As Dapple Grows, Logistics is Everything
July 3rd, 2008
Rosemary Coates of the AKA Group, our Manufacturing and Supply Chain expert, recently held a mentorship meeting with finalist Dana Rubinstein and her partner, Tamar Rosenthal of Dapple. Here is Rosemary’s report:
The Supply Chain Maturity Curve
This week, business travel brought me to Philadelphia and New York, where I had a great opportunity to meet Dana and Tamar in person. They have spent the past two years developing and testing products, finding production partners, product box and bottle manufacturers. They are currently selling their products in NYC specialty children’s stores and at Diapers.com. They plan to start selling soon from the Dapple web site.
Long term, Dana and Tamar’s goal is to mass produce Dapple products and distribute them through chain stores and big box retailers. They want to make Dapple available to everyone who wants a natural cleaning product for their children.
Dapple is a startup in the earliest stages of the Supply Chain Maturity Curve. Their initial purchase practices for products and services will change over time. This pattern holds true for many startups, not just a business like Dapple, a manufacturer of natural cleaning products.
Dana and Tamar do most of the logistics work themselves (supplying their products to specialty retailers in the NYC area and shipping pallet loads to diapers.com). They rely on family and friends to help. But as they grow and move up the Supply Chain Maturity Curve, they will need different suppliers who can support their projected volumes and distribution requirements.
I encouraged Dana and Tamar to think about the Dapple Supply Chain Maturity Curve and pick points where they are likely to be in 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years. What will their business look like and what services will they need? They should prepare alternative scenarios and outline what their manufacturing and logistics needs will be at those points.
This planning is very important so that they select suppliers with the capacity and willingness to grow along with them. Because they plan to sell to large retailers, their supply chain plans should include steps such as:
- Meet with current manufacturers and packaging suppliers to discuss potential future scenarios. I advocate developing long term relationships, but if their current suppliers do not share Dapple’s growth vision, Dana and Tamar should look for alternatives.
- Research and develop relationships with logistics suppliers such as warehousing companies and trucking companies. Check references on potential suppliers. Validate that these companies have experience handling consumer products. It is critical that consumer products are delivered “retail ready” (no box damage, and ready for a consumer to pick off the shelf). Some logistics companies specialize in this industry and can help minimize in-transit shipping damage.
- Talk to the chain and big box retailers now about their requirements should Dapple become one of their suppliers in the future. Wal-Mart and Target for example, have very specific rules for deliveries to their distribution centers. If you want to be a supplier to these retailers, you must follow all the rules. Start planning now by picking logistics companies that can grow with Dapple.
- Determine alternative and strategic sources of supply and production. Dana and Tamar have already explored the possibility of having their packaging and plastic bottles manufactured in China. They have located some potential vendors on www.Alibaba.com and they may eventually want to manufacture in China as well as sell to the Chinese consumer market. In my previous blog about Karla at Head2Toe Publications, I wrote about how to work with Alibaba and Chinese manufacturers
For now, Dapple is at the start-up stage. With Dana and Tamar’s ambitious plans, they will be moving up the steep part of the Supply Chain Maturity Curve very soon.
Rosemary Coates, Managing Director, Supply Chain
The AKA Group
