Company Profile
Dr. Vivian Valenty founded VB Cosmetics 25 years ago to develop clean, healthy, and clinically tested solutions for popular beauty treatments. The company manufactures and markets Dazzle Dry™, a nail lacquer free from harmful chemicals, animal byproducts, and animal testing. It is the only quick-drying, long-lasting natural nail care system of its kind. To increase its business and share of the market, the company enlisted Arizona Manufacturing Extension Partnership to help develop the processes, organization, and financial structure to support a growing company.
Shifting from Indirect to Direct Sales
Before Dazzle Dry, VB Cosmetics developed and manufactured private-label cosmetics, but the plan for Dazzle Dry was to market and sell direct. To prepare for this growth and additional responsibility, the company’s leadership team met with Arizona MEP to discuss their goals and develop a plan for strategic growth that included implementing best practices in human resources, operations, and finance.
Developing the Organization to Prepare Growth
Like many small companies, a few employees did many jobs. They became knowledgeable but did not have the time to dedicate to mastering one functional area. Meanwhile, many of the critical and urgent problems fell to the owners to solve. “When you are too busy fighting fires, you’re not able to focus on growing the business,” said Dr. Valenty.
To solve these issues, the company worked with Arizona MEP to assess its organizational structure, develop an organizational chart, and outline each employee’s responsibilities. This process sheds light on what employees were doing and which activities had no functional owner. By identifying these gaps, the leadership team could identify how to structure current employees to fill those gaps and where to add new staff to bring the most value to the organization.
“It was unclear who had responsibility for a functional area before we created the organizational chart and job descriptions,” said Dr. Valenty. “Now, all employees have a detailed and descriptive job description that aligns the goals of the company with the individual efforts of the employees.” This process has helped the company create an organizational culture in accordance with its vision and goals.
Improvements to Warehouse Operations
In the warehouse, the company looked to streamline the order management and shipping process. Arizona MEP led the team through a value stream mapping (VSM) project to identify the tasks and flow of information through the entire process, starting with taking the customer’s order to shipping it out the door. VSM helped the team see the entire process and where wait or idle times occurred. The team then created a new process map that removed tasks that did not add value, reduced wait times, and represented the best possible process. Using the process map, the team put into action a plan to achieve the new order and shipping process.
The team also embarked on a 5S project in the warehouse to improve inventory and shipping material labeling and storage. 5S is a system for organizing the physical workspace for efficiency and safety. Now there is more room for inventory and shipping materials. “These projects helped the team prepare for more shipping volume and were a morale booster for the team,” said Dr. Valenty. “Using VSM helped the entire team see how their roles contribute to the success of the overall process.”
KPI and Financial Reports
Arizona MEP has also helped VB Cosmetics standardize financial reporting and develop key performance indicators (KPIs). The leadership team can now create budgets for activities and capital expenses that better align with the company’s current performance. Protecting the company’s intellectual property and applying for trademarks for Dazzle Dry were also new territory for the company. Arizona MEP connected the company to an attorney who specializes in intellectual property (IP) to help them take important steps for trademark and protection of the company’s IP.
Company Accelerates Growth with Arizona MEP Solutions
“Everyone in the company has benefited from the coaching we have received from Arizona MEP,” said Dr. Valenty. Sales growth has accelerated since the company embarked on process improvement projects and on creating its organization based on the company vision. “We have been impressed with the breadth of services and resources the Arizona MEP has brought to the table.” Dr. Valenty adds, “They have been able to fill gaps in knowledge and expertise while we continue to grow our business.” In 2018 VB Cosmetics experienced a 72% sales growth over 2017