Rémi Perrot, President of STIO

Premium Beauty News - You have developed an offer combining logistics, shipment and exports management, more specifically dedicated to SMEs operating in the cosmetic industry. The needs of this sector are really specific?

Rémi Perrot - What is certain is that small and medium companies in this sector rely heavily on international markets. This is particularly true for French companies who often achieve 60-80% of their abroad. International shipments are regular, to varied destinations but often for small quantities. And these companies do not always find a solution matching their specific needs. What we are offering them is to completely relieve them from the burden of logistics issues by providing them in, addition to the management of their exports: a warehousing area to store their production in good conditions, a team familiar with order-picking and packing.

Another plus, we understand their daily concerns. In addition to our know-how as a freight forwarder capable of assisting them the world over, our clients benefit from a personalized assistance and of this flexibility which is specific to human-sized groups, responsive and capable of offering a customised service.

Premium Beauty News - In details, what does your offer consist in?

Rémi Perrot - This is a complete offer that combines logistics, shipment and exports management.

STIO has 10,000 m2 (107,000 sq ft) of warehousing space in Morangis, 20 km South of Paris and near the Orly airport and Rungis. We can also handle BtoB order-picking and our clients can access via our website to a software enabling them to know in real time their stock status.

For shipment, again we focus on1 flexibility. We can organize the shipment with our carriers, but our clients are completely free to use their own providers.

Finally, STIO’s strong point is the organization of exports, both by air and by sea. For this we rely on a network of reliable correspondents and we have weekly groupage departures from the Roissy CDG airport to Nagoya, Johannesburg, Jakarta and Houston, and a regular groupage line from Le Havre to Nagoya, Shanghai, New York and Cape Town.

Our offer is aimed at companies whose business volume in exports is starting to gain importance, who need a reliable and qualified service provider capable of understanding their needs, of relieving them completely of logistical issues, without the rigidity of industry giants. We also have among our clients some start-ups like Fruit Too, the French brand specialised in skin care dedicated to children, or Carita-Decléor, for which we manage the flow to and from Japan. On imports, we also manage the flow of goods of the distributor of OPI the nail polish brand, in France.

Premium Beauty News - Concerning these issues, isn’t cost the first decision factor of companies?

Rémi Perrot - Yes and no. Cost is obviously important but reliability and trust are two points not to be neglected. Many SMEs focus, rightly, on the development and marketing of their products. Often, logistical issues appear as a distant concern and are eventually neglected and delegated to a carrier or managed on a piecemeal basis. Yet, they can represent a real competitive advantage for SMEs, especially in a highly internationalized sector like cosmetics. In this industry, the ability to respond within short deadlines, to meet the requirements of the clients’ schedule, are key elements for success.

Other factors, such as concerns related to sustainable development are also important. In times when many cosmetic companies engage in exemplary approaches at this level, both their service providers and suppliers must also play their part in this dynamic. This is why we engaged ourselves in an environmental management process which enabled us to obtain the ISO 14001 certification. This approach is also part of the changes that are going to shake the profession this year. Indeed, an order now sets to 1 October 2013 the beginning of the obligation for all transport providers to indicate on the invoice of every customer, the level of CO2 emissions during the transport.