Mobil Oils

Product: MERCHANDISER FOR PAN EUROPEAN LAUNCH OF MOBIL 1 Background: Wireform was selected from a number of companies because of their large capacity manufacturing capability, in house tooling and jig design and manufacture, and high volume in-house powder coating facilities. The Brief: To translate the client's award winning design concept into a fully KD pack-flat construction. Wireform was provided with a visual, planogram and selection of products. Visually, the unit when assembled, had to have the appearance of a larger version of the product packaging, i.e. a large oil container. Development : Prototype was supplied for final approval two weeks from initial contact. Alternative materials and methods of construction were considered and costed. The final design selected as being the most cost-effective and durable was made up of individual tubular frames to form the two sides and back of the unit, held together by tie bars; and three product shelves reinforced with sides made from angle to accommodate the unusually heavy weight of product to be merchandised. The shelves were tied into the sides to give the unit rigidity and the front of each shelf was fitted with channel to carry interchangeable graphic and price information. A three-tier sheet metal section was located at the top of the unit to carry1 litre packs. A vacuum formed top, simulating the oil bottle cap, contained a leaflet dispenser and, together with Priplac graphic panels located into channels within the frame, completed the visual effect. Production: A quantity of 5,000 units to be available in countries throughout Europe for a simultaneous launch of Mobil 1 product. A major part of the project, therefore, was coating, collating, packaging and despatch. Wireform approached this by coating and packing a whole week's production in one hit. A total of 24 people were divided into teams to undertake sub-assemblies, such as fixing the self-adjusting feet, packing the shelf sets, fixing stickers to shelf fronts, pairing the sides, packing the lids and leaflets and collating the appropriate graphic panels, and finally packing all the sub-assemblies into a tri-wall box measuring 800 x 500 x 150mm. Being a Pan European launch, units were containerised and despatched to over 30 countries. Assembly instructions, graphic panels, price tickets and outer carton labelling were all in the languages of the receiving countries. The logistics of ensuring the correct language for each country was in the correct box and on the correct trailer were an important element of the task. A helpline number was printed on every carton and it is noteworthy that no single call was received. Modus Operandi: The approach adopted, of committing a large ‘hit' team to the project, meant that the coating and packing line was only tied up for one-and-a-half days per week, thereby creating minimum impact on other work in progress. A finished, packed unit was coming off the line every 14 seconds. Random ‘Fit for Purpose' quality inspection was carried out at every stage of production. Customer Comment: “The photograph does not do justice to either the design of the unit or the brilliance with which it was manufactured.”

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