Stabilizing Operations and Managing Vendor Transition

The Challenge

A baby skincare brand faced cascading operational issues: manufacturing disruptions, FDA compliance setbacks, and the sudden departure of its internal operations lead. Costco-related production delays and compliance failures triggered stockouts, product removals, and urgent vendor transitions—all without in-house supply chain capacity.

Our Approach

Izba stepped in to restore order and continuity:

• End-to-end operations: Took over daily order and inventory management, ensuring fulfillment continuity through instability.
• Vendor transition: Managed the shift from Costco to Dermacare to mitigate FDA and MOQ risks, while balancing cost and reliability.
• Inventory and donations: Built safety stock dashboards and orchestrated product donations to Baby2Baby to prevent waste.
• Product and cost strategy: Launched new cradle cap brushes for holiday season, identified $1.77 per-unit sourcing savings, and initiated packaging cost reductions across multiple brands.
• Systems and process upgrades: Fixed data flow errors between Shopify and the Grin app, introduced cross-check reporting, and built Parabola dashboards to track safety stock and order turnaround time.

The Outcome

• Operational stability: Orders stayed on track despite leadership and vendor turnover.
• Regulatory recovery: FDA issues resolved while protecting brand trust through transparent communication.
• New product growth: Holiday launches completed on time and within budget.
• Cost efficiency: Vendor negotiations and packaging simplification unlocked significant savings.
• Smooth handoff: Transitioned operations successfully to the in-house team at Habitat with training and dashboards in place.

Izba helped them navigate turbulence with calm precision—restoring visibility, managing risk, and preparing the brand for in-house control and future growth.