BPI Labs Case Study | Rush Order Fulfilment

The Background

A large marketing company in Salt Lake City began to have trouble with its manufacturer. It had been engaged with another personal care manufacturer in the Salt Lake City area, and the project was for a new personal care kit comprised of 4 skin care products. This would be the brand’s first foray into the personal care market, making this product launch an especially important company milestone. The deadline for the kit’s introduction into the market was fast approaching, and the client was beginning to realize that the new kit wouldn’t be manufactured and delivered on time. The client mentioned their complications in a meeting with a local packaging supplier, and the supplier confidently recommended BPI Labs as a manufacturer they should contact.

Disappointment Realized

The brand then called BPI’s president to assess our capabilities and discuss new project development for future releases. Shortly after the phone call, the brand learned that their introductory kit had been delivered with a 20% shortage on one of the items. This would mean the brand couldn’t deliver on 20% of the kits, but this is where the story takes an interesting turn.

…would be unable to deliver on 20% of the kits they were planning to introduce into the market, but this is where the story takes an interesting turn.

Unexpected Providence

The product our customer had been shorted was a hand wash. Our client’s marketing department, after hearing about the conversation with BPI Labs, called our company president back and asked if BPI could quickly make up their 20% shortfall. Because BPI Labs has created many hand washes, we so happened to have some hand wash material in stock. After quickly qualifying the material, overnight shipping a sample for their approval, and receiving packaging for their job, BPI filled, packaged, and delivered in under 2 weeks. BPI Labs’ client was delighted with the response and was able to make a full, on-time introduction into the market.

Transitioning Gets More Complicated

Not long after this episode, BPI’s client decided to move all of their production of their kit items to BPI Labs. They requested that BPI duplicate all the formulas for the kit. BPI was able to complete duplication work on 3 of the 4 items easily, but we recommended that the client seek to purchase the fourth formula from their current supplier in order to maintain a continuous user experience with the product.

BPI then consulted with their new client on how to acquire a formulation, including: processing instructions, exact weight-on-weight percentages, material specifications, and other oft-forgotten details. The formulation was eventually purchased, but with one troubling outcome. After the purchase, the previous manufacturer would not release the fragrance rights to the formulation. Without the release, the fragrance supplier could not supply BPI with the necessary proprietary ingredient. BPI then turned to its supplier relationships to duplicate the fragrance, and a substitute was quickly identified as being identical to the one BPI’s client had to abandon.

Conclusion: BPI Labs competes on extra effort

The customer’s foray into the market was not only on time, but also entirely successful. BPI now produces all four items for the kit and many other personal care products for its client. We were able to carefully transfer all of our customer’s technical information, although we will be recommending our clients make the fragrance rights part of their negotiated technical transfer. We eventually made all of our customer’s manufacturing turnkey as their products gained traction in the market.