Gulf Centre Cosmetics: Providing Value to Customers with Continuous Innovation

In the past few years, the UAE government has encouraged new entrepreneurs to enter manufacturing sectors to meet the local and global requirements. There are many MNC’s that started their own manufacturing unit in UAE.

As a manufacturer, Gulf Centre Cosmetics Manufacturing LLC (GCCM) adapted to rapid and continuous innovation with a focus on providing value to the customers. During the pandemic, GCCM was among the top 10 companies in UAE that has come out with niche hygiene range of products in different format to fight against Covid-19.

In an interview with Insights Success, Mr. Yousry Hemdan Ahmed Ibrahim, the CEO shares the journey of GCCM and its contribution in the manufacturing industry.

Below are the highlights of the interview:

Brief our readers about your company, your niche market, and your vision.

Gulf Centre Cosmetics Manufacturing LLC is one of the leading 3P/Contract manufacturing FMCG Industry in UAE. Our niche market is GCC/Egypt. Established in 1985, GCCM is a Dubai based company specialized in the manufacturing of high-quality personal care, Oral care, and home care products. With our eyes on growth, we focused on becoming the favorite contract manufacturer for multinational and regional companies. We are strategic partner to many top FMCG companies and many more regional businesses.

Today GCCM caters many of the famous household brands in this region. GCCM Management is committed to continue to maintain Quality and Long-term Customer relationship and adapts to changing requirements of Industry and Customer in most expedient manner. GCCM is open to fulfill customer requirement as a part of continuous improvement journey and do whatever required in shortest time.

Our Vision: To be the Best Manufacturing Organization in the region meeting Global Standards in the fields of Personal care, Oral care, Home care and Fabric care.

Our Mission: To constantly use Creativity, Innovation, Technology, and Teamwork to improve efficiencies, benchmark, and upgrade practices within the organization for the benefit of our Stakeholders.

What makes your company a preferred choice over your competitors? List the products and your expertise that you want to highlight in this article?

GCCM’s core strength lies in the fact that we provide our customers start to end solutions, such as, Complying with regulatory and enforcement requirements, Product formulation, Packaging development, Complicated process and product engineering, complete logistic support, and documentation support for export all over the three worlds.

We provide following services to our principals:

• Portfolio Management: We help our associates and partner in managing their product portfolio by the mean of line extension and brand extension.
• Project Management: Each Project is allocated a dedicated project team who monitor critical milestones to ensure timely delivery of key tasks and ultimately timely delivery of customer projects.
• Regulatory Compliance: We stay abreast of Cosmetic Regulations and ensure the highest standards of product safety by abiding to regional and international regulations, including product registrations.
• Innovation: We express our creativity freely and can meet any customer requirement with high quality and safety standards.
• R and D Operation: We support Technology Transfer, through process validation, Technical Risk Assessment and adapting formulations to our processing equipment and complying with regulatory requirements.
• Quality: State of art quality control lab and ensure that products manufactured are in line with agreed standards with principles.
• Expertise: Our expertise lies in the manufacturing of Lotions/Creams/Shampoo/Oral Care/Soaps/Hand Wash/Talcum Powder/ Hand Sanitizers/Disinfectants and Detergents.

Being in a leadership position, what is your opinion on the impact of the current pandemic on the manufacturing industry and the related market within which you conduct business?

As a contract manufacturer we too faced business slow down and volume drop through 2020. We also had an opportunity to serve the masses with high quality Hand Sanitizer and other Hygiene products. We were provided with extended credit by bankers, concessional tariff by DEWA, extended Visa tenure by Labor and Immigration etc.

In your opinion, what could be the future of the manufacturing industry post the Covid-19 pandemic?

Post Covid-19 pandemic, we expect the economy to return to normalcy mid 2021 as the business outlook reassuring. Also, most of the industries are back in action, which in turn could bring back volume. With invent of Vaccine, tourism industry is likely to bounce back very soon. Also, schools, educational institutions, banks, government services are back into operation from first quarter 2021.

As an established business leader, what would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs aspiring to the venture into the manufacturing industry?

As a manufacturer our advice to those who are interested to startup their own new manufacturing industry is that it is worth of setting up new manufacturing industry. Since the Cosmetics industry is worth to 10 billion for GCC market and it is growing at the rate of 15% year after year. There is demand in the market for new manufacturer, considering the high quality and service to meet the market demand. To enter the market, we need to believe in ourselves. We need to have a vision and find good employees. Challenge yourself and Believe that you can succeed, you will find ways through different obstacles and achieve the goal.

How do you envision on sustaining your company’s competency in this ever-cutthroat business ecosystem? Where do you see your company in the next five years?

As a manufacturer we foresee tough competition in the market. We will be able to sustain our growth as believe in and follow Creativity, Innovation, Technology, and Teamwork to improve efficiencies, benchmark, and upgrade practices within the organization for the benefit of our customers. We expect at least 15 to 20% growth year on year for next 5 years. Customers looking for simple products and quick services. The value they are looking for comes from experiencing the use of a product or a service that is tailored to their specific needs and preferences.

About the leader

GCCM is headed by Mr. Yousry Hemdan Ahmed Ibrahim, CEO. He has a doctorate and MBA in strategic management. He started his professional career as an Auditor with KPMG. He was associated with IDCO-KSA, dealing in FMCG and Pharma, as CFO and then as CEO for 25 years.

Mr. Yousry joined GCCM as CEO in September 2015 as to look after GCCM and other business interests of its owners and his contribution towards the company on sustainable business, ensuring the continuity of existing customers and introducing new markets. He played a key role in upgradation of manufacturing facility and creating GCCM’s own products portfolio and introducing into the GCC region and MENA market.

Source URL