Case Study:

Manufactured razors for a high profile client

The Challenge:

We were approached by a leading women’s razor subscription business during the first Covid lockdown. Whilst demand for their highly decorative, plated product had increased dramatically since Covid had struck, they were experiencing supply and quality issues from their supplier in the Far East - around 30% of all product delivered was unusable, deliveries were consistently late and their current supplier was unable to keep up with increased demand. They had concerns over potential production downtime and if their tooling would able to be adapted to fit our machinery should they move away from their current supplier – better the devil you know! They also had concerns that costs would dramatically increase should they move production to the UK.

The Challenge:

We were approached by a leading women’s razor subscription business during the first Covid lockdown. Whilst demand for their highly decorative, plated product had increased dramatically since Covid had struck, they were experiencing supply and quality issues from their supplier in the Far East - around 30% of all product delivered was unusable, deliveries were consistently late and their current supplier was unable to keep up with increased demand. They had concerns over potential production downtime and if their tooling would able to be adapted to fit our machinery should they move away from their current supplier – better the devil you know! They also had concerns that costs would dramatically increase should they move production to the UK.

The Solution:

Firstly, we worked closely with our tried and tested plating supplier to ensure that they were able to achieve the finishes and volumes required - orders were placed for plating jigs so we could ensure demand was met when the tooling was delivered to us and sample finishes submitted to our customer for sign off. Unfortunately tooling drawings were unavailable to attain whether we would be able to hit the ground running of whether modifications would be required. We agreed with our toolmaker that he would work day and night to ensure continuity of supply for our customer. Finally, we costed the products competitively so that there was no uplift in unit price to our customer. We also agreed to cover the cost of any modifications to the tooling required once it landed with us. With the customer satisfied that we would be able to achieve what we had promised, he arranged for the tool to be airfreighted over to us. As soon as the tool landed, modifications were completed within a matter of days and production began. The first batch was delivered to the customer a week later with zero rejects.

The Outcome:

The customer couldn’t be happier – not only had they been able to meet the increase in demand they had experienced due to lockdown with no disruption to supply, they had reduced the scrap they had received to zero, essentially showing a cost saving. Moving forward they had found a reputable local supplier meaning product could be ordered on a shorter lead time which in turn led to their stock levels being reduced dramatically.

Open Speech Mark

“Would highly recommend. We’ve been using H&J Speake for over 6+ years and they’ve delivered everytime, without fail. The staff are extremely knowledgable and go out of their way to help us everytime. Thankyou”

Chris H / General Manager / Company Name

“Would highly recommend. We’ve been using H&J Speake for over 6+ years and they’ve delivered everytime, without fail. The staff are extremely knowledgable and go out of their way to help us everytime. Thankyou”

Chris H / General Manager / Company Name

“Would highly recommend. We’ve been using H&J Speake for over 6+ years and they’ve delivered everytime, without fail. The staff are extremely knowledgable and go out of their way to help us everytime. Thankyou”

Chris H / General Manager / Company Name

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