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Setting up Manufacturing
Choosing the correct manufacturing partner at the start of your journey is incredibly important. We work with a variety of manufacturers and suppliers so we can choose the one best suited to our clients needs taking into account considerations such as volume, formulation expertise, product type (e.g. do they have a particular strength in hair or skin, can they make emulsions or hot mixes), pack type (do we need tubes, pouches or jars in the range?) and ultimately synergy with our clients and their brand, it’s important they understand the brand message and everyone gets on. We only use manufacturers with a minimum of an ISO9001 certification, which we couple with our own audits to ensure a high level of quality in all manufacturers we recommend to our clients.
Forecasting
Having worked hard to get a listing for our clients, it is important to make sure we can maintain supply, remain profitable and ensure there is stock for repeat purchases as well as support growth and promotions. They key to this is regular communication with suppliers, retailers and clients. Making sure we have up to date lead times on product lines, rates of sale and any up coming promotions (or anything else likely to lead to a spike in sales). It is vital we work closely with our clients to ensure we keep them in stock, without tying up cash unnecessarily.
Ongoing Manufacturing
Whether it’s placing orders, monitoring their status or arranging collection of finished goods, being available to resolve issues or simply maintaining lines of communication, we will provide ongoing support for our clients with the chosen manufacturer. We require all our manufacturers to provide weekly production schedules so that we can monitor the status of all orders and act quickly to resolve any slippage or issues before they become problematic and threaten supply.
Warehousing and Fulfilment
In a similar way to manufacturing, partnering with the right logistics and fulfilment partner is vital to a brands success. We work with a variety of fulfilment partners located strategically throughout the UK. We will select the right partner for our clients dependent on proximity to their customers and volume of units being shipped. Our partners go beyond just picking orders for retailers and shipping them to central distribution hubs. They are set up to deal with the diverse landscape of modern beauty logistics. Whether it’s Business to Business or Business to Consumer, e-Commerce, gifting and kit building, full lorry loads, single mixed pallets or individual packages by courier, our distribution and logistics partners are set up to handle fulfilment (including returns) in whichever way our client’s business model requires. Part of this service includes stock management, monitoring and maintaining stock levels to an agreed level and ensuring a healthy stock cycle process.
International Import and Export
As previously stated, we are a company with an outward and global approach to growing our customers’ brands. Furthermore, a large part of our growth strategy will be acting as a distributor for overseas brands, so strong links with shipping lines, freight forwarders and clearing agents in international shipping will be essential. We have experience in shipping to the USA, European Union, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, New Zealand and the Philippines as well as several LATAM territories. We have experience of the demands, both administratively and culturally. We work with a strong network of freight forwarders and clearing agents to ensure the smooth shipping of our clients’ goods at a time of great geo-political instability.
Customer Service
As well as being the interface between our clients and manufacturers, as brand managers it is our role to oversee the customer service function also. Whether that is with retailers or consumers, B2B or B2C, customer service is vital to growing and maintaining our clients’ brands. Our experience in customer service with in the beauty arena leaves us well positioned to resolve any issues the customers have and deal with any returns, refunds and credits if required. Making sure we keep a tone consistent with their brand, we are the client’s face and interaction with their customers. We will also compile a product manual that will assist anyone in a customer service role deal with any questions or concerns customers may have. These may be around performance or application to make sure the consumer gets the most out of the products or questions on ingredients to help consumers with allergies or assure them that claims are genuine.
Quality
Completing the link between manufacturer, client, retailer and consumer, we make sure to uphold the highest quality standards for all our clients and their products. As previously mentioned, we only work with suppliers that meet a minimum of ISO 9001 for quality and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) but we also put additional quality control and quality assurance measures in place for client peace of mind. Best quality practice starts during development and our process clearly defines the standards and specifications required.