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Build Relationships for Contract Manufacturing Success

There are controllable factors that can have a profound effect on a successful CPG/co-manufacturing relationship, including safety, trust, honesty, negotiation, brand protection, confidentiality, and skin in the game.

Robbie Martin2

Robbie Martin is Senior Engineering Manager at Bush Brothers & Company.

As consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies continue to be under fire to respond to consumers’ changing demands, they are pressed to develop new products, or at least new packaging for their products, more quickly than ever before. The reasons for CPGs to partner with contract packagers and manufacturers can be varied and might include:

1. The CPG’s infrastructure doesn’t support small-scale development and production.

2. The right co-manufacturer provides for a nimble development process with product and/or package, helping the CPG to move more quickly.

3. The CPG may be trying to keep something “off the radar,” and the co-manufacturer may enhance the management of secrecy and confidentiality.

4. The CPG is partnering with a co-packer to keep risk out of its mainstream production systems.

No matter the reason, there are many aspects to what creates success in these partnerships. One of the most consistent factors discussed by industry friends is the relationship they maintain with their partners. I believe relationships have enabled my project teams to identify those partnerships that extended our team and our capabilities the most. 

I believe great relationships have many factors, some of which may be uncontrollable. For instance, personality fit (or misfit) may occur simply by chance. However, there are other, controllable factors that can have a profound effect on a successful CPG/co-manufacturer relationship, including:

• The provision for safety

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