Client:

Ragg are a longstanding Sheffield based manufacturer of tuning forks – the last remaining manufacturer in the UK. Their products are used extensively in both musical and medical environments and are of a premium quality compared to rival products. 

 

They have been making tuning forks since 1841, and since 2012, have been part of the Uniplex medical instruments business.

The challenge:

Despite their widespread use (every GP surgery in the country has one of the diagnostic forks) and manufacturing expertise, Ragg had never developed their own bespoke packaging for single forks. They required a packaging solution which would add value to their products across their different uses whilst still remaining commercially viable.

 

Ragg’s existing packaging solution consisted of generic solid board boxes with hand applied labels for their musical and medical forks, and off the shelf corrugated stock boxes for their larger meditative forks.

 

These functional but unattractive packages did little to promote the heritage and quality of the product and carried a relatively high purchase price.

 

The company required a packaging solution that could hold a wide variety of disparate sized products and would appeal to or could be easily adapted to appeal to their 3 target markets.

What we did

The Sheffield Innovation Programme put Ragg in touch with Design Futures, a commercially focused product and packaging design consultancy group based within Sheffield Hallam University.

 

Working closely with Ragg, the Design Futures team developed a new packaging concept which addresses key elements including the development of carton board packaging solution that can accommodate multiple sizes of product, and the use of specially selected materials and foil embossing to ensure that the packaging matches the premium quality of the contents whilst remaining cost effective and environmentally responsible.

 

The concept of the new packaging is simple — a hand assembled dyed board box and lid, with a bespoke designed fitting in two sizes . The outer cartons are a standardised design to keep the cost per unit to a minimum, while the fittings are developed to allow dozens of different products to fit within the two options. We also added an optional printed sleeve that can carry graphics specific to different markets and retail environments. 

 

The lid of the boxes carries a refined version of the logo the company etches into their products, embossed in silver, which in combination with the high quality materials used in production offers a statement in quality and refinement. 

The results

The packages have been enthusiastically received both by Ragg and their clients. The designs have consolidated the client’s previously piecemeal packaging offer down to just two pieces of end user packaging for single forks.

 

Early feedback has indicated that end users are impressed – the packaging is better suited for re-use – with the box being compact enough to keep, and robust enough to withstand the product being taken in and out repeatedly.

 

The packaging was designed to be economically viable in small production order quantities, and as the new solution is used in greater volumes, the unit price will offer Ragg substantial savings over their previous options.

Working with Design Futures was a complete pleasure. Their team of expert designers created a stunning piece of packaging that echoed our marketing message to our customers. The innovative packaging has given Ragg Tuning Forks a USP over our competition by creating a premium image that our product needed to stand out in the marketplace.

E-commerce sales for Ragg Tuning Forks more than doubled when looking at the 4 months before the introduction of the box (April, May, June, July 2019) compared to the four months after (August, September, October, November 2019), with a growth of 106.8% coming through the www.raggtuningfork.co.uk website.

Overall sales for Ragg Tuning Forks have increased by 21.07% compared to the previous year.

Daniel GarretMarketing Manager, Uniplex

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