Scaling Your Manufacturing in a Capital-Intensive Industry

"I have to create opportunities for myself, right?" It was the thought Jordan Erskine had after years of working for other manufacturing companies, first for a cosmetics and skincare contract manufacturer, then for a large dental care manufacturer. But after 15 years in the industry and armed with an MBA, Jordan reached out to his co-founder Gavin Collier and proposed starting a business. With a space and some angel investments, they launched Dynamic Blending in 2015 as a small lab creating formulas for brands, with an outside manufacturer.

But Jordan, with his experience in manufacturing, knew he could do it better.

"Quickly we realized we need to do it all. We have to figure out a way to do it all because everybody's doing it wrong. Nobody's taking care of the small guys, or the startups, or people that could have good ideas," Jordan explains in our podcast episode. Today, Dynamic Blending offers not only formula creation and manufacturing, but branding, package design, marketing assistance, fulfillment, and more. They recently ranked seventeenth on Inc. 5000's list of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies.

But how do you go from an idea to competing against some of the biggest companies in the world in a low-margin, capital-intensive industry? Jordan explains how in our latest podcast episode.

In This Episode…

Not only has Dynamic Blending adopted a number of technologies to improve operations, but they look at how they can enhance the customer experience as well — not just deliver a product. Listen to our conversation with Jordan Erskine to learn more about how Dynamic Blending embraces innovation to stay competitive as a newcomer in a legacy industry.

Topics include:

• The growing pains Jordan experienced breaking into a capital-intensive industry, and what strategies Dynamic Blending puts in place to hedge low margins, materials wait time, and cash flow.
• What technology they use to bolster their operations in order to digitize workflows, track samples, and abide by regulatory requirements.
• How they differentiate themselves from their competitors by improving the customer experience through technology and their new Experience Center for clients.
• How Dynamic Blending scaled their operations, from their first single-head filling machine to lines that run 60,000 units in eight hours.
• What the future of Dynamic Blending looks like, including its focus on green chemistry, sustainable packaging, and widespread robotics adoption.
• Advice to entrepreneurs who want to modernize their manufacturing operations, and how working with marketing and advertising teams may be the key to new customers.

Resources 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanerskine/
• Website: DynamicBlending.com