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Significant Cost Reductions For Dog Washing Unit Supplier

We were approached by a new customer, which is a UK-based supplier of dog washing units. We were asked to develop a water thin shampoo that would go easily through the pipes of the washing unit. They found us following a Google search and were interested in our Pet Care and product development expertise.

Our customer wanted us to demonstrate that we could develop a shampoo based on their current product, which is imported from overseas. As a small business based in the UK, it was difficult for our customer to plan stock replenishment due to long lead times that were often delayed. The cost of transportation was negatively impacting their margins.

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What Problem Needed Solving?

Our customer has a long-standing relationship with an overseas supplier, but the quality of the products was in question, as were the significant transport costs.

The current shampoo options in the dog washing units are:

  • Fragranced Shampoo
  • Herbal Shampoo
  • Conditioner
  • Cleaner and disinfectant (used to wash the machine after use.)

We were tasked with developing alternative products that could be used in the machines to out-perform their current offering, at a reduced cost, so that the customer could achieve their target margins.

How Did We Do This?

We had a new product development meeting with the customer to discuss their product requirements to ensure that we had a firm brief in place for our development team to work with.

These dog wash machines are found in forecourts, supermarkets, farm shops, leisure activity locations, as well as pet retail stores. This product must be different to shampoo used in a professional grooming salon, but the wash is delivered to a groomer’s standard.

The primary points of focus for the shampoos and conditioners were:

  • Great cleaning performance
  • Visible foaming action
  • Easy rinsing
  • Fresh, long-lasting fragrance
  • Economical

 

The customer sent samples of the current products to us, our laboratory team:

  • analysed the samples and supporting documentation
  • gained information regarding the ingredients used to formulate the product
  • measured the physical properties of the product
  • matched the viscosity to avoid issues with the internal workings of the dog washing machines

Important Considerations for Our Customer’s Customer

We knew that the products had to be water-thin, to be able to go through the dog washing unit’s pipe. A water-thin product covers large surface areas efficiently, which in this case speeds up the dog washing process. This is an important factor for the end consumer as it makes the dog washing units even more convenient.

Final Stages to Stability Testing

Once we had the specifications for the product in place, our product development team:

  • produced samples for the customer to try in their dog washing units.
  • tweaked the inclusion levels of the fragrance to enhance the intensity of the fragrances, after customer feedback
  • the product was re-sampled to the customer for review
  • after customer approval, the products were then put onto stability testing

How Did We Save Cost?

Our customer was able to remove freight costs attached to importing products from outside of the UK and reduce transit time from an average of 28 days to just two working days. As for unit costs, the 5 Litre containers of product now averages a £0.33 price decrease.

Clare Rowe, Techtron’s General Manager, says:

“We were delighted to hit their target price point and ensure that storage costs were eliminated. We also cut any overseas shipping costs which presented a huge saving.

“This has been an interesting project to work on because of the unique challenges for our team. It was satisfying all round to be able to deliver exactly what the customer asked for and save them considerable money in the process.”