There are thousands of carpet manufacturers around the world but most commercial projects are one-time or once-in-a-decade purchases. Commercial carpet is not a simple commodity and has great impact on ambience, safety and perceived value of the entire project.
For purchasing and procurement managers getting the right carpet at a right price and at right time may not be immediate priority in the early stages of the project. However, a project can not be considered complete without the final carpet installation.
Every commercial contractor or project manager wants to source the best commercial carpet from the best carpet manufacturer at the best conditions.
We will guide you through the process of smart choosing and hopefully help to find the best option.
How to Choose The Best Commercial Carpet Manufacturer
3 most important criteria that help you to choose between different manufacturers:
Conditions: Consider the whole cost not only carpet price
The total cost of a commercial carpet is sum of important parameters:
Total Cost = Carpet Price + Shipping + Lead Time Risks + Manufacturer Experience Carpet price
Make sure all the manufacturers get the same specifications and understanding of your request. Sometimes people might be in rush or distracted and misread your request. Always ask for a product specification along with price offer. You would be surprised to see that although you sent same specifications to each manufacturer but they actually offering different products thus big difference in prices.
Shipping
Almost always the need for contract carpet comes in fixed volume. You might need exactly 3,500 m² which can’t fit 20ft container and can’t fill 40ft container automatically increasing your shipping cost.
Some countries have a LCL shipping services between them and this might be a solution for this particular situation.
Consider shipping cost along with product cost. Transit time is also a type of a cost.
Shipping optimization example
For a project in Georgia, purchase manager had to choose between 2 vendors: us and manufacturer in an Asian country. Although their carpet prices where 10% lower, shipping cost was around 4,000 USD and 40 days transit time. Our shipping cost was 700 USD and 3 days delivery. Even though we offered the carpet itself for 10% more, with added shipping our offer became 16% cheaper. Not mentioning the lead time which we will discuss next.
Production Lead Time
The nature of construction projects is composed of rigid dead-lines and regular delays. Unfortunately installation of carpets is one of the latest operations to be done before finishing the project. Most of the time the project has used all the safety time margin before the carpet installation and the time allocated to sourcing and installation of carpets is already less than minimally required.
Moreover it is common that most of the projects are aimed to be delivered in autumn, Q3 of the year, right before winter. Although manufacturing capacity of all carpet factories in the world exceed the demand, every year contractors face longer carpet production lead times than estimated.
To avoid time related problems consider starting carpet sourcing project before the actual need.
We offer our clients 1-3 months of free storage period which will allow projects to get the product right in time.
Experience: Prioritize manufacturer that has delivered similar carpets before
Not all the carpets are same, neither are their manufacturers. Commercial carpets are expected to perform for 10+ years, provide sound and thermal insulation at suitable levels for given space and easily maintained under specific usage conditions.
When contacting a manufacturer, always share detailed project information along with technical specifications. If possible, reference a well known or standardized space so the manufacturer can better understand your expectations. Sometimes specifications provided by architects or clients might not be the most suitable choice of the project.
Eastern Europe Gaming example
Recently we had a gaming saloon renovation project in Eastern Europe where the owner insistent on highest quality. After receiving our highest grade samples the owner sent their sample of what they consider ‘highest quality’. Turns out they were solely focused on texture and softness of the carpet and those sent us PP carpet. Which is indeed softer and has better color options than Axminster or Polyamide carpet. However PP carpets are not suitable for crowded spaces due to many factors: not flame retardant, maintenance, standing stability, sound isolation. Of course the most important one is safety – pp rugs are not fire retardant.
After long back and forth we finally found middle ground with printed Wool + PA carpet.
Location: Physical Distance and Trade Barriers
Due to recent geopolitical developments, buyers must consider both the origin and transportation route of any product purchased. The difficulties might come from buyer’s country policy as well as from seller’s or even third country. This is the least visible and expected underwater stone but might hit unexpectedly and hard.
For government projects this is especially important as in some occasions the tender-makers assume the contractor to be aware of local restrictions which are also complicated due to selective and exemptive nature.
The other complication is that manufacturer you choose might not be aware of recent restrictions. This is why you should be in close contact with your custom broker and double check every option.
Some countries are facing global trade barriers such as import tariffs. You might get a great deal with cheaper carpet price and shipping cost only to face a 40% or higher import tariff on goods originated from certain countries. Most of the time there are also additional documentation and licensing fees which further diminish your profit.
Turkey is a one of the most favorited nation with bilateral trade and investment agreements with Europe, North America, Africa, CIS and Asia.
Conclusion
We hope this information will help purchasing managers to source most suitable carpets under best conditions right in time. Remember that even if the manufacturer has “Best Carpet Manufacturer” award, it does not automatically mean they are best option for specific project. Always consider the whole project and all resources such as time, location, experience and price together.
We have a list of trusted carpet manufacturers for different projects.
About us
We are a commercial carpet manufacturer represented by ZZ Exporter LTD. located in Turkey. We have an experience of manufacturing custom carpets for hotels, carpets for mosques, temples, conference halls, theaters and event specific or sport carpets.
Our priority is efficiency in usage of world resources, partner’s time and money and customer satisfaction.
If you are interested in sharing your needs with us, feel free to contact anytime