As a leading supplier of over-the-counter, FDA approved pharmaceutical and nutritional products, PL Developments excels at manufacturing quality products that contribute to the well-being of its customers. As the company's business grew and the realities of designing, engineering, sourcing, ordering and inventorying the packaging components for those products became unmanageable, PL Developments knew it needed to make a change. With so many moving parts, the opportunities to miss deadlines and disappoint customers were myriad until TricorBraun stepped in to create and manage a comprehensive inventory program for the company. Now, with a successful program in place, PL Developments can focus on its core business, be more responsive to customers, scale the business effortlessly, and grow revenues more quickly than ever before.

"Playing to our strengths"
PL Developments needed to simplify what had become a very complicated process. Multiple suppliers, vendors and ordering systems coupled with an unreliable inventory management system meant that the company didn’t always have all the packaging components required to fulfill a customer’s order on time. It was a logistically unwieldy and unsound system that needed to be fixed if the firm wanted to continue to grow its business.

Fortunately, TricorBraun had just what they needed: a comprehensive and innovative inventory program that would simplify PL Developments’ packaging processes and make sure they never missed another deliverable. To accomplish this, TricorBraun leased space in PL Developments’ own location and created a 50,000 square foot “warehouse within a warehouse” and stocked it with every packaging component that might possibly be needed to fulfill an order. Now, when an order comes in, a worker simply comes to the packaging area, picks out the components that are required, scans them to let the inventory control system know they’ve been taken and then sends those goods directly to the line. TricorBraun takes responsibility for the components until they are called for, keeps stocks at optimum levels and supplies all the systems and technologies that keep it all on track.

More than “just in time” - it’s “real time”
TricorBraun developed a paperless system which employs a sophisticated barcoding program to manage the inventory that is being taken and automatically reorders when a minimum level of stock is triggered. Packer bottles in multiple sizes, caps, dessicants, coils … more than 65 separate components sourced from a dozen vendors are – without human intervention – now guaranteed to be on hand when they are needed. And because TricorBraun bills once a week for the components that are used, a completed order might already be on its way to PL Developments’ customer before PL Developments themselves are even billed for the packaging components that were used in that order. With this new inventory program in place, PL Developments has not only been able to manage their packaging responsibilities in half the time with a single employee, they have been able to secure more orders from their existing customer base and have seen impressive growth. Using the latest technologies, innovative thinking and a spirit of true partnership, PL Developments and TricorBraun have created something that really works.

TricorBraun brings concierge level service to packaging
TricorBraun is committed to helping its customers meet the highest expectations of their own customers. With advanced service programs like the one implemented with PL Developments, TricorBraun strives to produce a plan that meets the needs of its customers and then devotes a team of its best to implement, refine and manage that plan. TricorBraun's ultimate goal is to allow customers to focus on their core businesses – and leave the packaging issues to them.