Beauty care provider reduces purchasing costs for plastic parts by 38 per cent

Hairdressers are artists who love creativity and perfection. That's why they need highly professional tools to provide their customers with the best possible service. These tools, such as colouring bowls, colouring brushes, hairbrushes, colour scales, combs, curlers, straightening irons, perming accessories, pumps,

hair dryers and hair clippers have been purchased in Germany for several decades. Quality is the top priority when it comes to achieving the best possible performance. Under the motto "Better and cheaper", Rainer Martin searched abroad for alternatives that were measurably cheaper than the current range while offering at least the same quality. After an extensive search, high-performance sources were identified in Europe and Asia. The necessary quality testing was ensured on site by involving a German-led quality testing agency.

The first step was to examine the plastic injection moulded products, as these were considered less critical than the electrical appliances. Using supplier evaluations developed by analysts based on mandatory requirements, the identified suppliers were audited on site with the support of the quality agency. This was followed by a call for tenders.

Reliability and punctuality, control mechanisms, flexibility and quality management were important factors in the evaluation of the bids.

In terms of price, all bids were between 25 and 45 per cent below the previous conditions. In order to identify the best supplier in terms of price-performance ratio, the bids were evaluated in a decision matrix based on the tender criteria.

The decision was made on the basis of the most economical bid and the results of the quality audit carried out in advance. By relocating five plastic injection moulding products, the total costs were reduced by €608,000 or 38 per cent over a period of 24 months.

The marketing, research and development, and commercial management departments were very satisfied with the result. The head of plastic parts development said, "The product quality is excellent, and we will certainly source further cosmetic products from the selected supplier in the future."