Supplier qualification for robust relationships

While it seems that the easiest solution, for any major manufacturer of cosmetic finished goods, would be to introduce new actives and raw materials, this may in fact be the most complex and costly proposition in the long run. In my role as R&D manager for microbiology and the person responsible for introducing new preservatives and antimicrobial compounds, I have encountered a number of challenges, which clearly illustrate this dilemma.

Building the relationship

The first step for any company to take in order to be informed of and familiar with the latest and best new technologies is to develop and nurture a mutually beneficial, respectful and transparent relationship with their suppliers. It is not just about company to company interaction through formal channels of supply chain, purchasing and signing annual contracts, but more importantly, it is about building a relationship with the people that represent their respective companies as the technical experts in the area of interest. And so if you are seeking new anti-wrinkle actives, it would be of paramount importance for you to develop an appropriate, professional relationship with the technical skin experts at your supplier’s R&D centre. If it is preservatives you are after, then meeting the microbiology and biochemistry experts should be your goal. The idea here is to start with a mutual understanding of the needs of the clients and capabilities of the suppliers. The relationship will not be a fruitful and long lasting one if you are seeking to source specific ingredients, that are not aligned with supplier's areas of research and their portfolio of offerings. While building the proper relationships it is essential that you uphold not only your company’s values and policies (be it secrecy or other policies with regard to outside communications and interactions) but more importantly that you provide a level of transparency and honesty that will provide clear objectives with well-defined outcomes signifying a win-win end point for both parties. Often times, confidentiality agreements may be required, but before you even commit to that level of collaboration, ask yourself; what is it that your company can gain from this relationship and what is that the supplier can get out of it? To arrive at any sort of legally binding agreements and contracts indicates that significant resources and long term strategy are committed to this relationship. The main reason behind this deep and exhaustive investment of your time into building the relationships is not just for the sake of having a lot of friendly colleagues, but it is critical that you are able to learn about the upcoming technology breakthroughs before they occur, and before they reach the market. If your current strategy to find out what is the next hot innovative ingredient or product is to monitor the markets and see what the competition is doing – you are way behind the curve and by the time you introduce any such technology to your organisation, it is already outdated. So once you establish a position of being the first to know, the actual phase of evaluating potential chemistries should then be an easy part. However, a lot of questions are still pending and prompt resolutions are required not only from you own department but more importantly from the many business partners from within your organisation.