In 2020, pharmaceutical company Basic Pharma from Geleen issued a tender for packaging of nasal sprays. After several rounds, De Budelse came out on top and was given the assignment to print a certain amount of packaging for each order. ‘As companies of a similar size, we are a good fit for each other’, says purchasing manager Jan-Joris Mertens enthusiastically. ‘We want to be important to each other, that works very well.’
As a pharmaceutical company, Basic Pharma focuses primarily on the development, production and sale of generic medicines. The company is located on the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen. From this hotspot for innovative companies, more than a hundred employees provide a full range of services for various pharmaceutical products and services. ‘Each product group is composed of a number of specialists’, Jan-Joris Mertens continues his story. ‘My colleagues’ are responsible for development, printing and operational matters. I have been responsible for purchasing packaging materials and raw materials within the team for a year and a half.’
Jan-Joris Mertens - Basic Pharma
Jan-Joris Mertens has come to know De Budelse quite well from previous development projects with a colleague. Basic Pharma is issuing a tender for the packaging of nasal sprays. 11 companies are invited to write a proposal for this tender. This also includes several international companies, because logistics may play an important role. ‘The price plays the decisive role in such a tender’, explains the experienced purchasing manager. ‘In addition, we find it very important that a supplier knows what is involved in packaging for pharmaceutical products.’
Quality control
After the first round, 3 suppliers remain. De Budelse is one of the lucky companies that will be visited by Basic Pharma for an on-site quality control. ‘Such a company visit is important to get a good feeling about the supplier’, explains Jan-Joris Mertens. ‘If you look at what is all set out in a tender, De Budelse has an advantage. But of course we also want to see the business processes up close and get answers to crucial questions about order management, good manufacturing practices (cGMP) and delivery. After all, the transition from the existing to a new supplier must be as smooth as possible.’
Basic Pharma consciously chooses De Budelse as the supplier of the packaging for nasal sprays. Ultimately, the international character of the supplier does not play a major role. ‘De Budelse speaks our language, knows the Dutch culture of entrepreneurship and is located nearby’, emphasizes Jan-Joris Mertens. ‘With a view to fast switching, that is much more important. De Budelse guarantees us that the boxes can be processed well on our machines. And they meet the agreed delivery times and ordered quantities. Basic Pharma works on the basis of the make to order principle. It is therefore crucial that we honour the agreements with our customers, this is one of Basic Pharma's strong points.’
The collaboration with De Budelse is excellent. Jan-Joris Mertens jokingly states that he has little contact with account manager Ben Vossen. In his eyes, that is a good sign. Of course, clear agreements were made in the beginning about the loading of pallets or the delivery of samples for quality control. ‘In practice, De Budelse is a perfect extension of our supply chain’, Jan-Joris Mertens concludes. ‘We will definitely continue our collaboration in the future. De Budelse is also a good partner for small print runs. They have everything in-house. Even printing leaflets and sticking them in the packaging. Basic Pharma needs such a partner.’