Shiseido completes new facility in Osaka to produce and distribute prestige skincare

21 Sep 2021 --- Shiseido Company, Limited has completed the construction of its Osaka Ibaraki Factory and West Japan Distribution Center (WDC) in Osaka, Japan.

The facility will be used as a supply chain base for the production and distribution of prestige skincare products.

Operations will start in September 2021 as a new concept supply chain base with four functions of the factory, logistics, consumer center and factory tour course.

Prestige skincare
The Osaka Ibaraki Factory will lead the global production of Shiseido’s skin beauty category as a production base for prestige skincare products.

It will manufacture prestige skincare products, including the serum Ultimine from the brand Shiseido, which is sold in 88 countries and regions, and the global luxury brand Clé de Peau Beauté. 

The Osaka Ibaraki Factory will lead the global production of Shiseido’s skin beauty category as a production base for prestige skincare products.Aiming to “Be a Global Winner with Our Heritage,” the factory will boost production capacity to approximately 160 million units from 2023 to meet future demand, the company notes.

Strategic reforms
Shiseido is implementing fundamental reforms under its medium-to-long-term strategy, “WIN 2023 and Beyond”. 

The company has set up key strategies, which include “improving profitability, focusing on skin beauty and rebuilding business foundation” for the period from 2021 to 2023. 

“This time, we have improved productivity, strengthened our production system, and established a production and supply network system with a focus on sustainability, respectively, in terms of each strategy,” the company supports.

In addition, the distribution center is newly established on the same premise as the Osaka Ibaraki Factory, which is a first for Shiseido’s factories, aiming to improve work efficiency from production to transportation, reducing transportation costs and environmental burdens. 

“At the same time, we have also created an annex of the consumer center to utilize customer feedback in manufacturing, while also acting as a place open to the local communities and providing factory tours for the public,” the company says.

Environmentally sustainable factory
The factory has an environmentally friendly building structure and has received an A rank from the Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE), which is highly regarded for factory buildings. 

The use of sandwich panels for the exterior walls, which are lightweight and have heat insulation properties, increases the heat insulation performance of the building and realizes a reduction of approximately 30% in energy (CO2). 

In addition, the reuse of circulated water for cooling water used in manufacturing reduces 65,000 tons of water consumed per year. 

Together with local communities
As a new resident of Ibaraki City, the company will place importance on continuous efforts to build relationships of trust with local communities.  As a factory open to the public, it will aim for co-existence and co-prosperity with the local communities with a wish to be a place for communication activities with private sectors, government offices, schools, and other organizations. 

“Via one of the largest automated warehouses in Japan, we have improved work efficiency through the automation of warehousing products manufactured at the Osaka Ibaraki Factory, which is located next door.”

“Moreover, we have integrated the functions of the factory, distribution center, and product center and realized an efficient supply network that enables us to shorten the lead time for supplying products to the market and reduce transportation costs,” the company says.

In addition, with an eye on the post-COVID-19 situation, the company’s other facilities, such as the Fukuoka Kurume Factory is scheduled to start operation in the first half of 2022, following the Nasu Factory established in 2019 and this Osaka Ibaraki Factory to meet the expected future expansion of demand in Japan and overseas.

Edited by Kristiana Lalou