American Maker of Eco-Responsible Water Bottles Achieves Rapid Growth with Innovative Cylindrical Digital Printing and NetSuite Cloud
Liberty Bottleworks, the only manufacturer of American-made metal water bottles using 100 percent recycled aluminum and free of the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, has been recognized with the 2014 Manufacturing Leadership Award (ML Award) in Engineering & Production Technology Leadership for its use of innovative technologies to produce distinctive water bottles and its ability to achieve double-digit, year-over-year growth since its start-up launch in 2010.
The award recognizes Liberty for its success as the world's first user of cylindrical digital printing technology in commercial bottle manufacturing and the efficiencies in production and business processes it has achieved with the cloud ERP solution from NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials/ERP and omnichannel commerce software suites.
In 2010, Liberty Bottleworks selected cylindrical digital printing equipment from INX International of Huntsville, Ala., for its ability to produce vivid and textured graphics for water bottles unlike anything else on the market. A then-unproven technology, cylindrical digital printing presented Liberty Bottleworks with technical challenges in tuning INX equipment to deliver the desired effect. In collaboration with INX, Liberty Bottleworks mastered the technology to create stunning bas-relief graphics with a depth of color superior to what is possible with traditional silk screen printing. Cylindrical digital printing also avoids the waste stream generated by silk screen printing, aligning with Liberty Bottleworks' commitment to environmental responsibility. The technological achievement, as well as Liberty Bottleworks' commitment to environmental responsibility, zero-waste production and American manufacturing, has helped it expand distribution of bottles popular among athletes and outdoor enthusiasts across more than 1,400 retail dealers, launch a custom-work line of business for corporate customers and increase direct-to-consumer sales over its www.libertybottle.com ecommerce site.
To manage its rapid growth, Liberty Bottleworks relies on NetSuite cloud ERP as a single, integrated platform to efficiently run the core business processes of manufacturing, financials, inventory management, order management, CRM and ecommerce. As a cloud solution, NetSuite offered Liberty Bottleworks a low cost of entry compared to the high capital investments and lengthy implementation required with traditional on-premise software and servers, enabling the startup to focus its time and resources on perfecting the use of cylindrical digital printing, as well as marketing and customer service. Additionally, as a cloud solution, all NetSuite customers share computing resources, saving on the energy that would be required to support applications on each individual customer's premises, aligning with Liberty Bottleworks environmental commitment. NetSuite's manufacturing capabilities help Liberty Bottleworks better manage production with capabilities for work orders, assembly management, bills of materials and more.
"We're extremely honored to be recognized with a prestigious Manufacturing Leadership Award," said Liberty Bottleworks COO Ryan Clark. "We have doubled our growth year-over-year since launching the company and I can honestly say that if it weren't for software like NetSuite, our growth would have been completely unmanageable. NetSuite does an amazing job in tracking and managing inventory and enabling us to run the business as efficiently as possible."
Liberty Bottleworks has also been recently recognized with an Environmental Excellence Award from the Association of Washington Businesses and a Most Valuable Pollution Prevention Award from the Washington, D.C.-based National Pollution Prevention Roundtable.
"The Manufacturing Leadership Awards Judges were very impressed with the willingness of Liberty Bottleworks to challenge conventional thinking and to aggressively adopt new technologies and breakthrough business processes," said Jeff Moad, research director and executive editor at Frost & Sullivan's Manufacturing Leadership Council. "With considerable help from NetSuite, Liberty Bottleworks was able to direct more of their resources where it mattered most: the development of best-in-class products and superior customer service."
Manufacturing Leadership Awards
The Manufacturing Leadership Awards (ML Awards) honor companies and individuals that are shaping the future of global manufacturing. Award nominees describe their breakthrough projects using the nomination form. Nominations for breakthrough projects are entered into specific categories and evaluated by a panel of expert judges. Seven of the ML Awards categories are for outstanding projects undertaken and completed by a manufacturing company. Four of the categories recognize the achievements of individual manufacturing executives.