How Multiplier helped Commercial Packaging to build a global QA team

The challenge: Building an internal, international team

Quality assurance is vital to Commercial Packaging’s business, given that it manages a supply chain heavily focused on food-grade and specialty chemical products. However, it was facing a deterioration in service quality from its long-term third-party QA partner.

“We had too many quality issues that should have been prevented at the manufacturer level,” says Brian Lansing, Commercial Packaging’s Vice President of Global Supply. “Things were falling through the cracks with the third party QA team that was inspecting and making sure processes were in place.”

Closing the visibility gap

Because the relationship was held at arm’s length, the US leadership lacked trust in what was happening on the ground, unsure if the agents were truly resolving issues or accurately reporting supplier interactions. “As a third-party resource, the trust was not quite there,” says Lansing.

The slip in quality control resulted in complaints from US customers, while the team faced the frustration of paying for a service that wasn’t working, forcing them to incur additional expenses to travel, inspect, and fix quality issues that the partner had missed.

For Commercial Packaging to evolve away from the outsourced QA model, they needed a platform that could return a sense of ownership and agility by managing hiring, payroll, and compliance globally for an in-house, international team.

The solution: An EOR simplifying global hiring compliance

Commercial Packaging solved their quality assurance crisis by transitioning from an outsourced third-party vendor to hiring its own full-time employees using Multiplier’s Employer of Record (EOR) solution. This strategic shift allowed it to employ six individuals in India and Thailand, replacing the arm’s length vendor relationship with a fully integrated internal department.

“Certain suppliers in the EOR space may have third party partners, but we were very happy that Multiplier had boots on the ground within those countries that we were looking at.”

Brian Lansing, Vice President of Global Supply, Commercial Packaging

Fully-integrated back-office

An EOR allowed them to bypass the complex process of establishing legal entities in those countries while still treating the staff as their own. The system handled monthly payroll, expenses, and ad-hoc payments, such as festival-related bonuses.

The company additionally used the platform as its back-office for HR functions in the region, for instance with the provision of insurance. In India, this was particularly impactful as it covered multiple extended family members, a benefit highly valued by the local team.

“The feedback that I’ve gotten from employees is that they’ve been very happy with the insurance levels that they’re getting,” says Lansing.

Commercial Packaging also leveraged Multiplier to procure laptops for all six overseas employees, streamlining the equipment setup process.

An easy implementation

The implementation unfolded smoothly, with Commercial Packaging finding the process for both establishing the company within the Multiplier system and for processing individual employee paperwork simple.

Multiplier’s support team acted as a central navigational hub for Commercial Packaging, ensuring the company reached the right internal experts for specific HR or process questions, rather than leaving it to figure things out alone.

“We have a monthly call with our account manager just to touch base and say: ‘Hey, what’s changing?’”

Brian Lansing, Vice President of Global Supply, Commercial Packaging

When issues did arise — such as a defective laptop that needed returning — the support team resolved them quickly. “The system worked very well,” says Lansing. “It was very effective to return that laptop and get a replacement.”

Within months, its new QA team was delivering results, operating across the globe without any compliance headaches.

The result: New commercial possibilities

“We can have better quality people delivering better quality service.”

Brian Lansing, Vice President of Global Supply, Commercial Packaging

The impact of the switch was immediate, firstly in terms of cost. By moving to an EOR model, they reduced their expenses while simultaneously gaining a dedicated team.

“Part of why we went to this new model was we knew there was a cost  advantage with hiring our own people versus a third party company with their own margins,” says Lansing.

One united team

An EOR also shifted the QA team dynamic from a low-trust, distant relationship to a cohesive culture. Now, there’s higher ownership of quality issues and transparent communication with the US leadership.

“Our employees would say they’re Commercial Packaging employees and that’s what we want them to be,” says Lansing. “Even though they’re getting paid through Multiplier, they’re part of the team.”

Commercial innovation

Previously, Commercial Packaging could not sell their QA capabilities to their clients because they did not employ the staff directly — but their new model has enabled new possibilities.

“None of our competitors have boots on the ground, so we can now differentiate ourselves,” says Lansing. “Long term, we want to use that QA team as a revenue generating service.”

The move to Multiplier ultimately allowed Commercial Packaging to evolve as a business, replacing outsourced, third-party vendors with a fully integrated internal department.