the consignment policy removes the need for customers to manage their own stock and instead provides them with a consignment stock from which they can take product, as and when needed.

The strategy has already been introduced to several key UK die-makers and larger box convertors, C&T said.

It means that customers do not run out of product and also reduces working capital requirements within these companies. C&T is able to analyse trends in product usage and increase or decrease the consignment stock accordingly.

Products are held at the customer’s premises and are available for immediate use, removing the need to have to order from C&T. Customers are invoiced only for what they use at the end of each month, and inventory is then topped up at the beginning of the following month.

C&T managing director Simon Shenton said: “Inventory management is a big issue for many of our customers. We aim to remove the hassle of having to manage raw material stocks and also reduce the financial burden on our customers.”

Commercial director Howard Mead added: “One of the challenges [our customers] get now is the varying substrates. Having a variety of creasing matrix on the shelf rather than one or two different sizes means that they can react to their customer needs quickly.

“There is an economic threshold that you have to get to though – a good starting point would be if you are using up a minimum of £1,000 worth of goods per month.”

Wellingborough, Northamptonshire-based C&T offers several brands of creasing matrix, including Kiss, Jazz, XTC and Trax Plus, and also manufactures and supplies a range of accessories for die-making, die-cutting and print finishing.

The business recently launched Rapido, which it called “a brand-new concept in PVC creasing matrix”.