Cosmetics giant Coty won the Customer Focus award at last year’s The Manufacturer MX Awards. Nick Peters finds out why they entered and what they got out of it (apart from a gong or two!)
As well as being a globally recognised brand in its own right, cosmetics manufacturer Coty also has a portfolio of 77 brands that are every bit as well known – Wella, Clairol, Rimmel and Chloe, to name but a handful.
Cosmetics are, of course, highly personal and individual given the nature of their application, and the company, whose annual turnover is US$9bn, knows it can only achieve its market success by ensuring customers remain at the focus of all they do.
So why did the company enter the 2016 The Manufacturer MX Awards? I asked Mary Brady, VP and general manager at Coty’s UK factory at Ashford in Kent.
“We joined the The Manufacturer MX Awards three years ago to gain insight and feedback from experts in industry and ultimately to improve,” she said. “We are a learning organisation, and we focus on continuous improvement.
“The Manufacturer MX Awards process offered us an opportunity to truly evaluate our processes across multiple categories, to speak with confidence regarding our strengths and to identify areas in which we needed to improve. The Manufacturer MX Awards also introduced us to the UK manufacturing network, and to further enable us to learn from other companies who have exemplified strong performance in specific categories.”
It is a decision that has paid off handsomely. In 2014, its first year entering the awards, it achieved runner-up in the Manufacturer of the Year category. In 2015, it was also runner up in the Manufacturer of the Year Award, won Supply Chain Excellence and the company’s Pierre-Adrien Chagnoleau won Young Manufacturer of the Year.
Inspired to enter?
The Manufacturer MX Awards is the biggest annual celebration in the industry’s calendar, attracting more than 1000 attendees. However, the awards are not just about the ceremony itself, they are the culmination of a rigorous programme designed to provide valuable business improvement advice and feedback from an expert panel of judges.
Companies and individuals of all sectors and sizes are eligible to enter and there is a category to suit every achievement.
It is free to enter, with entries closing on 30 June.
For further details, please visit: themanufacturermxawards.com
Last year, it won the Customer Focus Award and was highly commended in the Leadership and Strategy, and Supply Chain Excellence categories.
As anyone who has entered The Manufacturer MX Awards knows, it demands a great deal from entrants, much more than the usual process of sending in a nomination, a 500-word summary and cheque.
Entrants undergo significant scrutiny just to reach the short-list and then are peer-reviewed, on site, by a visiting judging panel. Mary Brady said it was this level of inspection that appealed.
“The awards process is quite comprehensive and demanding,” she said, “but the level of detail requested in both the written application and the audit itself is truly why entering is so beneficial and valuable.
“It forced us to review our processes in layers, highlight actual performance through examples, and show our depth of knowledge throughout our organisation. It has been a fabulous and rewarding experience for all. The Manufacturer MX Awards celebration and gala itself has also been a great way to recognise members of our team and celebrate their achievements!”
