Case study: James Dyson Foundation reduce assembly times by 80%

The James Dyson Foundation, an organisation set up to encourage and nurture the next generation of engineers, approached GWP to help overhaul its existing packaging. Too heavy, too slow to pack, too costly and using too much material were just some of the main issues affecting the previous design.

The resulting design and consultation process enabled GWP to resolve all these challenges and, remarkably, make additional improvements as well. The process was so successful that the redesigned box and internal fittings won several coveted industry awards.

There were several areas where the James Dyson Foundation felt the packaging was crucial, and where the existing packs were not performing as hoped.

As schools are the main users of the packs, the ease of unpacking and repacking was of paramount importance. The Foundation identified that prominent product locations and keeping specific items separate were vital in ensuring that kits were shipped and returned in full, without any elements being overlooked.

The pack also had to provide adequate protection in transit for highly fragile and expensive items, whilst also keeping the volumetric size of the pack to a minimum and thereby avoiding excessive delivery costs.

Further considerations included that, being multi-use, the pack’s longevity was also important. However, in keeping with their brand values, any design could only use recyclable materials, ruling out foams and EPS.

Despite these considerations, and the scheme running successfully for several years, the Foundation identified that the packaging used for delivering and returning the kits was heavy, inefficient in terms of material (and costs), and not as user-friendly as it could be.

GWP’s packaging design team, including Design Manager Mike Poynter, met with key stakeholders at the James Dyson Foundation to clearly define the brief and gain a complete understanding of the challenges the organisations were facing.

Following this consultation, GWP created a completely new and bespoke structural design, focusing on the internal fittings of the pack.

Using recyclable EB and B flute material throughout, simple in-line glueing techniques ensured easy and fast assembly of the pack, as well as efficient manufacture. The fittings also ensured that all components are separated during transit and suspended to avoid contact with delicate parts.

In addition to considering transit protection, GWP designed the insert to allow all elements to be seen and removed in a sequential order. The aim was to make the pack as easy as possible to use for the schools and students, whilst clearly highlighting any missing elements before return shipping.

Following pre-production samples passing repeated real-life transit tests, GWP put the finalised packs into production at our in-house manufacturing site in Wiltshire.

The updated pack provided a staggering array of benefits for the James Dyson Foundation.

In addition to outperforming its predecessor in terms of preventing damage in transit, the new pack was well within budget and reduced costs by 40%. Material usage also fell by 60%.

The previous version, which featured layered and glued corrugated material for the internal fitting, was also considerably slower to assemble and pack. In fact, the redesigned version reduced assembly times by up to 80%.

Another key benefit was that enabling the use of interlocking fittings reduced the volumetric size by 5% without affecting transit performance or longevity.

Finally, the use of EB flute material allowed for striking flexographic branding whilst maintaining structural integrity.

Danya Walker, Executive at the James Dyson Foundation, commented;

Our education packs are very popular with teachers and we have hundreds constantly in circulation, going out on loan to schools and then being returned. We’re very pleased with the redesign that GWP did for us, as well as the cost reduction they were able to achieve. We’re also delighted that the pack is getting the recognition it deserves.

With both parties delighted with the outcome, GWP and Dyson decided to enter the revised packaging into the Starpack Awards.

Competing for the prize in the B2B Industrial, Transit, and Distribution category, the pack was exceptionally successful – winning a Gold Award, the Greenstar Sustainability accolade, and the coveted “Best in Show” overall prize.

The close working partnership between GWP designers and key personnel at the James Dyson Foundation enabled the creation of a fully recyclable transit packaging solution that protected valuable and fragile items over multiple journeys, was reusable, facilitated logical packing and unpacking with lightweight internal fittings, and didn’t use any plastics or foams. Put simply, meeting and then exceeding all points as discussed in the initial brief.

If you believe your packaging could be performing better, our packaging experts are here to help. Please get in touch with us to arrange a complimentary consultation today.