Columbia Nutritional LLC, one of the largest dietary supplement contract manufacturing operations based in the Pacific Northwest, has unveiled significant changes and improvements, allowing for more expedient service and product development opportunities for the dietary supplement industry.
 
“We have worked diligently to upgrade the contract manufacturing experience for dietary supplement manufacturing customers,” said Ned Becker, Columbia Nutritional CEO. “The industry is evolving more rapidly on numerous fronts, from consumer purchase behavior, to regulatory changes, to new science linking functional ingredients to health, as well as new testing and production technologies.”
 
Becker and his team created a new onboarding process, which he describes as a multi-phase process that ensures customer specifications are being met while confirming the product can be run efficiently and effectively in manufacturing. “Our team meets multiple times a week to track and ensure the steps are being followed and customers are involved and updated throughout the process,” noted Becker, whose company onboards over 150 new products a year for its customers.
 
Becker also announced that Columbia Nutritional is in the process of instituting an upgraded continuous improvement quality process to meet and exceed FDA cGMPs. They have successfully been re-certified under NPA’s GMP third-party audit process in its Vancouver, WA plant with certification of the Columbus, OH plant slated for the beginning of Q3, 2019.  Furthermore, the company has had several major brand audits with above-satisfactory results.
 
“Additionally, we further refined our business practices that include more disciplined pricing and minimum order quantity (MOQs), resulting in improved service levels to its client base while also improving production efficiencies that has resulted in increased production capacity,” he described.

Becker also announced key promotions of senior executives. 

Brea Viratos, who joined the company in 2018 as quality director, has been promoted to vice president of quality and regulatory. “Brea is an experienced quality professional in the industry with a proven track record and is leading the design and implementation of improved quality programs within our two manufacturing sites,” states Becker. 
 
Tim Alley, who also joined Columbia last year as director of sales and customer service, was recently promoted to vice president of sales and product design. Alley, who is a 14-year industry veteran, is responsible for the onboarding of all new customers and products, while also managing the product design team leadership. 
 
Columbia Nutritional is a privately owned, 20-year-old company with experience in the formulation and manufacturing of over 4000 different natural health products during its history. The company’s manufacturing expertise lies in the development and production of capsule, tablet, and powder mix dosage forms with complete turnkey packaging options.