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Ultimate accolade: Dior headed 25 top beauty houses |
GERMANY. Gebr Heinemann has named Parfums Christian Dior as the inaugural winner of its Supplier of the Year award for fragrances and cosmetics.
It scored just ahead of Hermès with Clarins third, out of a total of around 25 beauty companies.
“Suppliers were always asking us in what aspects they could improve,” said Gebr Heinemann Head of Perfumes Purchasing Inken Callsen. “So we decided to compile a catalogue of criteria that determine the quality of a working relationship. In the autumn of 2005, we presented the catalogue to all of our suppliers at Cannes, so that they were able to familiarise themselves with our requirements.”
By January 2007, around 30 Gebr Heinemann employees were busy evaluating suppliers with the aim of working out an overall rating for each one. At the end of the exercise, Parfums Christian Dior topped the list of about 25 assessed partners with a rating of 1.8, ahead of the 1.9 for Hermès and Clarins with 1.98.
Gebr Heinemann singled out the reliability of Dior’s logistics and goods shipping as well as product availability for particular praise.
The retailer acknowledged Dior’s “outstanding organisational structure” too: for example Key Account Manager Antoine Lafourcade and his assistant are solely responsible for handling Gebr Heinemann as a partner company.
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Gebr Heinemann Management Executive Kay Spanger (third from right) welcomes Parfums Christian Dior International Director Travel Retailing André de Bausset (centre) and his team to Hamburg – ‘Heinemann country’ |
“The back office ensures that information on product range modifications, dates, prices and samples invariably reaches the main Hamburg office on time. In addition, the Dior marketing and product development were rated as always ‘innovative’ and ‘high quality’.”
The partnership between Dior and Gebr Heinemann dates back to 1972 and encompasses both retailing and distribution. Gebr Heinemann said that Dior achieves strong retail sales figures and is also the overall number one brand in distribution terms.
“We will be letting all suppliers know their particular results of our evaluations,” said Callsen. “This subject will also be on the agenda at our next yearly appraisals because the results clearly highlight areas for improvement”.
Gerb Heinemann Management Executive Kay Spanger said: “This first Supplier of the Year award in perfume & cosmetics has shown us that it is essential for our development to exchange quality level and expectations from our side to our business partners.
“Out of this result we are able to develop a so-called ‘Supplier Cockpit’ with a score-system to evaluate the quality level even more. Step by step we will start with this activity in all other product categories.”
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The taste of success: Andre De Bausset and Antoine Lafourcade (Travel Retail Area Manager) celebrate the recognition from Gebr Heinemann |
To celebrate the award, Gebr Heinemann invited the winning team to Hamburg for two days. After a night at Hamburg’s Madison Hotel, the Dior delegation – comprising André de Bausset (International Director Travel Retailing), Jean-Sebastian Deguette (Divisional Manager), Antoine Lafourcade (Travel Retail Area Manager), Isabelle Chestier (Financial Manager) and Alain Cadet (Marketing Manager) – were whisked off on a tour of the city in a stretch limousine.
They were greeted at Gebr Heinemann headquarters by the entire workforce, which welcomed them with applause. The programme also included a marketing presentation and a tour of the logistics centre and concluded with an evening meal by the Baltic coast. Medals and certificates were presented, along with a large trophy with the name Dior engraved in the top line.
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