Frequently Asked Questions
What are the advantages of using CIANAN CORP.'s services?
CIANAN CORP. will be of benefit to your business in the following areas:
a. Quality
• We provide product and/or market information based on research and actual experience
• We aim to be innovative and customer-oriented with our services
b. Delivery
• We help achieve speed to market by realizing faster product development time
• We are firm on being prompt and complete with all our deliverables
c. Productivity
• We enable you to focus on your Core Competence by providing back-end support in your operations in handling the supply chain while you focus on marketing and distributing your products
• We provide you the convenience of talking to just one supplier that can accomplish all steps needed in product development and manufacturing
d. Price
• Reduce the need for capital investment and expansion by outsourcing your R&D and manufacturing requirements to us
• We are a cheaper alternative as we strive to provide utmost value for your money and we are able to extend goodwill from our extensive list of suppliers
Who are Cianan Corp. customers?
Cianan Corp. can help develop private labels for established cosmetic and home care brands, skin care leaders and physicians, retailers, direct selling companies as well as up and coming entrepreneurs.
Any company or person who has a product idea and wants to turn it into a business opportunity can be a Cianan Corp. customer
How do I start my own line of products?
1) Begin with a CONCEPT
What innovative product would you like to make available to the market that answers a need that is currently not being addressed by existing products or something that will deliver a better way of responding to the market’s needs.
2) Put it on PAPER
You may start by answering as much as you can the following questions:
- Product? What type of product would you want to develop?
- Positioning? How will this product be different from others like it in the market?
- Packaging? In what size and material should the product be contained in?
3) Engage in PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT
- Assessment
- Approval
With CIANAN CORP’s years of R&D experience complemented by its network of resources, the company can help translate the product you have in mind into reality faster and more cost effectively. All you have to do is to assess the prototype samples/design concepts/packaging materials submitted and approve it once the product idea in mind has been achieved. After it has been approved, accelerated stability tests and product usage tests may be conducted to ascertain the product’s longevity and effectiveness. Once these are done, you now have a mock-up of the product that was once just in your mind. It’s now time to address the legal concerns.
4) Tackle the LEGAL aspects
- FDA
- IPO
Every consumer product that comes out in the market needs to be registered or notified to the FDA (Food and Drugs Administration). This is to ensure that the product you intend to sell is safe for public consumption and follows FDA’s guidelines. For products that fall under FDA’s cosmetics category, the process is called Product Notification. This starts by completing and submitting all the required data in their ePortal, paying the required fees and waiting for the Certificate of Product Notification (CPN) to be issued. It is important that the Product Information File or PIF are completed as well which contains a comprehensive data about the product produced and sold to the market.
Simultaneous to this, it is also advisable to register your brand name and logo with the trademark division of IPO (Intellectual Property Office) to make sure that no person or company has used or has a pending registration of the brand name you wanted. This will also guarantee that your brand name cannot be used anymore by persons or companies who may think of the same name after you have registered it.
CIANAN CORP. can help you with product notifications to FDA and compilation of Product Information File.
Once all these are in place, it’s now time for you to write up your Purchase Order to have the actual products manufactured.
5) Witness your first COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION
- Write your Purchase Order
- Wait for delivery of your Finished Products
A Purchase Order is a document that triggers the start of the production process on the part of the manufacturing firm such as CIANAN CORP. This starts with the procurement of all materials needed to produce the product in mind. Once all the materials have been delivered, actual production starts and the end result are the Finished Products which will then be delivered to your designated warehouse.
6) Focus on MARKETING AND SELLING your products
Once you have your finished products on hand, or even before these arrive to your warehouse, you can already start spreading the word about your new product. It would be a good idea also to firm up the different channels that you will use to sell the products. Once, you reach a certain minimum level of your stocks, just simply issue another Purchase Order to CIANAN CORP. so we can replenish your stocks.
How does CIANAN CORP. charge for its services?
CIANAN CORP. charges separately for its product development services and its manufacturing services. Fees for product development services are one-time and will be specified in our PROJECT PROPOSAL. These include services fees for product formulation, packaging development (sourcing), stability tests, and FDA product notification and preparation of protocol documents. You may choose to get all product development services for your convenience or cherry pick only those that you will really need for us to help you with.
Manufacturing Service Fees, on the other hand, are based on the actual cost per unit of the end product which will be specified in our QUOTATION. The Quotation price may include raw materials, packaging materials, labor and delivery, depending on the pre-agreed terms and conditions with our client. The actual cost per unit is determined upon final approval of mock-up product which is the end result of the product development phase of the project. This is then multiplied with the order quantity and is payable upon order and delivery of the finished goods.
How much will it cost me to get the product development services of CIANAN CORP.?
CIANAN CORP.’s product development service fees are flexible enough to meet your budget constraints. Each service is broken down with a corresponding fee so you may opt to choose to get only those services that you really need. Price to develop one product may range from P15,000 to P100,000 depending on the services you will be including per project. Additional discounts, however, are provided should you want CIANAN CORP. to develop more than one product.
How much will it cost me to get the product development services of CIANAN CORP.?
CIANAN CORP.’s product development service fees are flexible enough to meet your budget constraints. Each service is broken down with a corresponding fee so you may opt to choose to get only those services that you really need. Price to develop one product may range from P15,000 to P100,000 depending on the services you will be including per project. Additional discounts, however, are provided should you want CIANAN CORP. to develop more than one product.
How much will each unit of product cost?
Price quotation for each product varies and is highly dependent on different factors such as product type, raw materials used, packaging materials used and quantity required.
How long will it take to transform my product idea to an actual product?
The length of time it takes to develop and produce a finished product depends greatly on the complexity of the product that needs to be developed, availability of materials, the number of services that need to be carried out and the assessment and approval time of our customer.
For simple formulations such as colognes, washes and gels, development time may take 3 to 5 months (including stability tests). For more complex formulations such as lotions, creams and waxes, development time may take 6 to 8 months (including stability tests). However, through constant coordination between CIANAN CORP. and customer, these lead times may be further reduced.
To further break this lead time down, please refer to the following product development steps with corresponding lead time if you would like us to develop your own exclusive formulation:
Step 1 | After approval of Project Proposal, Client to fill out Cianan’s Product Brief | 1 day |
Step 2 | Cianan to request from suppliers materials needed for the product development that are not avaialble in our laboratory | 1 to 4* weeks *for RMs that will have to be air freight from other countries |
Step 3 | Once all RMs are available, Cianan R&D team to prepare prototype samples, perform internal usage test and submit to client | 1 to 2 weeks |
Step 4 | Client initiate Usage Test for product prototype assessment | 1 to 2 weeks |
Step 5 | Client to provide feedback and Cianan to adjust the formulation as per feedback. Steps 3 and 4 will be repeated until such time the client approves the prototype sample submitted. | 2 to 8 weeks |
Step 6 | Client approves Prototype Sample | 1 day |
Step 7 | Cianan to carry out Stability Test and other substantiation tests, if any | 2 weeks to 4.5 months |
Step 8 | Cianan to initiate process of Product Notification to FDA and prepare Product Information File | 2 weeks to 3 months* *depending on FDA response to the applied product notification |
Step 9 | Client to issue a Purchase Order to Cianan to manufacture the products | 1 day |
Step 10 | Cianan to purchase materials needed for the production of items ordered | 1 week to 8 weeks* *depending on the availability of materials from suppliers |
Step 11 | Once all materials are available, Cianan to do a validation production | 1 to 2 weeks |
Step 12 | Cianan to deliver the finished goods to client’s warehouse | 1 day |
What if I just need an existing product and would just re-pack it for a start-up business?
CIANAN CORP. also has a list of ready products that we call customized generics. These customized generic products are ready for use by the customer and have already been stability tested. The customer will no longer need to pay for the usual development service fees. But the customer may choose only from the listed types of product and may only change the color, fragrance and packaging that have also been pre-selected.
What is CIANAN CORP.'s Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ)?
CIANAN CORP. can produce as low as 250Kg worth of product bulk per batch (restrictions apply) up to 2000Kg product bulk per batch. Restrictions for the 250Kg bulk batch size include availability of raw and packaging materials. A 250Kg bulk batch is equivalent to 2,500 pieces of actual finished product if the net weight per unit is 100ml. The same 250Kg bulk batch will be equivalent to 5,000 pieces of actual finished product if the net weight per unit is 50ml. These quantities will vary based on the final net weight of your product.
One major factor to consider though is the type of packaging material that will be used. There are generic bottles, jars and tubes that can be ordered by piece and sticker labels may be used. However, should you prefer to have your own label design printed on the actual packaging material, higher minimum order requirement for that packaging material may be required from 5,000 pieces to 10,000 pieces. For flexible packaging materials such as sachets and pouches, suppliers require an even higher MOQ that can range from 100,000 pieces and more. For higher MOQs, CIANAN CORP. can provide the option of splitting the order of the packaging material and the finished goods. One thing being constant, the higher the order quantity, the lower the cost per piece of the packaging material.
How can CIANAN CORP. ensure that products developed and produced are kept private and confidential?
CIANAN CORP. values the confidence and trust that our customers give us. We in turn would like to keep this mutual trust throughout the duration of our business partnership. To help ensure that all products developed for every customer are kept private and confidential, necessary contracts are signed by both parties. Moreover, all CIANAN CORP. employees and staff are required to sign an Employee Confidentiality and Non-disclosure Agreement.
Can CIANAN CORP. help me with marketing and distributing of my products?
CIANAN CORP.’s services is primarily focused on the supply chain which includes product development, procurement of all materials needed, commercial production and delivery of the finished products to the client’s warehouse. It is our client’s responsibility to handle the marketing and distribution of the products developed and produced. CIANAN CORP. does not offer marketing and distribution services.