The Q-Gard® Traction™ 18″ Boot Cover features a state-of-the-art sole constructed of PVC for unparalleled skid resistance and durability on both wet and dry surfaces. The Q-Gard® Traction™ also features low linting properties, is splash resistant to non-hazardous chemicals and incorporates color coded elastic bands to easily distinguish between sizes.
HOW THIS PRODUCT WAS DEVELOPED
Low Cost Country Sourcing Program Utilization within the Pharmaceutical Industry
Customer Challenge
A top 10 Pharmaceutical company wanted to get Safety Supplies – disposable protective garments from a low cost country. The challenge was the customer did not have expertise in validating the manufacturer of disposable garments, the personnel to manage the supply chain and manage the relationship, building the specifications and processes needed to ensure the quality of each shipment that they received. The goal of the project was to reduce spend in this category by 20% – 25% which would result in a significant savings to the manufacturing business unit.
What the customer requested from Quest®:
1. Sourcing of products from low cost countries.
2. Qualification of manufacturing facilities to ensure that systems of quality are currently in place and practice.
3. Ensure the Low Cost Country manufacturer provided a safe and ethical work environment for its employees.
4. Evaluate financial strength of the manufacturing partner to ensure that they have the manufacturing capacity to deliver in a consistent manner for the short and long term.
5. Make the financial arrangements to fund the supply chain, while managing the currency changes.
6. Work in tandem with customers to develop manufacturing forecasts.
7. Coordinate and manage all steps in international logistics from the indirect product manufacturing facility to the delivery of product to the end user.
i. International customs
ii. U.S. customs
iii. Ocean, rail, and OTL truck line freight management
8. Freight tracking to manage inbound product pipeline
9. Warehouse indirect materials in locations within close proximity to the customer.
10. Ongoing evaluations of quality systems to ensure that indirect materials will be compliant with customer specifications.
11. Quality assurance of indirect materials at receipt of shipments in one of our distribution facilities to ensure consistent product quality.
12. Delivery of indirect materials directly to the pharmaceutical customer
13. Ongoing usage analysis of contracted indirect materials to make real time adjustments to on hand stocking inventory levels and manufacturing forecasts.
14. Electronic ordering, billing, and reporting available upon request.
The Result:
Quest® utilized its Low Cost Country Sourcing Program to access the customer’s needs, indentify the best manufacturing solution in China, completed the validation process of the manufacturing partner, located a distribution location that would meet the customers requirements, negotiated financial investments for the project, developed the best international logistics to get the product in the required time and deliver the product to end users. This resulted in a 25% cost reduction on a 7 figure spend. Due to continued improvement to the process in several points in the supply chain, the cost of the product will continue to decrease during the second year of the agreement which will be passed on to the customer as a part of the Low Cost Country Sourcing program from Quest®.
