This will be one of the hot issues to be debated in the Conference Room of the next MakeUp in NewYork event, taking place September 19th from 3:30 pm to 5 pm. Why couldn't industrial relocation be an answer to the pressure of "market turnaround"? It is not by chance that foreign companies have started investing heavily in North America in recent months. Fresh examples abound. Some of these company managers have agreed to take part in the debates. The questions being posed are: Who benefits from this development? What are the issues and challenges? It promises to be an enriching opportunity to exchange and confront ideas and, after MakeUp in NewYork has closed its doors, a debate that is bound to continue in the next show in Los Angeles.

For at least the last two decades the US cosmetic industry has relied more and more upon overseas sourcing, notably from Asia. The local industry has shrunk respectively as many packaging and formula suppliers have invested in operations in low cost countries rather than in the USA, or have even left the industry. However, a strong trend in the opposite direction is developing nowadays. Economic and social progress in once under-developed economies has eroded the cost benefit of sourcing overseas and skyrocketing local demand has claimed its share of the available capacity. At the same time, the USA are witnessing a strong desire for re-localizing jobs and supply, which is likely to affect all industries. But there is another major reason... It's faster! It's much faster!

Faster!
It is a well known fact that the cosmetics sphere is a fast-paced universe. Like in the fashion world, to which cosmetics is closely linked, trends appear, develop and then fade away. Only to be replaced by the next wave, all happening at an ever accelerating pace.

But it takes a lot of work to put a billion lipsticks and mascaras in the hands of fashionistas in Paris, New York, Shanghai, Seoul and Sao Paulo. Behind the elaborately worked and shiny storefront of perfumeries and polished ads in the media, - whether traditional or digital - there is actually a real and physical industry at work. Consisting of developers, ingredients suppliers, formulators, packaging manufacturers, converters, logisticians; supported by R&D and Innovation teams and spurred on by brand marketers, those in the industry are under constant pressure. There is a real risk that the a fantastic and innovative concept devised over a longer period of time could be outsold by another which could be designed, developed and marketed in the same timespan, and many still have a bitter taste of it.

A marketer's dream!
Hence the ultimate wish of marketers: "I want my product on store shelves the day after the decision has been made". Yes, it is still just a dream, but we are getting closer and closer each day, and this theme has become central to the strategies and tactics developed across the industry's entire value chain. Yet, all the elements which could be optimized have already been optimized: manufacturing times have been cut down by automating factory lines, logistical routes have been reduced by relying on shorter journeys, and the traditional optimization approach of Value Stream Mapping has reached its peak.

In parallel, the emergence of dozens of new brands has flipped the logic of the supply chain on its head, shifting principally from a push approach to a pull approach: Instead of starting from a blank sheet and going through all the steps from R & D to development, including industrialization and so on (push approach), new brand owners are starting their business with full-service specialists, who have already done all the necessary work (it still has to be done by someone, compatibility and safety tests are obligatory and, by definition, take a lot of time). In the end the only thing they have to do is put their logo on the packs and do their marketing! This is the logic of the pull approach. Thus, the time between the decision making and the making a product available on the market can be very short. Now you could measure the process in terms of weeks instead of months / years.

So, it is logical to conclude that the value chain that Indie Brands rely on is not at all the same as the one used by Legacy Brands. Other players in the supply chain are starting to take this on board, with varying levels of satisfaction, and are preparing to restructure themselves and embrace the industry's new dynamics...

"Products Made in the USA – How American suppliers are shining and innovating to be at the forefront of international competitiveness"

19th September 3:30-5pm 

Introduction: Business overview by Gerald Martines, In. Signs

Part 1: Round table moderated by Gerald Martines with packaging manufacturers based (also) in the United States:
- Arnaud Brilland, Vice President of Sales North America at Geka GmbH
- Vincent Groccia, VP Americas of Texen

Part 2: Gerald Martines with Formulators / Full Service Providers based (also) in the United States:
- Judy Zegarelli, fondatrice et directrice créative, Cosmetic Group USA, Inc.
- David C. Chung, fondateur et CEO, Englewood Lab
- Holli Montgomery, DG Schwan Cosmetics US
- Vittoria Cicchetti, CEO of Regi

Part 3: Conclusion - Moderated by Gerald Martines and Charles-Emmanuel Gounod with the support of "neutral" key executives from the US Beauty industry, including:
- Bill Kunz, President Kunz Consulting Services
- Laurent Frayssinet, independant international expert in global sourcing

MakeUp in NewYork
19 & 20 September 2017
Center415
5th Avenue