SMART HUB Logistics
A non-scratch cleaning sponge in the shape of a smiling face is rapidly conquering Europe. These Scrub Daddy sponges are now available in 34 countries across the continent. From Georgia to Portugal, from Iceland to Romania, the smiling sponges are a huge success everywhere. Due to their special texture, the sponge remains firm in cold water, allowing for tough scrubbing. In warm water, it transforms into a softer version of itself, making it suitable for cleaning items such as glassware.
The American company Scrub Daddy has seen phenomenal growth over the last 3 years since launching in Europe. Behind this enormous sales success lies a comprehensive logistics operation. SMART HUB Logistics in ‘s-Hertogenbosch plays a crucial role: since mid-2023, the company has been the European Distribution Center for Scrub Daddy.
Import Part of the Supply Chain
The long supply chain of the Scrub Daddy products spans multiple continents originating in the US before ultimately arriving into ‘s-Hertogenbosch. “SMART HUB Logistics handles our inbound, storage and outbound logistics for all of Europe” says COO Gus Neil from the European headquarters in the United Kingdom. “When the containers arrive in Rotterdam, SMART HUB coordinates with local logistics for the collection, processing and storage before onward despatch to Scrub Daddy’s copackers in the Netherlands and Belgium. A mix of raw materials and finished goods are received into SMART HUB with Scrub Daddy’s European HQ (SDEHQ) arranging the packaging into finished good, ready for resale with despatch handled by SMART HUB.”
“A logistics service provider that offers flexibility, like SMART HUB Logistics, is extremely valuable to us.”
Large-Scale Packaging
“SMART HUB Logistics also receives the packaging materials required for production of some finished product. Initially, when first launching in Europe, a lot of this supply came from the UK, but as we become more established, we are increasingly sourcing materials from local suppliers in the Netherlands. SMART HUB plays a key role in ensuring the copackers have the correct and sufficient materials as directed by SDEHQ. We use 3 different packaging companies: Weener XL and Service Pack in the Netherlands and Mivas in Belgium. Together, they’re packaging hundreds of thousands of sponges per week.”
Once packaged, the sponges return to SMART HUB Logistics, where they are stocked as finished products, ready to be delivered to end customers across Europe. These are primarily major retailers such as Lidl, Normal, Edeka, Dirk Rossman, KiK, Rewe, Wibra, amongst many others.
Great Collaboration
Emma Hann, Goods Out Manager at Scrub Daddy, is responsible for the outbound process. She has frequent daily contact regarding the many outgoing orders. “We really enjoy working with SMART HUB Logistics. I have a lot of contact with Nick, Loek, and Mehmet from the planning team. We regularly coordinate and work together to improve processes. Any issues are quickly resolved.”
COO Gus Neil also praises the strong working relationship with SMART HUB Logistics. “Of course, with so many orders and different customers, there are always logistical challenges to overcome and its reassuring to be able to quickly liaise with Jelle van Hasz or Arjan von Stein to get to a quick resolution. Having a good relationship with senior management is very valuable. It allows open discussion on process improvements to drive efficiencies for the both of us. We are currently working together on system integration and, storage optimisation and forecasting to ease the logistics overhead and introduce storage cost efficiencies. SMART HUB Logistics actively thinks along with us and frequently proposes ways to handle things more efficiently.”
Massive Growth Plans
Scrub Daddy has significant growth ambitions for Europe. “We have an amazing product that is in high demand. Fortuitously, the brand recognition in Europe is strong driving retailers to engage with us to offer new and innovative products from our product range to their customers. Our sales team is focused on expanding our existing retailers with a larger range of products from our extensive range and attracting new customers. Our product range is continually expanding with new product development, partnerships, and licencing agreements. Recently, we entered into ‘a licensing partnership with a multinational corporation’. These new sponges will hit the market in Q2 of 2025. Additionally, we are introducing a new line of sponges that cater to a different market segment. This could result in significant volume growth for us, with our product portfolio expanding by approximately a third.”
Challenges
When asked whether SMART HUB Logistics can keep up with Scrub Daddy’s growth in the coming years, Gus Neil is optimistic. “SMART HUB Logistics is incredibly creative in continuously finding new space. We also hope to give them better insights into our needs in the near future. That is a major challenge for us as well. In a fast-growing company like ours, predicting the growth cycle accurately is very difficult. A logistics service provider that offers flexibility, like SMART HUB Logistics, is therefore extremely valuable to us.”
