There's no single answer to decision-making in a complex supply chain — hence, the "modular" approach. Elida Beauty is a winner of the first-ever Masters of Innovation Award at Manifest 2026, sponsored by SupplyChainBrain and Let's Talk Supply Chain.

Elida Beauty is a collection of 28 classic consumer brands, including such familiar names as Alberto Balsam, Lever 2000, Noxzema and Q-Tips. With a history extending as far back as 100 years, a company like Elida might be assumed to be mired in tradition and reflexively averse to change. But that’s far from the case.

Elida realized that its many heritage brands could not be subjected to one way of doing things. Each had “its own journey,” says chief supply chain officer Sachin Mariguddi, To respect that dynamic, the company adopted a “modular” approach to crafting optimal supply chain strategies for each brand, covering such key functions as planning, sourcing, logistics and storage. Each decision is designed to enable the greatest possible degree of resilience in response to ever-evolving consumer demand.

To begin, Elida built a series of “reward-and-risk” measurement models, with an eye toward achieving maximum benefit for both consumers and the enterprise. But in all cases, Mariguddi says, the consumer comes first — if the value isn’t there, “is there sense in doing it?”

The company takes great pains to distinguish mere “symptoms” from deeper problems. Rather than “put a box around” a particular issue, it prefers in many cases to “redefine the box,” to learn what are the true limiting factors at hand.

As the market continues to shift, Elida will keep seeking solutions that address products, consumers and the enterprise from a broad perspective, while taking into account the individual attributes and requirements of each of its brands. “Do not live incrementally,” Mariguddi advises. “We live in a world of exponentiality. Dream big, and results will follow.”