Start Small, Scale Smart: How MaryRuth's Organics Overhauled Its Product Lifecycle
MaryRuth's Organics stood at a crossroads. It had quickly expanded from a single product, its liquid morning multivitamin, to a portfolio of more than 350 products, primarily liquid vitamins and dietary supplements.
But its existing data infrastructure was having trouble keeping up with the increase in volume.
The company struggled with fragmented, manual systems, with employees managing customer complaints via Excel sheets and product and quality documents in Google Drive. Quality management information was also scattered across various email threads, and in an FDA environment that is strictly regulated, this caused challenges with visibility and compliance.
As a result, MaryRuth's sought to centralize its product data and quality management records, improving traceability and ensuring proper revision controls so it could reduce or eliminate compliance risks.
"There were over 150 fields for every product," Diana Sehawneh, senior project manager for continuous improvement at MaryRuth's Organics, tells CGT. "We needed a unified system where all of our teams, as we are growing, could trust that the data was accurate for every single product as well as ensure we had proper change management to see all of the changes that occurred with our products over time."
[Related: Newell optimizes product detail pages with AI agent]
A Blueprint for Centralized Data
The first step included working with QMS in 2021 to establish initial document management, revision control and structured change management processes. It wasn't until 2022, however, that the company partnered with Propel on a multiyear effort to create a central library with expanded capabilities in label management.
Then in 2025, MaryRuth's extended that relationship, launching a product information management system built on a Salesforce cloud architecture through which the sales, marketing and customer service teams could access live product data.
Through this phased approach, the company was able to create a fully centralized data repository for all product information — formulations, ingredient libraries, testing methods, specs — and obtain buy-in in stages, proving value and trust across departments that were historically isolated, such as supply chain, product development and sales.
The strategy will continue through 2028, with plans for further tech integration, such as using more advanced AI capabilities; establishing a fully connected, end-to-end product record through a NetSuite ERP integration; and increasing direct formula collaboration with external supplier partners.
To ensure adoption goes as smoothly as possible, MaryRuth's has established an ongoing support system for its employees, providing them with 30 hours of structured yearly training, newsletters and recurring open-door hours.
From Reactive to Governed: The Operational Payoff
These efforts have so far expedited the company's product launch timeline from more than six months to just two to four months — a 30% reduction in cycle time. Additionally, it can now complete inspection reports in just one to two hours instead of the traditional full day. On the quality assurance side, team documentation per inspection has reduced from an hour to just 10 minutes, and MaryRuth's has also expanded its customer support ticket capacity by more than 2,000%.
"We can now manage over thousands of complaints and analyze them to properly investigate a lot quicker than we used to. We're also able to do much more robust analytics with the integration of Tableau," says Sehawne, adding that the company has had two FDA audits and passed both with 100% while reducing the audit time by 50%.
MaryRuth's reports the following benefits:
- 1,508% ROI
- 0.8-month payback period
- $8.4 month cumulative net benefit
- 7:1 benefit-to-cost
- $3.26 million average annual benefit
- $4 million net present value
The bigger shift, says Sehawne, is moving from reactive and manual processes to governed and traceable — approvals are now workflow-driven, label releases are automated and complaint trends are analyzable.
Strategic Advice for Peers
For consumer companies jumping into a similar journey, Sehawne recommends they start small, improve value and then continue expanding with purpose. MaryRuth's journey moved through each phase slowly, showing ROI before moving on — a tactic that Sehawne says builds organizational trust and funds the next phase.
She also suggests companies:
- Begin with their most painful workflow and build outward.
- Quantify value for leadership and show end users how it makes their day easier.
- Build a roadmap with a clear next phase, not just a destination.
- Invest in training, office hours and ongoing support with the same rigor as system configuration.
"The technology is usually the easier part," says Sehawne, adding that companies must readapt based on the different requirements that come up throughout the year. "Every three months we try to realign … ensuring that we have the big wins accounted for, for the year. And then whatever small wins that we can tap into for the rest of the year get built in. This shows continuous value and trust in the team."
