Continued from page p.19 Preparing for Zika IKI, which started out as “Insect Killers Incorporated,” specializes in the insect protection and control category, and Bibro believes they are ideally set up to deal with these availability challenges. “We maintain a healthy margin of available capacity, by design, so that we are able to react to radical fluctuations in our customers’ demand,” explained Bibro. “One of the key points of our business model is to accommodate our customers with flexibility during periods of increased demand. “Our top concern during this campaign is the smooth flow of raw materials. Requirements for DEET, a key component in many of these products, has seen an unbelievable spike in the past months. Everything that needs to happen to serve customers in this market needs to happen in the next 90 days, so there will be possible impact to all of the other raw materials involved, including cans, valves, caps and propellant. It will be a very interesting spring for our industry. “It is too early to tell how this crisis will affect our overall business, or the industry, over the coming months,” Bibro concluded. “We believe that this will have a positive impact on sales and units produced in 2016. However, a lot of things need to come together to make this a success story. In high demand or in sprint campaigns, everyone is under the gun to perform and the higher demand caused by this will sometimes affect supply chains in ways that we do not expect.” Diversified CPC International supplies propellants for both insect repellents and insecticides. It has seen a significant increase in business domestically and internationally to make products to fight the Zika crisis, including large increases in shipments throughout 2015 and large increases in orders already in place for the first half of 2016. “Most of our insecticide accounts are up between 30% and 80%,” said George Sehringer, VP of Sales & Marketing. “Most of the challenges have been related to transportation, but we are used to demand inconsistencies and have all of our freight moves under control. We have plants coast to coast and have plenty of excess production capacity.” “Currently, as there is no vaccine for the Zika virus, preventing mosquito bites is the best defense,” explained Ladonna Armor, Global Director of Marketing for Home & Garden, WestRock, Richmond, VA. As a partner and supplier to many of the insect repellent brands that are counted on to protect those in areas at risk, we have been preparing to increase our supply of fine mist sprayers, hose end sprayers and aerosol dispensing systems around the world to meet the needs of our customers and the public at large. Demand for packaging for topical skin care products (such as fine mist sprayers) has been particularly high. As we enter lawn and garden season in many areas of the world, we anticipate equally high demand for our large format hose end and sustained duration sprayers for exterior home protection from insects. As we’ve learned from our Packaging Matters survey, consumers are increasingly concerned about product safety as supply chains grow more complicated. We want to help our brands ensure that their customers feel safe and protected with and by their products, especially in a time of heightened concern such as this. The rapid progression of the Zika virus into a global public health crisis puts pressure on our partners to get the solutions like repellent and insecticide out there in a safe and timely manner. During this time we’re working more closely with brands regarding formula compatibility, testing standards and global availability of supply. During a time of crisis, the challenges to get solutions out to the markets where they are most needed can be complex, and timing matters a great deal. In our experience, the best thing a brand can do is ensure that they are doing advance planning and crisis preparedness. While we can’t predict what might happen, we do know that the ability to respond efficiently comes with a robust crisis plan. For us, that means having an open and ongoing conversation with our customers that allows us to be able to support them with a global manufacturing footprint and responsive supply chain during the ups and downs of a crisis situation. Canadian aerosol filler Empack Spraytech Inc. of Brampton, Ontario fills both insect repellents and household insecticides. The recent spread of Zika virus has created an overwhelming demand for insecticides by retailers. “This surge can potentially cause a supply shortage, forcing us to forecast one year out,” said Raffi Nalbandian, President of Empack. “We supply specifically to the Canadian market, and the season is very short here. Therefore, it is difficult to predict at this time any shifts in demand that we might encounter in the future. However, our customers expect us to have sufficient components for production and be ready to react in case of any crisis. We are working to ensure that we have the necessary resources to meet the demands of our customers. We have planned in advance and are in position to deal with any increase in demand for insecticides.” Suddenly, Next Summer… What long term effects will the Zika virus have on the aerosol industry? “After the H1N1 flu spike in 2009, all of a sudden you started to see hand sanitizers in every public building and outside of every hospital door,” recollected Crown’s Buckman. “You might expect something like that to happen similarly after this Zika spike. We may see growth similar to that which the hand sanitizer market saw in the last 10 years. If that’s the case, then we’re foreseeing major growth to the aerosol package in the near term.” IKI’s Ryun Bibro observed, “It is interesting to note that we can never be completely sure about how these things will turn out. During the West Nile crisis, we experienced similar circumstances, and the season died down earlier than normal. Many people in the industry were left with materials in their warehouses. IKI’s focus is on the ability to produce product dynamically to meet our customers’ exact needs for a given time period, and not just to stockpile ‘just in case.’” “Marketers can respond to crisis with a certain number of donated products, and the reason they are able to do that is because suppliers were already working with them beforehand, preparing for a crisis,” said Melissa Quintana, Marketing Manager at Crown. “The reason aerosols are in demand is that the products that work best against Zika come in an aerosol format. They work quickly and efficaciously.” Spray 30 Spray April 2016
Spray April 2016
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