Month: April 2023

Quality: the deciding factor

While speed may dictate who wins an initial job or project in a long term business relationship, and everyone is always trying to reduce costs, quality is truly the deciding factor for every project. Quite literally, quality is execution. Great design doesn’t provide any value when it is executed poorly. Think about it: would you rather have the right product delivered late, or the wrong product delivered on time?

The problem: getting the right quality

In the world we live in today, each project has a sweet spot for where it lands on quality. However, unless you’ve launched something very similar in the past, the sweet spot for quality on any visual merchandising package will be uncovered during the design process – which takes time and effort. Then you’re in a catch 22 between spending enough time in development without overspending

The solution: messy progress

How do you get on the path to success without blowing the budget? The answer is messy progress. Don’t laugh, it’s true! Why spend hours upon hours in design software and then translate it into the world of physics vs. making it and putting it through its paces then making another one with the corrected features? While the impatient three year old in us stops its feet and covers their ears at the time and inexactness of multiple prototypes, how else can you be SURE the product will work in the real world and all the challenges it holds without actually doing it? The reality is, you can’t.

Managing expectations

Let’s be real. If someone promises you something without providing proof of concept, be prepared to be let down. A good supplier will let you know the options you have, and push back on what is unrealistic. Then you co-create your way to something that is both acceptable and achievable. The difficult part about that is you then may have to present the bad news to your boss about a pushed back timeline, which doesn’t look great on you. A way around it? Plan ahead and build in more time. You’ll always be happy you did. 

Pick a partner that will go to bat for you

Bad things happen, it’s a fact. Unreliable supply chains, bad relationships, global pandemics, you name it. And they all affect you, your day, and your projects. So, while nailing each project 100% of the time is great, it’s important to have an insurance policy in case you don’t. That comes down to the supplier you pick. Think about any vendor and how they’ve responded to a previous problem: their speed, communication, accountability, cost sharing, etc. If they’re still with you, it’s probably because they make your life easier by navigating these difficult times together. If they’re no longer on your go-to list, they probably made your life more difficult. So plan ahead, because we’re humans and humans make mistakes, and be mindful of working with someone who you can count on to do the right thing if something goes wrong.

The end game

When you prioritize quality, commit to an iterative process, are realistic with your expectations, and have a partner that can perform under pressure – you’ve got all the ingredients for long-term success. In your company, branding, customers, retail spaces, life…it’s kind of the secret formula. 

But here’s the thing – prioritizing quality doesn’t have to mean sacrificing speed and price. By focusing on quality, you can actually optimize your sales and increase efficiency. This means you can still deliver products and services quickly, while also ensuring they meet the high standards your customers expect. So a win-win-win!

At TGS Elevate, we specialize in wide format printing to 50-500 locations nationwide, design and fabricate custom millwork and metalwork, produce promotional products at a huge scale, and provide quality service every step of the way. 

 

Jeff Lo is owner of TGS Elevate, a visual marketing / merchandising company that provides printing, point of purchase displays, and store fixture manufacturing, and in-store build outs for companies that have 50-500 locations nationwide.

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The trinity of product development

Like nearly everything in life, the trinity of product development revolves around three core choices: speed, quality, and price: pick any two. In this article, we’re focusing specifically on price, and if it’s really an option at all.

Price: lowest is rarely best

Applied to our industry, when brands and retailers spend their time and money with fixture packages (cash wraps, shelving, and various types of displays) in new locations, going with the lowest cost is never really a viable option. Brands have a lot to protect: their values, customer base, look, feel, and recognition among other things. Choosing the lowest priced option as the primary value is the fastest way to throw all that good work out the window. Plus, the direct cost of re-work, indirect cost of lost time, and reality of stress and frustration that comes with it, makes you wonder why you even chose to go with someone on price at all.

Redefining the importance of price

So if the lowest price option is out, where do you choose from? This is exactly where design and manufacturing interests intersect. However, typically these two important roles are part of separate teams (ex: architect and builder interest in building a home), and syncing vision and real world costs across a variety of materials and techniques is challenging. The sweet spot, we’ve found, is getting the best possible quality at the most you can afford. Our honest opinion: if you can’t afford to do it right, don’t do it.

So if we can’t afford a fixture package, what do we do?

Renderings, shop drawings, materials, and techniques are quite different from printing – software, education, and general career path to name a few. Compared to printing, these specialized skills are more involved in the design process, and it makes more sense to rely on outside fabricators to manage and develop these assets vs. coming up with your own design only to find that it doesn’t scale due to material availability, special machines required, or time. So, if you have architects on staff, you’d be fine to tackle in-house. If not, best to collaborate and lean on outside suppliers to create the final product.

Design for print and store fixture packages are different languages

The ideal output depends on the right input. Wide format printing and store fixture production have different inputs: software, techniques, suppliers and timelines to name a few. Just like with language, you’ll need someone fluent on your team that speaks each language – and if you’re lucky, someone that speaks both. However, what if you don’t have the resources to do this? The manual way is to lean on your vendors’ knowledge. Ask their sales teams to educate you about your options, and do our own research to validate it. While this can be time consuming, it is very effective. Just be clear about your vendor’s billing policies surrounding design services.

Is it even possible to do anything?

The ideal output depends on the right input. Wide format printing and store fixture production have different inputs: software, techniques, suppliers and timelines to name a few. Just like with language, you’ll need someone fluent on your team that speaks each language – and if you’re lucky, someone that speaks both. However, what if you don’t have the resources to do this? The manual way is to lean on your vendors’ knowledge. Ask their sales teams to educate you about your options, and do our own research to validate it. While this can be time consuming, it is very effective. Just be clear about your vendor’s billing policies surrounding design services.

 

Jeff Lo is owner of TGS Elevate, a visual marketing / merchandising company that provides printing, point of purchase displays, and store fixture manufacturing, and in-store build outs for companies that have 50-500 locations nationwide.

Want to chat?

Get help from one of our professionals