The global cosmetics market was approximately $USD 460 Billion in 2014 and is expected to reach $675 by 2020 growing at a rate of 6.4%. The term cosmetics relates to skin care, hair care, perfume, oral hygiene care products all of which falls under the category of the FMCG sector. The supply chain tends to involve either a US based manufacturer or off shore manufacturer, with wholesale, distributors and retail vendors as the interface to the consumer market. With eCommerce we are also seeing direct sales from the manufacturer to the consumer, causing a huge shift in brick and mortar business concepts.
Total Transportation and Distribution has been servicing the cosmetic industry throughout Southern California over the last 20 years. It is Southern California’s trucking service for the cosmetics industry. Our ability to work with different supply chain models has been a real benefit to the changing dynamics in supply chain management. Our dilemma is to keep transportation efficient and cost effective. “From our reading of things, APAC leads the cosmetic industry, followed by Western Europe and North America” says Brian Raub, Sales Manager at www.ttdwest.com.
The cosmetic industry in Southern California, specifically between San Diego and Santa Barbara, has seen many changes over the years. Of recent times, operational costs and steep California corporate taxes has forced leading cosmetic players like OPI to reconsider manufacturing products from its’ North Hollywood facility to North Carolina. “From our perspective the supply chain for cosmetic products remains the same regardless of where the products are manufactured, the need to reach consumers at the end of the day is what matters”, Brian continues. Consumers in Southern California still require OPI products and love OPI products. The demand for beauty and cosmetic products is high in demand in California. One major goal at Total Transportation and Distribution is to ensure that any same day or next day deliveries to either wholesale or retail locations are done efficiently, on time with the goal of exceeding customer expectations. Shelves have to be replenished, inventory at retail outlets, beauty centers have to be complete at all times.
The choice in selecting Total Transportation and Distribution as a Southern California trucking, transportation and delivery mechanism to retailers is key for the cosmetic sector. Handling of products to the point of sale is critical, it requires careful planning, care and consideration when loading and unloading merchandise and of course on time delivery is a priority. “We offer same day and next day delivery with our fleet of both fully owned and independent contractor trucking specialists” Brian commented. The expectation is punctuality at pick up and on time delivery at the destination. If there are issues with storage and space, Total Transportation and Distribution is able to commit to storage at its’ 3PL facility until such time the goods are ready for dispatch.
Most non-logistics experts forget that managing and handling cosmetic products requires expertise in numerous areas. To thrive in the current business climate, cosmetic logistics managers and third-party logistics (3PL) providers must understand how to handle high volumes of products, understand temperature and handling restrictions, navigate licenses and understand true handling costs also known as supply chain transaction costs. Often times price checking is a common theme in the trucking world. Until such time that there is a problem, “true” service costs are not measured at the time of carrier selection.
The old saying, you get what you pay for comes true. The reality is, it may be cheap to make a decision based on a price but the real issues that could cost more in headaches and possibly losing business are often missed because of various intangible service features which are not itemized on a basic quotation. There isn’t a section for items such as, which carrier goes the extra mile with their drivers, who has made the investments in digital routing of goods using global positioning systems (GPS), who takes the time to plan with you on optimizing less-than-truckload (LTL) vs full-truck-load (FTL) shipments. These are all intangible factors. Any cosmetic company, be it the manufacturer, distributor, retailer or eTailer must take transportation and logistics as a critical part of their business operation. At the end of the day the fulfillment of the sale is mandatory or simply lose the deal. Total Transportation and Distribution’s main terminal is in Mira Loma, in the Inland Empire. The company is dedicated to various sectors including the cosmetic industry with managing hundreds of shipments daily throughout Southern California.