Are supply chain auditing tools calling the shots in beauty manufacturing?
This month, for instance, Bell Flavors and Fragrances announced having received AuditOne EFfCI certification for one of its facilities—a milestone that will likely make it easier for Bell to do business with the multinationals.
The platform
According to an online slideshow for suppliers, AuditOne has a vision to “advance confidence in the global supply chain.”
The company goes into more detail on their site emphasizing that, “Currently consumer products companies develop and manage individual quality audit programs to ensure that their suppliers are meeting: quality, formulation and regulatory requirements. These audit systems, while very close in their objectives, require suppliers to host multiple audits and comply with individual reporting procedures to meet compliance standards established by each of their customers.”
The company then explains its role in reworking this equation: “AuditOne consults with Brand Owners and Suppliers to review, analyze and streamline the audit process, establishing a uniform standard for each category. By consolidating the variety of proprietary and often repetitious audits, AuditOne will simplify operations, increase transparency and enhance compliance reporting throughout the supply chain,” according to the AuditOne site.
The credential
In a press release about Bell Flavors & Fragrances’ new AuditOne certification, the ingredient supplier explains having “undergone a series of extensive audits in 2017, making it a busy and productive year for Bell Middletown, located in New York.”
The company was inspired (or perhaps compelled) to get involved with AuditOne: “Bell Middletown has been receiving more requests from several major fragrance customers to join [an] initiative named AuditOne,” as the release notes.
“AuditOne is new for Bell Flavors and Fragrances,” acknowledges Tim Cunningham, Bell Middletown’s vice president of manufacturing, in comments to the press. “The concept behind this program makes a lot of sense for any manufacturing operation,” he says, “because of the time and cost savings for multiple audits, as opposed to one audit per year which is a primary selling point of the AuditOne approach.”
Now that Bell and the team at Middletown have gone through the hard work of securing an AuditOne credential for good manufacturing processes, for quality, and for safety, being a part of the program should get easier.
“The audit is set up on a 3-year cycle, and only the first year is considered a full audit with the second and third being shorter which helps save time and resources for the facility,” says Cunningham. “Going forward, the AuditOne system will become even more valuable to Bell as more customers join the process.”
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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.
