Let’s face the facts. Today, more than ever, manufacturers have a more difficult time keeping costs down while still providing a good quality product, at an affordable price. There is no magic bullet, but there is value engineering (AKA, making it cheaper without compromising quality).
The most important aspect of value engineering is listening to what the customer is looking for and educating them on the various materials that can be used for their display. For our team, not only do we value engineer, we value guiding our clients.
What is value engineering?
Say a client communicates that they have a budget of $100.00 for a display. Their design department (or an external design company) has drawn up a beautiful display, the customer falls in love with it, and they eventually learn the cost is $250.00. Was anyone really listening to the customers’ needs?
Think about this for a second.
Customers deserve displays they can get excited about and know they’re staying within their marketing budget.
With our background in manufacturing and design, we’re able to do this. How? By taking the customer’s original (expensive) design, creating something similar that meets their needs but is closer to their budget. It’s much easier for a client to swallow a 10 or 20 dollar budget increase rather than 150 dollars.
Manufacturers need to be a one stop shop for their customers. They can’t be afraid to mix metal with plastic and wood, and to throw in some corrugated materials to accomplish an eye-catching design. And, if the design their client is asking for is new territory, be upfront about it and put the effort in to figure it out. Putting your client at ease is the secret to successful value engineering.
This Crystal Head display is the perfect example of what we’re talking about here:
Our client came to us with an original design that had a large head on the top. This display would need to be made in plastic, using an injection mold process. This process entails a mold charge in the $50k plus range.
To give our client what they needed, in the price range they gave us, we turned to value engineering. We asked if we could use one of their empty branded bottles, added a header graphic around it to incorporate more brand awareness, and eliminated the $50k mold charge altogether. And, by using metal to hold the sellable product on small shelves, we were able to turn an out-of-budget display into a beautiful, shoppable display that was in our client’s price range – all thanks to value engineering.
We can help you create something special
If you’re thinking about that expensive, out-of-budget display that you’d love for your business, get in touch with us and we’ll make it happen for you.
About Concord Displays
Concord Displays is your single-source partner for in-store merchandising, POP displays and retail signage. We have thirty years of exceeding client expectations by delivering impactful POP display design and manufacturing service at a surprisingly affordable price.
