Press Release
Safety First at 42
From time to time we all need some first aid help, whether it’s at home, at work or at play. Safety First Aid [SFA] have been making it their business to supply first aid and eye care kits for industrial, travel, workplace and sports use for over 25 years.
At the end of 2003, SFA took the decision to update the design of its traditional range of first aid cases with 42 Technology’s help. At first glance, it might seem like a fairly straight forward process to revamp a first aid kit, but to design a successful product in the first aid market requires sensitivity to some not so obvious factors.
Whilst in recent years there have been some departures from the traditional green first aid box with a white cross, it is still one of the most recognisable products that you identify with in an emergency. In the early stages of the project it was important to find the balance between a fresh new look and the traditional instantly recognisable first aid kit. Finding the correct balance was important to SFA in terms of user recognition, but also for their distributors who could easily be frightened away by departures too far from the norm.
Sensitive industrial design was not the end of the story for the project. The new designs needed to form part of a family of products ranging from standard kits, bio-hazard kits and burns kits. Each kit required the contents to be stored in a particular way. The kits also needed to provide tamper evidence, dust and moisture seals, show content information and be impact resistant. Further more, SFA wanted to offer something above and beyond competitor products.
The mounting system provided the opportunity for innovation and the chance to offer something different. Each case can be purchased with a quick release wall bracket that can in turn be linked together with other brackets to form a modular system. Customers can now buy and build customised first aid points for their exact requirements. Optional photo luminescent signage and bracket labels complete the system.
With the concept approved, 42 Technology helped SFA move from sketches to product in hand. The new cases would be SFA’s first steps into the injection moulding world and 42 Technology were asked to call upon their excellent tooling knowledge to carry the designs through to production. Running concurrently with CAD part development, a suitable manufacturing route for SFA was sourced. As with most projects, there were tight cost targets to meet but the important task in this phase of the project was to find a tool maker and moulder that SFA would be comfortable with for their first tooling purchase and provide a platform for future developments.
By May 2004, 42 Technology had developed the first aid kit system into working prototypes for SFA to exhibit at the Health and Safety Expo at the NEC, Birmingham for promotional work. The investment in the prototypes paid off for SFA with several new customers at the exhibition showing interest in the new system. By the end of the summer the manufacturing route had been sourced, CAD models and full manufacturing drawings were completed. After about 12 months from the project start, first products are due to be delivered to SFA customers in early 2005.
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