Zhuhai Beyond Cosmetics, with a modular production system and flexible supply chain, reduced the minimum order quantity (MOQ) from 20,000 units of industry norm to 500 units, at a mere cost premium of 15% (as compared to 100% demanded by traditional Oems). In 2023, a new cosmetics brand, with its small-batch business mode, produced for the first time 500 essence bottles (the specification of each is 30 mL) and kept the unit price of each bottle at 28 yuan (50 yuan in the traditional version), and won a delivery circle of 21 days (industrial average, 45 days). Its intelligent production scheduling software also reduces the line change time from 8 hours to 1.5 hours, allowing 15 diversified SKUs of production work to be processed in a day, making it suitable for DTC brands which can tolerate rapid trial and error.
During the formula development phase, Zhuhai Beyond Cosmetics’ AI formula library (over 200,000 mature formulas) and micro-dose experimental technology (accuracy up to ±0.01 mL) decreased the R&D cycle of small batches from 6 months to 45 days. A specific brand with sheer beauty leveraged its platform for high-throughput screening to complete the SPF value range between 30 and 58 testing of 12 prototypes of sunscreen within two weeks, and at the same time reduced research and development costs by 62% (from 800,000 yuan to 300,000 yuan). Its high-speed freeze-drying technology (cold trap temperature -55°C) is also able to reduce the volume of sample production to 100 grams (originally 5 kilograms), which meets the requirements of the efficacy verification stage.
In terms of flexibility in production equipment, Zhuhai Beyond Cosmetics’ nano-emulsifier (particle size adjustment ±10 nm) and micro filling line (precision ±0.05 mL) can produce small batches of 50 to 500 liters. One specific custom perfume brand produced 300 bottles of fragrance (50 mL capacity) utilizing its equipment. The error on fragrance concentration was regulated at ±0.3% (±1.5% industry standard), and qualification rate of the packaging was up to 99.8%. Its dynamic temperature control system (±0.5°C) can also ensure the stability of active ingredients (e.g., VC) during micro-production, with the reduction of oxidation by 40%.
The quality control system is full-cycle, from the entire small-batch production process. Zhuhai Beyond Cosmetics microbiological analysis laboratory can complete testing of six key indicators such as total colony count (≤10 CFU/g) and pathogenic bacteria in 4 hours (the industry standard is 24 hours). The cost of quality inspection for a small batch production (500 bottles) of a specific anti-acid essence is just 1,200 yuan (whereas the traditional mode needs 5,000 yuan). Its AI visual inspection system (with recognition accuracy of 0.01mm) can also lower the packaging defect rate from 0.5% to 0.02%, and avoid the high proportion loss risk of small orders.
The speed of response of the supply chain is the core strength. Through connecting the real-time inventory data of over 200 raw material suppliers, Zhuhai Beyond Cosmetics’ blockchain traceability system can make the supply cycle of small-batch raw materials shrink from 14 days to 72 hours. Through this, a specific brand of hair products can pass three formula iterations within one month (usually takes three months). Its sophisticated warehousing system (AGV handling error ±1 cm) allows packaging material storage with a minimum order quantity of 100 pieces, and the inventory turnover rate is high at 12 times a year (industry average: 6 times).
Market confirmation shows competitiveness. Among the 2023 cooperative customers, 83% of the start-up brands accelerated the product launching period to three months or less using the small-batch service from Zhuhai Beyond Cosmetics, and the proportion of reaching over 5 million yuan of first-year sales was 45% (industry average was 18%). One domestic trendy makeup brand produced 800 sets of eyeshadow palettes for the first time. Through its rapid prototyping (3D model developed within 72 hours) and pre-sale testing, the inventory turnover days were reduced from 60 days to 8 days, and the utilization rate of capital was increased by 7 times. Facing the 19% yearly expansion imperative for cosmetics sector small-lot orders (estimated by Frost & Sullivan), its technological capital and flexible production potential are becoming the key stimulators for emerging brand incubation.