Product analysis in the thermoforming project

In the previous article, we have clarified the essential equipment and tooling parameters and how they are connected. 

This article focuses on the product design and how it affects your choice of thermoformer. We will join Peter in his quest for coffee lids as before (Peter is a project manager that looks for a thermoforming machine to make PP coffee lids, here is the link to the first article about Peter’s case). Though Peter’s idea was to focus on the project economy, there is one crucial thing. 

The product is the project’s basement, and if you make a mistake with the basement, the whole building will have problems. Inexperienced customers expect that toolmakers will provide product analysis and improvement ideas. At the same time, the toolmaker thinks that the customer has come up with the best possible product design and knows what he wants. 

So to ensure that Peter won’t have to re-arrange the project and waste his and his partner’s time, we decided to step back and double-check the product. 

While the coffee lid might look simple, there are many aspects. Peter’s company wants to replicate the coffee lid design that they buy now. The first mistake in thermoforming projects is that they know there are more than one producer and various products, but they are okay with the one on their table.  

As we are speaking about coffee lids, try to google it and check the variety of products:

Every thermoforming project manager should keep in mind the product evolution process. If the product is successful, competitors start to replicate it. Every new replica requires a balance of enhancements and compatibility. No enhancements mean no benefits. Too many upgrades create a new product; both options are hard to sell. 

So improvement process is like a ladder with lots of steps. The more replicas appear, the better is the product. 

The second mistake happens when the project manager skips the analysis and sticks to the design that is his table. There is a chance that he will replicate the outdated product, which is heavy and poor from a logistics point of view. 

Peter thought this was a job of a toolmaker to propose the best possible design. Some project managers believe that they can delegate this analysis to the toolmaker. 

The third mistake with the product analysis appears: don’t expect your toolmaker to analyze your product. 

They get hundreds of requests every year, and few will become projects. None of the toolmakers spends time on deep product analysis of the project that is not confirmed. If you didn’t sign the contract, the toolmaker wouldn’t spend his time on that. What criteria should he consider even if a toolmaker is ready to do such an analysis? Does he know your local market? 

So We have asked Peter to prepare an overview with pros and cons for each sample he can get:

This analysis is a job of a project manager and his responsibility. After this part of the project was completed, Peter realized that the initial design they wanted to replicate was one of the worst options in their market. The final design has lots of changes, and for some of them, they need the options that were missing in the initial configuration of the machine. Also, thickness has changed, and with new material thickness, there is another maximum linear knife length, that allows adding more cavities. In fact, due to product analysis, the new configuration of the machine and tool is different. 

Peter asks if there is something else before we can proceed to the economic calculation that is so important to him. At least two more things to analyze – competitors and suppliers. But this is something we will discuss in our next article.

Now let’s try to summarize what exactly happened to Peter’s project. 

First of all, it is essential to clarify your market segment. While meat trays, dairy cups, and takeaway containers are produced of the same material with the same technologies, these are three different markets that require dedicated sales competency and act with various rules. 

Here is a brief overview of the thermoforming package market segments:

Studying your market segments and customers’ expectations help you to clarify requirements for your thermoformer. Just to give you an idea of how different these segments are, here are some thoughts:

• In the mass-market, it is about price. You never speak with the final customer. The reseller cares about costs and his margin.
• Sealing trays are 90% direct sales, and the sealing technology is so demanding that no one will discuss prices if your product is not working correctly.
• Cookie and sweets trays require design changes and lots of tools. Big machines with expensive tools are a dead-end in most cases.
• Dairy cups have just a few designs and huge volumes but require IML or printing and extrusion in most cases.
• Meat trays have huge volumes at first look, but if you go deeper, you find out that the 190×144 meat tray that you need 5 million monthly is not one tray but 5-10 different designs with 5 million spread within those designs. 

And many more things that make those segments so different. The thermoforming machine perfect for mass-market is a compromised option for sealing trays. We need to clarify the market segment, product range, and customers’ expectations. 

Once it is evident with the market segment, it is time to focus on samples. 

Don’t rush to produce the first one your customer brings. Packaging producers are sometimes afraid to discuss design changes with the customers; they require 100% copies of the design’s existing design. 

They don’t think about what might happen in a few months. Imagine there is a better product than yours. The customer doesn’t know it when you order a tool. Six months after your machine is installed, your customer finds a better solution. Will he care about your investments or switch to the better option? Thermoformers put guaranteed volumes to the contract, but will you start a lawsuit with your customer in such a situation? Most of such cases end up with new tool designs and additional expenses for your project. It is your responsibility to prepare a proper product analysis. Here is a scheme that will help you:

Good product analysis clarifies the project from the start and helps arrange a comfortable workflow for the project. In upcoming articles, we discover competitor and supplier analysis together with Peter. 

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