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Volume One, Number Three
May 9, 2002
Greetings fellow rotomolding fans! You subscribed to our newsletter while reviewing our Web site, modroto.com. This issue offers new information to help design engineers, product managers and others benefit from plastics in design and manufacturing. Email me with questions and comments. If you need to unsubscribe, just scroll down for instructions.
Now boldly mold!
For more information, contact Meese Orbitron Dunne Co., American Rotational Molding Group; 16404 Knott Ave., La Mirada, CA 90638; Phone: 888.724.1228; Fax: 877.904.1670; www.modroto.com.
POINT-OF-PURCHASE TRENDS AND IDEAS
Skilled Designers Eliminate Mis-Assembly
Those teenagers working in Home Depot not only frustrate shoppers but also product designers and manufacturers. What could be worse than investing three years of your life and career developing a product and scoring a deal with a high volume big box retailer only to have their careless employees wreck it during assembly on the floor?
This is more common and more costly than anyone wants to admit, according to Bob Dunne, general manager, rotomolding for Meese Orbitron Dunne Co., who helps manufacturers avoid on-site assembly entirely. Dunne and his team of engineers frequently redesign products with less parts to eliminate the need for assembly. In other cases, Dunne oversees the assembly process at the factory and ships the product ready for immediate installation on the retail floor.
For example, a lighting products manufacturer being plagued by on-site mis-assembly of its point-of-purchase display at a major building products retailer turned to MOD for ideas. Dunne devised an interactive P-O-P presentation featuring nearly a dozen different lighting fixtures and push-buttons set in a display molded in a single piece. To ensure assembly and operation met the company's specifications, MOD pre-wired and tested each unit before shipping.
Click here to see details and a picture of this P-O-P display.
POINT-OF-PURCHASE TRENDS AND IDEAS
Skilled Designers Prevent Consumer Injuries, Lawsuits
Careful pulling that box off the top shelf! From 1989 to 1994 there were 17,180 claims of falling merchandise injuries against Wal-Mart resulting in several multi-million dollar settlements. The retailer has logged more than 50,000 such injuries in its database.
To help a major building products retailer avoid becoming a similar statistic, MOD engineers replaced a dangerous rack and stack system used to display sheet rock with a vertically oriented point-of-purchase display. The MOD display permits safe, easy consumer access and removal of the panels while minimizing the potential for injury and product damage due to mishandling.
It showcases nearly 40 panels of sheet rock on a rugged, cross-linked polyethylene base with a steel kick plate that intuitively aids consumers in removing the sheet rock at the ideal angle for maximum safety.
MOD integrated the base with a powder coated steel frame, a Masonite roof and brochure holder and at the customer request, packaged it as a kit for easy assembly.
Click here to see details and a picture of this sheet rock P-O-P display.
Q: Which materials withstand the abuse of consumer retail environments?
A: For P-O-P displays to effectively spark impulse buying at retail, they need to appear attractive and appealing - forever. A single dent, bruise or scuff could render the display completely ineffective.
Cross-linkable polyethylene and linear low density polyethylene can't be dented or chipped and since the displays are molded in the same color throughout, they hide scuff marks. These materials are virtually unbreakable even under the weight of falling merchandise and they're waterproof so they can be displayed outdoors or in the garden centers that have become popular attractions with home improvement store customers.
For more material selection information, see the Rotomolding FAQ.
Click here for more P-O-P information.
Adventures In Rotomolding is published by Meese Orbitron Dunne Co., Saddle Brook, NJ, www.modroto.com; 800.829.3230. Copyright 2002 Meese, Inc. May not be reprinted without permission. Please feel free to pass along to other engineers and colleagues.
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