How Uniwipe is supplying wet wipes to companies worldwide
At Uniwipe, our manufacturing facility – which combines both our factory and warehouse – is a hub of activity every single day. With state-of-the-art systems and automated processes, our team is able to ensure we meet customer demands, no matter the volume of product they need or where in the world they are located.
To uncover exactly how we achieve this, we caught up with two of our valuable production and operations team members, Tristan Whiteside and Carston Ross, to learn more about their roles and Uniwipe’s process…
- What does your current role involve day-to-day?
Tristan: “I currently work in supply chain management. My goal is to ensure we have all the products in stock – whether that’s the raw materials or the final packs ready to be shipped. My role covers a lot of bases, from purchasing right through to production, planning and the machines. I need to be monitoring stocks, purchasing and speaking to suppliers at every stage of the process in order to keep the whole process running as smoothly as possible and be able to deliver such a high quality of service to every one of our customers.”
Carston: ”My role involves dispatching orders once they’re on our system, and doing what I can to make sure they arrive to our customers on time and in good condition.
“A typical day for me would include assigning which orders must be included when arranging transport for delivery, ensuring these are dispatched from us on time in order to be delivered on time, and going over previous orders that have been sent to make sure they are all delivered. If there are ever any issues, I’m also communicating this with our customers to resolve as quickly as possible.”
Uniwipe’s production process
- As a whole, how does the production phase work at Uniwipe?
Tristan: “At Uniwipe, we run a make-to-stock system for all our wet wipes, which means that if any products hit a certain level of stock, that will trigger a production run in our system to produce more of that product. As products are leaving the site to be delivered, we’re closely monitoring that as well so we can plan production runs and set a date for when we need to make more of that product.
“This is all managed here in our UK manufacturing site, so we have really good standards and procedures, and are certified to ISO 9001. Our production lines are highly automated with sophisticated monitoring systems, ensuring our products are made to the highest of standards. Also, because we are manufacturing our own brand of products, we can look at our past sales and set what we think should be produced in the next month or longer and make that quantity.”
- What are the key stages in your production process, and how does Uniwipe instil a high level of quality throughout?
Tristan: “Firstly, we bring in the various components from our suppliers which all go through very thorough quality checks by one of our goods operators as soon as they come through the door.
“Certain products will be taken into our internal laboratory for testing to make sure they’re matching certain standards, but in certain cases we also use external laboratories to test and make sure that we, as a company, are compliant with various quality standards. That’s a key stage, to make sure that we’re delivering high quality goods.
“Our materials will then go into stock until a production run is required, where we utilise a mixture of computerised sensors and people, making sure the production line runs smoothly and that every product is made to the quality that we require. There are about 14 different points of quality checking to make sure each stage is complying to our very high standards, with internal and external lab testing our final pack as well.
“Once complete, every pack of antibacterial wipes is moved from our factory into our storage warehouse, where orders are then picked from and processed for delivery.”
- How do you think Uniwipe’s production process is better than that of your competitors?
Tristan: “There are a number of reasons why companies choose us as their wet wipe supplier. Great British manufacturing is a key benefit of Uniwipe, because the standards here in the UK are really high so you know you’re getting a high quality product. We have highly trained staff selected for each job, new and advanced machinery and software, and a high level of efficiency in our processes.
“We’re also extremely flexible as a wet wipe manufacturer, which is something that we’re very proud of. We can manage all elements and stages of the production run, and can change it very quickly to match the demands of our customers. Despite this flexibility and the ability to change, we have a huge focus on quality and compliance which remains a constant – I think that is one of our key differentiators.
“Another benefit we can offer as a supplier is quite a bespoke level of service depending on what each of our customers need. For example, we can manage special packaging requirements, which would be things like a display unit for a storefront that can just be wheeled straight off our lorry and into a store display. Again, since it’s our own brand of products that we’re manufacturing, we can closely monitor sales to ensure continuity of supply for our customers, as well as in our raw components.”
- What is the key to running a smooth production process?
Tristan: “I would say first and foremost that planning is key. You need to be making sure everything’s in the right place at the right time for production to run smoothly. For the production process itself, having high quality components and skilled, experienced operators would probably be the most important things to have in place.”
Carston: “Communication is another really important factor for running a smooth production process. At Uniwipe, each department is very closely linked and we have a number of different teams working on the various stages of the process. This means there’s a lot of communication going on between each department to make sure everything runs smoothly and that we’re constantly looking for ways to improve even further.”
- How does Uniwipe produce such a high volume of products consistently?
Tristan: “I think the consistency of doing the same thing, working through the same process and making sure that we’re doing exactly the same thing every time is what enables us to produce such high volumes of products.
“Having simplified systems that don’t change too much means they are easy for everyone to understand and straightforward to scale up. We don’t like to overcomplicate things, and we have a real drive on efficiency and production figures, so having these automated processes and systems really helps us to deliver on that.”
Managing and shipping orders
- How do you manage orders and deliveries for both big and small customers?
Carston: “We’re very flexible and like to provide for all different sizes of companies. The way we’re able to do this is adding every order that comes in to a dispatch schedule, then allocating them for dispatch, which means the operations team can prepare the orders and ship them out.
“Regardless of the size of the order, the process is the same. This means if an order is slightly larger, it’s not going to affect how long it takes to be shipped out because of the amount of stock we have. On any given day, we can ship anything – from a couple of boxes to full truck or container loads.”
- What are all the locations that Uniwipe ships to?
Carston: “We cover all parts of the British Isles and Europe, and we also regularly ship all over the world. For example, we regularly ship to Iceland, Barbados and Mauritius to name a few.”
- How do you manage stock for customers on their behalf?
Carston: “Some of our customers require large amounts of stock or bulk purchases, but it’s often not efficient for them to store large quantities on their premises, or to be placing small orders regularly. To overcome this, we can store their products and deliver them on a pre-agreed date or to a schedule which is tracked in our automated system – this is a very reliable solution for them.
“The schedule for each customer varies, so it really is quite a bespoke service with a number of buying options. For example, we might receive a pre-order for 52 pallets, which we can part ship and deliver one pallet every Wednesday morning until the order is complete. Alternatively we could ship upon customer call off. The stock can also be sent quicker if required, or we update the schedule to fortnightly or monthly if our customers’ needs change. We are very flexible, and our clients really benefit from this.
“As Tristan said, because we’re a manufacturer of our own brand of wet wipes, we have the facilities to store high volumes of stock which we constantly keep replenished, so they are ready to go regardless of how big or small each order is.”
- How do you service customers who require lots of different products?
Carston: “As we have massive amounts of stock of our entire product range, we can easily mix orders to suit our customers needs, which is discussed with our sales and support team. We always work with the customer or stockist to establish the best range of products for them or their customer base, and find the most cost effective solution in order to maximise their sales.”
- What happens if a customer needs a large order as quickly as possible?
Carston: “This happens quite regularly but it’s something we’re able to adapt to very well. If a customer calls in requesting, for example, 26 pallets of a product or a range of products, and they’d like delivery as soon as possible, I would notify and speak to the operations team who oversee stock and the factory to confirm that we’re able to meet the demand. A confirmation email will then be sent to the customer and transport is arranged.
“All our orders or lead times are very short anyway because of the large volume of stock we keep replenished, so all orders go out pretty quickly, even for large orders. As standard for all orders, the lead time is between 5 and 7 days from placing the order to your order arriving, and if it’s overseas it’s 10 days.”
- Is communication and building relationships with customers a big part of your role, and how does Uniwipe ensure a high level of customer satisfaction?
Carston: “Building and maintaining strong relationships with our customers is very important to us, and every person in our team strives to ensure each customer is receiving a high quality of service. If there’s an issue with a delivery on route and our customer’s goods got delayed, having a good relationship with them helps massively when I need to let them know.
“We’re always prepared to go above and beyond to solve any issues and ensure that the best possible outcome is achieved, which requires knowing and understanding our customer’s needs quite well. The service that any customer gets will have a lasting impression on them, so it’s important to us that we ensure that they’re always recalling good experiences with us.”
No matter where your business is based or how big your order is, we’re here to supply and deliver high quality antibacterial wipes that meet your needs. For more information on how to buy our antibacterial wipes, get in touch with our friendly sales team…
