Product Improvement Saves Money: A Case Study

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Product Improvement . . . what?

A handful of benchmarks exist to help you choose which adhesive tape converter makes the most business sense. A few factors tend to stand out more than others: quick access to the best material for the most reasonable price.

But what about your custom tape converter’s ability to enhance your product?

This capacity too often gets left out of the criteria when seeking solutions to new converting projects. But considering the benefits that product improvement brings your business, it should be factored in every bit as much as lead times, material, and price.

To illustrate this point as clearly as possible, here’s the following case study.

A Case Study

The Challenge

Recently, a company approached us with a converting issue plaguing one of their medical device products. With the company’s permission, we’d like to share their experience of working with us as an example of a converter’s role in product improvement.

Basically, they kept ending up with too much tape and finished product wasted on their production floor. And the problem that kept causing these setbacks was rooted in the relationship between the tape and its high release liner. The tape would prematurely release and compromise a lot of nearly finished medical devices.

These failures resulted in a lower return on their investment due to excessive waste and added labor each time the process stalled.

The Solution

After thoroughly researching their process and listening to what they wanted, we got to work. We found them a better liner solution and developed a new tape that had never existed before.

We helped create a magnetic material coated with adhesive, then we engineered magnets to hold the product together long enough for the tape to take effect through the splicing process.

A breakthrough, it eliminated their failure issues. And we discovered more ways to help.

The More Improvements, the Better

As we researched their production process, we found more room for improvement. Before they came to us, the company was buying stock rolls and manually holding, measuring, and cutting them every time. This added time, labor, and end waste.

Instead, we offered to make them pre-cut sheets. And though we technically already had the machines that could do the job, we had a custom machine built and brought in just for their specific needs.

They came to us only about the tape failure issue, but we also ended up helping make their entire process more efficient and less expensive.

Takeaway: Improving Your Products Is Great for Business

Happier Customers

Your customers want quality for a great price. So, the right converter finds ways to help your customers always receive your best. We can get you quality material for the most impressive results while also saving you money. We can help improve your production efficiency which allows you to save more and offer even more competitive prices in your market.

So, we can help you offer your customers the quality they want at a price that’s impossible to pass up.

A Better Return on Investment

Improving products includes boosting production efficiency. When we find ways to minimize wasted material, we’re ensuring that your getting the most out of what you’ve paid for.

Lower Labor Costs

And as we make systems more efficient, often automating the process altogether, we help you save big on manual labor.

Look for Converters Committed to Your Improvement

Who Know the Right Questions

The core of reliable converters consists of expertise and passion. This materializes through research, research, and more research. Converting requires a lot of information, so it’s essential that you work with someone who knows how to gather that data.

And good adhesive tape converters achieve this step without slowing you down. For example, with the years that our product experts bring to your project, we most often know how to get all we need in a single conversation or email.

Make sure your converter is, at the very least, asking the following questions:

What are you sticking the tape to?
What may the tape encounter that could cause it to fail?
What pressures are going to be applied?
How long should it hold?
How easily does it need to remove?
You’re using ____ right now, have you ever tried using ____ instead?
What are the deficiencies?
- Are they in production?
- How difficult is it to use for the customer?
- How does it affect your overall customer experience?
- Any complaints?
What liners are you using?
- Are they easy to remove?

Who Find the Right Solutions

Again, with the combination of expertise and passion, your converter can and should take less than a week to find you better solutions. And who you decide to work with should make suggestions based more on the quality of the material rather than just the price.

Some converters get sheepish about offering certain solutions solely due to price. But experienced converters know better than to fear a single price point because they end up saving you so much money by improving your product and production in other ways.

Who Can Send the Right Samples

What material does your converter have access to when sending you free samples? If that access is limited, then so becomes the options they can offer you.

Our longstanding relationships with various reps in the industry make it possible to get the samples you need in the mail within one to two days. And in our office sits tesa® and 3M™ cabinets. So, we often simply pull and ship samples out that same day.