The quick information technology advance and the growing need of diminishing the gap between the buying and the deliver of goods and services, is bringing challenges each time greater in the distribution area, demanding constant entrepreneurial repositioning. The Distribution Centers - DCs - can enable in a competitive way merchandise flux.

“A sector which already is surpassing the 30 billion dollars per year can not, in any moment, to abstain from analyzing its perspectives, based on the complexity which is to attend to a market each time more exacting and a concurrence more closer.”, says Joao Carlos Basílio, Abihpec president – Brazilian Association of the Cosmetics, Perfumery and Personal Care Association.

Avon Brasil is the second greater beauty operation in the direct sale channel of the planet, behind only (and for very little) of the American matrix. Only in the second quarter of this year it has registered a 23% increase on sales, in local currency, in Brazil.

When completing 50 years old of operation in Brazil company celebrates its presence in the country with the reinforce of its growing and invests in a worldwide class new Distribution Center. “This new unity will support the demand of this Avon important market in expansion, as well it will offer more quality on services in an environment highly competitive”, says Avon Brasil president, Luis Felipe Miranda.

The new DC has its opening foreseen for this year and to this it counts with an investment of more than US$ 150 millions. It is sited in Cabreuva (SP) a city closed to four important markets for Avon (Sao Paulo, Campinas, Jundiai and Sorocaba) and occupies a 70 thousand meters square area in a 267 thousand square ground, allowing eventual expansions. It will count with sophisticated technology on demand processing and automatized systems to simplify and turn more agile the working flux. The aim is to increase productivity and the accuracy, which generates efficiency earnings on operational costs.

In broad operation, Avon will employ around 1.3 thousand people and will have the capacity to deliver 70% of the whole company’s volume demand in the country.

“Advanced positioning CDs, mainly to the deliver of more immediate consume goods, constitutes in base points to the fast attending to clients needs of a certain geographic area, distant of the production centers. This mechanism allows to attend adequately to small selling points which have a firm and consistent demand, with quick turnover of its products”, says Moises Farah, economist, master on Technologic Innovation by the CEFET-PR, doctor degree in Production Engineering by UFSC and professor at FAE Business School.

O Boticario, whose revenue in 2008 was US$ 581,68 millions and should reach for 2009 an increase between 18 and 20% on income, according to its president Artur Grynbaum has invested Us$ 45,3 millions in its new DC, whose operation concept is differentiated and of high performance, company says, to optimize all the process and reach 25 thousand items per hour.  It was just inaugurated, in the city of Registro, which is strategic for O Boticario´s logistic. “The city is sited between our plant, in Sao José dos Pinhais (PR), and the greatest consumer centers to our products, says O Boticario operations director, Giuseppe Musella.

Project includes intelligent solutions to guarantee the adequate use of natural resources and the correct application to the residues generated in the settlements. Other project ecologic measures are: illumination intelligent system– part of the building and roof is made with translucent material, for the better utilization of the natural light – selective collecting, water treatment station and capturing system and rain water benefit.

Currently O Boticario counts with 2.810 selling points in the country and 70 stores and thousand selling points in 13 countries. In 2010, the aim is to increase 17% on the revenue and the opening of 110 stores, in cities where it already actuates and in new municipal districts.  Not by chance company is also investing in enlargement of its plant, in Sao Jose dos Pinhais (PR), which should be concluded in 2012.

“New O Boticario DC optimizes delivers, turning them more flexible yet, increasing the supplying capacity to all selling points of the net, present in more than 1.550 Brazil’s municipal districts”, explains O Boticario president, Artur Grynbaum. The entrepreneur emphasizes that there are a lot of opportunity in Brazil and, that’s why, foreign companies are strengthening their presence in the country.

“On perfecting our proceeds, everybody wins; consumer will be better assisted, companies increasing concurrence, and the country for being increasing the work opportunities. It is a virtuous circle, where more companies will have necessarily to pass through this way”, says Abihpec president, Joao Carlos Basilio.

And Natura, greater Brazilian Latin America cosmetics company and 14a. in the worldwide ranking, undertakes similar direction. It has been invested on new distribution centers on the last two years. In all there are six: Cajamar (SP), where is its logistic center and also the plant, in Itapecerica da Serra (SP), Matias Barbosa (MG), Jaboatao dos Guararapes (PE), Simoes Filho (BA) and Canoas (RS).” We will continue investing on new centers on the next years”, said company’s president, Alessandro Carlucci on interview last week to the newspaper Valor Economico.

But company prepares itself for the restructuring of its productive and logistic systems to deal with the scenery of sales increase and tight concurrence, in Brazil and in Latin America.

Company’s plant in Cajamar (SP) has capacity to attend demand until the beginning of 2012 and today 40% of the volume sold is already produced by outsourcers. The new logistic model is being drawn and among the options studied is to produce through outsourcers (in Natura´s own plants or from others, inside or outside the country) and a distribution center turned to Latin markets, which contributes with around 7% of company’s receipt. "We are in a phase in which international operations are not so small, to send products by airplane, for instance, and neither so big, to make sense to set another plant ", said Alessandro Carlucci in the same interview.

After strong growth in 2009 – until September, net income has increased 19,7%, to US$ 1,4 billions, and profit raised more than 31,1%, to US$ 265,3 millions the company- which five years ago suffered strong concurrence of companies such as Avon, L´Oréal, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Nivea, when Brazil became of great interest to big foreign companies – gathers the results of a marketing increase resources plan. Nowadays concurrence is still strong, but nota t the same intensity. “We had the sensation that we were behind. Na not because we had invested less, on the contrary, we raised, but because their investment here tripled”, said Carlucci.

According to him there is no point in amplify plant capacity because company is currently in several countries, where it sell a expressive number of items. “current model doesn’t works any more, neither on economic efficiency point of view, or environmental”, he states. And mentions the example of Mexico, a small operation, to which company use to send products by airplane. Now it sends by ship and pays more taxes when it is transporting water, as far as 90% or more of a shampoo is water. “It doesn’t make sense. In one year or two, when we would have to make a relevant physical expansion, we want that it be in the right place, which we still don’t have. The study of logistic mesh revision, which should be concluded in three or four months, will identify this”, stated Carlucci.