L'Oreal
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Company Challenges
For a company as large as France-based L’Oreal, one
of the world’s most well-known cosmetics giants,
it can be difficult to estimate the amount of supplies
and labor needed to produce mass quantities of products. Specifically,
the company’s Professional
Products Division, based in Solon, Ohio, was having
trouble
keeping track of materials needed to create the nearly
18 million holiday pre-packs it assembles each year. The pre-packs,
which contain shampoos and conditioners from the company’s various
brands (Redken, Matrix, etc.), require an assembly line crew and special
packaging materials in order to be put together
for shipment to distribution warehouses and salons.
L’Oreal’s old tracking system for the pre-packs involved
nothing more than spreadsheets, which were time-consuming and outdated.
Software Solutions
Mike Fry, L’Oreal’s assistant vice president of information
technology,
stresses both the importance and convenience of the
SYSPRO Enterprise Resource Planning software it chose from Driscoll & Associates,
Inc. The system, which is affordable, easy-to-use and capable of organizing
the smallest of small businesses
or the largest global corporations, was customized
by Driscoll & Associates to meet the needs of this specialized,
niche project.
Rapid Results
Since L’Oreal’s implementation of the SYSPRO software
eight years ago, material planning and analyst labor have been cut
by about 25 percent, according to Fry. With the help of Driscoll & Associates,
the system was able to be customized for capacity planning, and management
now has a much better idea of the amount of materials required for
pre-pack assembly. The software also allows the company to determine
the size of the assembly line crew needed to get the job done, thereby
eliminating excess labor and excess costs. SYSPRO has also saved the
company time, which is critical in making sure the pre-packs arrive
promptly so they can be sold before each designated holiday.
Testimonials
“I’m truly impressed with the
combination of the SYSPRO product and Driscoll & Associates,” notes Mike
Fry, L’Oreal Assistant Vice President of information
technology. He says that SYSPRO works and has been extremely cost-effective
for L’Oreal, noting that Driscoll & Associates sold him on the investment.
“It starts with Dave Driscoll. He understands manufacturing. He has been
exposed to a lot of different
types of manufacturing, and he knows the SYSPRO product.
This is of great value. When we present a business problem
to him, he’s going to come up
with a creative solution for us,
and it will be cost-effective.”
