Toll Processing Services: Overcoming Supply Disruption in the UK

TL;DR: Toll processing services help UK manufacturers overcome supply disruption, shortages and bottlenecks. They provide expertise, capacity and facilities for chemical and material handling, custom formulations, blending, repackaging, labelling and end-to-end solutions. Working with experienced toll processors ensures compliance with ISO9001, GMP and other regulations while saving time, reducing inefficiencies and increasing operational flexibility.

From pharmaceuticals and chemicals to food and beverages and plastics and rubber, the processing industry faces constant disruption from a wide range of challenges that threaten the ability to fulfil orders.

Ben Beattie, Director of Forbeats, explores the impact on the sector and explains the role of toll processing services in providing the expertise, capacity and facilities processors need to overcome shortages, delays and bottlenecks

Disruption Challenges Facing the UK Processing Industry

The vital role of the processing sector means that when disruption occurs, its effects are felt not just by other sectors, but by the multitude of end users who depend on its products. Delayed deliveries mean supermarket shortages, damaged reputations, contract cancellations and even put lives at risk.   

Today, the processing industry faces a catalogue of challenges, many of them chronic. The prolonged Russian-Ukrainian war and the attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have led to shortages and delays, inflated shipping costs and a reduction in road haulage and ocean cargo capacity.

Businesses also have to contend with ongoing Brexit issues, like UK REACH. The increasingly complex regulatory landscape has resulted in additional bureaucracy, border checks and costs that impact delivery, cause bottlenecks and reduce profitability.

Natural disasters, many of them climate-related, are also having a profound effect. The increase in wildfires, flooding, droughts and major storms has had a devastating impact on raw material availability across many sectors, causing shortages, delays and price increases.  

Most recently, businesses have had to deal with the threat of trade tariffs. Aside from their impact on import and export costs, processors have to navigate their volatility, with duty rates sometimes changing with little notice. Fluctuations can impact everything from the affordability of raw materials to the competitiveness of a company’s pricing.  

How Toll Processing Services Mitigate Disruption

Shortages and delays are two of the most disruptive consequences of today’s challenges, often resulting in bottlenecks that put deadlines at risk. Experienced toll processing services providers, however, have alternative supply chains that enable them to circumvent these issues.

Through decades of working in the industry, they have established trusted relationships with other firms. The result is a network through which toll processors can reliably source delayed or scarce materials from other companies’ surplus supplies.

Moreover, by maintaining a live database of surplus goods, contractors instantly know what is available and can procure it quickly. This, combined with focused stock control, order forecasting and process and cost optimisation, enables processing to continue as scheduled.

“By working with a single toll-processing partner that manages the entire manufacturing process, manufacturers can streamline their outsourcing burden, save time and eradicate inefficiencies.”

Beyond countering supply disruption, these networks extend a toll processor’s operational capacity and enable it to deliver an end-to-end solution. As a result, it can provide COMAH facilities, BRC accreditation, custom packing, repacking and labelling, administrative services, import and export clearance, warehousing and logistics, and batch traceability.

Moreover, by working with a single toll-processing partner that manages the entire manufacturing process, manufacturers can streamline their outsourcing burden, save time and eradicate inefficiencies. 

Custom Toll Processing Services for the processing industry

Experienced toll processors have the setup needed to ensure manufacturers can overcome disruption. In-house facilities will include specialist plant and equipment, while a highly skilled workforce is able to operate autonomously. Strict quality assurance, meanwhile, ensures high-quality, low-waste processing is carried out efficiently and safely.

This setup enables toll processing services to provide the full spectrum of processing and chemical handling services, including the handling of hazardous chemicals, the creation of custom formulations, multi-ingredient formula blending, powder blending, liquid blending and kibbling.

Aside from processing, toll processors can also offer manufacturers a range of other bespoke services, which include re-packaging goods into specified container types and sizes and custom packaging options.

With regard to capacity, an end-to-end toll processor has the agility and flexibility to provide both one-off and continual processing and can do so at a global scale. This significantly reduces the pressure on manufacturers, enabling them to overcome bottlenecks and focus on other demands, such as sales and marketing.

Safety, Compliance and Quality Assurance in Toll Processing

Safety and regulatory compliance are key considerations when choosing a toll processing partner. Their ability to handle all materials safely and in accordance with current regulations and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards is, therefore, essential.

Robust quality management systems, together with ISO9001 accreditation, relevant expertise and fully equipped facilities, enable toll processors to handle materials across hazard classes and viscosities, ensuring processing, transport and storage are carried out to the highest standards.

“Robust quality management systems, together with ISO9001 accreditation, relevant expertise and fully equipped facilities, enable toll processors to handle materials across hazard classes and viscosities, ensuring processing, transport and storage are carried out to the highest standards.”

In addition, they will possess up-to-date knowledge of current regulations and best practices for all the processing and chemical handling operations undertaken, providing batch traceability, sample analysis and detailed record keeping where required.

The Strategic Role of Toll Processing Services

Furthermore, by utilising the multi-disciplinary expertise within their extended supply network, not only can toll processors ensure safety and quality, but they can also scale at speed, offering manufacturers greater agility and the opportunity to make economy of scale savings.

In an environment where supply chain disruption, market uncertainty and increasing regulatory demands look set to persist, toll processing services can play a strategic role in the UK processing industry. With the expertise, resilience and agility to overcome disruption, they provide end-to-end solutions that ensure orders are fulfilled on time, cost-effectively, safely and to the highest quality.

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FAQs

What are toll processing services?
Toll processing services are outsourced solutions where a specialist company handles manufacturing, chemical handling, blending, repackaging and other processing tasks on behalf of manufacturers.

How can toll processing services help manufacturers?
They help overcome supply chain disruptions, provide additional capacity, streamline operations and ensure high-quality, compliant processing across multiple industries.

Which industries benefit from toll processing services?
Pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food and beverages, plastics and rubber manufacturers benefit most due to complex supply chains, regulatory demands and production bottlenecks.

What services are included in toll processing?
Services include custom formulations, powder and liquid blending, kibbling, repackaging, labelling, warehousing, logistics, batch traceability and compliance with safety regulations.

Why choose toll processing services in the UK?
UK toll processing services provide local expertise, regulatory knowledge, flexible capacity and access to alternative supply chains, ensuring uninterrupted production and timely order fulfilment.