During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vi-Jon quickly went into 24/7 production to meet increased consumer demand. They asked the same of their supply chain partners – including bottle molders, corrugate providers, and Brook + Whittle.
Putting a partnership to the test
Vi-Jon has had a close relationship with Prime Package and Label, now Brook + Whittle, for 22 years. Throughout that time, Brook + Whittle has aided in their portfolio expansion, and even opened operations in Tennessee to further support the brand. Because of this relationship, there was no hesitation when Vi-Jon approached Brook + Whittle during the pandemic, wanting to maximize production of their Germ-X Hand Sanitizer labels.
The Operations team at Brook + Whittle quickly realized that the printing process had to be simplified to maximize the run rate. Brook + Whittle tackled this challenge by reducing the number of multi-ply labels to single-ply labels. This was accomplished by eliminating the mirror image print on the back label. Rotary screen and cold foil printing were still holding up the printing process, so the team re-engineered labels with two hits of white and printing PMS 877. With this simplified label, Brook + Whittle was able to repeat the process across our eight sites to meet Vi-Jon’s demand.
Germ-X wasn’t the only brand impacted by fluctuations in demand, so once the team was able to streamline the hand sanitizer process, they turned their efforts toward maximizing production across the entirety of Vi-Jon’s product lines, including body wash and dish soap.
Throughout the entire process, the Vi-Jon and Brook + Whittle teams remained agile. To keep communication open and transparent, the teams had daily and weekly conference calls to ensure alignment.
“Brook + Whittle demonstrated flexibility daily and a true desire to provide quality materials to support our ever-changing production requirements,” said Kristin Garrett, Customer Business Manager at Vi-Jon.
The COVID-19 pandemic challenged business in more ways than one, but by approaching the situation with flexibility, speed and creativity, Vi-Jon and Brook + Whittle were able to successfully navigate the unprecedented surge in demand, together.
