SDB – Customer Profile

Contract manufacturer produces 600+ mass market hair shampoos/conditioners (90%) and body lotions for 25+ customers on 4 production lines.

Results:

·         Scalable, flexible, user-friendly software supports double the production

·         Accurate, real-time material resource planning

·         Precise, current tracking of 800+ ingredient inventory

·         Transparency with traceable, trackable tests, formulas, packaging

Thanks to Mar-Kov, SDB easily doubled production and inventory to meet the pandemic-fueled demand for its shampoos and conditioners.

“There is no way we’d have been able to handle the volume increase without Mar-Kov and its ability to adapt as our priorities shifted,” says Beth Parsons, senior project manager, SDB Products.

The scalable, flexible batch control software also provides the accountability, traceability and transparency SDB’s customers need. SDB uses the LIMs module to monitor and record micro-test results that confirm bulk chemicals and compounds meet specifications.

“Customers insist on the documentation – it’s mandatory, not optional, because recalls are hideously expensive and bad for the reputation – ours and our customer’s,” says Beth.

SDB recently ran a mock recall that took less than an hour with Mar-Kov. The software tracked every lot for every chemical, where the finished product was shipped and when it arrived at its final destination.

“Doing it manually is overwhelming, error-prone and incredibly inefficient,” says Beth. “Without Mar-Kov, we’d have to hire a fulltime employee for that role.”

Mar-Kov manages orders and checks customers’ recipes against SDB’s 800+ raw ingredient inventory. When employees need ingredients, the software directs employees to the correct warehouse, aisle, shelf and the section on that shelf. Without Mar-Kov, it could hours or even days to find an ingredient because SDB has 82,000 sq. ft. of production and warehouse space in two locations.  Mar-Kov also saves every recipe, tracks who made each revision and adds a time stamp.

When SDB first started production back in 2019, the company’s owners and senior leaders had no idea what lay ahead. The pandemic hit in early 2020, and Mar-Kov helped make SDB’s rapid and unexpected growth possible.

“Mar-Kov adapted with us as our regular summer to early fall business season became 12 consecutive months of busy,” says Beth. “With Mar-Kov, we’re prepared for whatever comes next.”