Our global impact
by Francesca Cocozza, Head of Business Development & Sales at NRS International
As a manufacturer of relief items and long-lasting insecticidal nets, our approach to business is to align our company’s capabilities to the mission and goals of our clients – actors in the humanitarian and development sectors who are confronted with responding to the most pressing issues affecting humankind.
Providing support to displaced populations forced to flee due to war, natural disasters and disease outbreaks requires a coordinated effort of the public and private sectors.
“Our focus on widening our client base and penetrating new territories has paid off, thanks to true team effort. Over the last year, we have served +29% new clients and dispatched goods to 15 new countries (+ 24%).”
NRS Relief’s Rex Hall mobile storage unit currently serves as Rohingya refugee registration center.
Two-fold approach
NRS International has been supplying to UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs for over 40 years. We understand that when an emergency happens, our clients need a reliable partner that can provide a swift response. To ensure our operations are in line with our ambitions, we take a two-fold approach:
- On the one side, we invest heavily in ready-stock of core relief items, including mosquito nets (LLINs) and solar power solutions. We assess the ongoing emergencies and discuss the demands of our clients as and when their response operations are shaping up. We continuously work to optimize the loadability of our shipments and improve packages to ensure best value for money for deliveries by air or by sea.
- On the other side, we plan our supply chain very carefully. We stockpile raw materials for at least two months. This enables us to immediately start the manufacturing of items to replenish our stocks when finished products are dispatched to the field.
As a commercial company operating in the humanitarian sector, we are confronted with the constant demand for higher-quality and increasingly more durable relief products. Therefore, we continuously invest in R&D in collaboration with our clients to enhance the quality standards, aiming to offer fit-for-purpose solutions in response to the complex types of crises and disasters. We continuously review our costing structure to remain competitive, despite the volatility of the raw material prices.
*From July 2016 to June 2017, NRS International sold 61 million life-improving products to a wide range of UN and aid agencies, targeting 110 million people.
Even though humanitarian landscape is changing rapidly, we remain a steadfast family-run company with a global outreach. Our focus on widening our client base and penetrating new territories has paid off thanks to true team effort. Over the last year, we have served +29% new clients (22 more compared to ‘15-‘16) and dispatched goods to 15 new countries compared to the previous year (+ 24%). This result is driven by the commitment of our business development team, who always go the extra mile to identify solutions to meet the needs of our clients and of the end users. We have dedicated account managers serving our clients in Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Asia and Oceania, and North and Latin America. At times of emergencies, we are only one phone call away.
