During our latest interview with Asian firm IMS Packaging, Meng Sijie, General Sales Manager, told us about  the development of the company, their presence at future events, and what their expectations are when it comes to digital marketing and branching out internationally.

What does IMS Packaging do?

IMS Packaging is an exporting and manufacturing company that services the cosmetic, skin care, health care, and hair care industries. Our main product is make-up packaging items, like compacts and other specialized items. We excel at making standard items look as if they were custom-designed for our clients. We are located in Ningbo, China, with convenient transportation access to most other countries in the region and all over the world. All of our products comply with international quality standards and are greatly appreciated in a variety of different markets throughout the world.

Our main markets are in Europe, America, and South-east Asia, as well as some other countries here and there.

What makes your company different or special?

We have quite a few things that make us strong, but the main one is that we have our own product development team. That means that our packaging products are more complete. We like to keep in mind the different preferences of our clients and also provide them with the best quality service.

We offer an extensive array of finishes, including metallizing, anodizing, UV coating, embossing, silk screening, and hot stamping. The company is able and willing to serve clients with advanced technology, high quality products, and reasonable prices. We have many standard molds from which customers may select their basis, then we work with them to customize the packaging so they are attractive and unique.

Do you primarily distribute or manufacture?

Both of them, we are an exporting and manufacturing company specialized in the research, development and production of cosmetic packaging. Our core products are lipstick cases, compacts, lipgloss/mascara/eyeliner containers, cosmetic pens, cosmetic jars, loose powder containers, airless/lotion bottles, lip balm tubes, roll-on bottles, foundation sticks, and other things in that arena.

We have our own factories to make some of our products but we also co-operate with other factores so our product line is relatively complete. That makes it easier for our suppliers to purchase the entire series of packaging materials for a full line.

What do you do at the firm?

I oversee the sales department, which means I'm mainly responsible for the export business of our products and take part in new product development. We have just introduced our new compact design, the CP Collection featuring a side open closure, in 4 different sizes and recess arrangements.

You mentioned your international reach, do you have other locations?

All of our manufacturing and administrative tasks take place in the city of Ningbo, in China. However, we have a vast network of representatives and agents to sell our products. We also have a sourcing network, in case we need to round out our offering with something we don't manufacture.

What sort of customers do you have?

We are very active in cosmetic and personal care packaging. We mainly work with brand owners, distributors, and manufacturers, from first contact through to final delivery, to ensure they get exactly what they need. 

What sort of new things is IMS working on?

Every month, we develop new products and try to offer something different, enter new markets, that sort of thing. Nowadays we are working hard on our CP collection, the new compact design that we just launched. The CP Collection features a side-open closure compact in four different sizes and recess arrangements. The CP collection compacts are elegant with soft outline curves.

How is marketing online working for you? What do you hope to accomplish?

We use Webpackaging as a promotion community. We hope to meet suppliers on the site and have the opportunity to meet them at shows to generate business, grow our network, and see what's going on in the space. We are really happy to be working with the Webpackaging team and we are sure that with their help we will continue to grow and achieve optimal promotion.  I hope to generate more opportunities and exposure for us over the coming year. Webpackaging is part of our online marketing mix. Packaging events are also really important in the real world, they're a great opportunity to meet all our customers and companies that also work in packaging, but we are aware that online presence is really important nowadays. That's why we do both.