Supply Chain Management
One retailer wants everything to be tamper-labeled. Another requires small counter displays. A third requests the development and assembly of 100,000 pieces into eight-piece kits. Through it all, the focus has to be on the core consumers—educated, youthful-spirited young women.
These are the challenges facing Stila Cosmetics, a relatively small but growing company in Glendale, CA. If that weren’t enough, Stila has the daily challenges of achieving the right mix of product formulas in fashion-forward, eco-friendly packaging.
Stila Cosmetics accomplishes all of these objectives and has forged a close personal bond with its consumers by using guerilla-marketing tactics in which packaging plays a vital role. Its packaging…show more content… Price is just one measurement when Stila qualifies contract packagers, for example, as opposed to a more tactical use of vendors, in which a brand owner increases capacity and capability as needed and bases procurement primarily on price.
The Stila product family requires assembly and sometimes rework services from contract packagers. Stila uses several assemblers in the Los Angeles area: Teamwork Packaging, and v3…show more content… It is high service and helping us out when we need it, because sometimes, people don’t give the company a proper lead time, Sometimes, people don’t have flexibility in their schedule, so flexibility is very important to Stila company.
The need for speed and flexibility in operations is essential because development cycles are shrinking due to retailer and consumer demands. Turnaround times typically were one year not long ago, from package creation to the shipping date. Those turnaround times recently have plummeted to five months.
Beyond that, the company is committed to being eco-friendly, whether it’s local product and package production or the use of Kraft material in its cartons or eye shadow sold in clamshells made from recycled PET.
Shortened turnaround times and a green approach are understandable given Stila’s positioning as a marketer of prestige “multitasking” product formulas in eco-friendly packaging using fashion-forward designs. The mix of packaging ranges from core-line packages in black, silver, and Kraft material to seasonal designs and offerings using what loyal consumers anticipate and gobble up as