“Amateurs discuss tactics, professionals discuss logistics.”
I came across this quote while reading The President’s Daughter over the weekend, and while the book used it in the context of war, my mind immediately jumped to its relevance for early-stage biomanufacturing startups.
Once you have proof of concept (and market fit), the next major challenge is COGS—how do you bring down the cost of your MVP to something even remotely commercially competitive?
The scientist in me wants to dive straight into cell/strain/plant development, media optimization, gas exchange, and strategies to maximize biomass conversion ratios. And while all of these are important, the easiest cost lever to pull is actually supply chain.
Take, for example, a basic media formulation for animal cell cultivation—DMEM:
500mL off-the-shelf → $75 AUD each ($150 per litre)
6 × 1000mL bottles → $500 AUD ($83 per litre)
10L as a powder → $74 AUD ($7.40 per litre)
Simply switching from liquid to powdered DMEM cuts costs by 20× (excluding water and labour). Scale up further (e.g., 50L for ~$160 AUD or ~$3 per litre) and the savings get even better—before you even start supplier negotiations, setting standard orders, or leveraging volume-based discounts.
Yet supply chain optimization is one of the most underutilized COGS-saving levers in early-stage biomanufacturing. And beyond cost savings, it sets you up for commercial scale by improving:
✅ Raw material costs – Buying smarter, not just cheaper.
✅ Manufacturing efficiency – Less waste, fewer inefficiencies.
✅ Inventory costs – Not a huge concern early on, but storage costs add up as you scale.
✅ Lead times – There’s nothing worse than production delays because someone forgot to order media/plasticware/growth factors.
✅ Process flow – Ensuring critical consumables are available at every stage.
✅ Risk mitigation – Plan for disruptions (COVID taught us that firsthand), regionalization, and dual-sourcing key materials.
And don’t forget to integrate automation into inventory management—whether via a LIMS (Laboratory Inventory Management Software) or a broader supply chain tool. Better visibility means better savings and fewer surprises.
So while dialing in your scientific strategy is critical, don’t neglect your supply chain strategy—because as Sun Tzu said, “The line between disorder and order lies in logistics.”
👋 Hi, I’m James— a strategic advisor specializing in helping founders and companies in the emerging biomanufacturing sector. If you’d like to chat about strategies to reduce COGS—scientific, supply chain, or otherwise—drop a comment below or shoot me a DM!
