Anyone who’s watched their mobile device go from cutting edge to obsolete overnight knows that advances in personal technology happen fast. The teams at Avery Dennison who produce high performance tape products know it, too; their innovations are part of next generation technology worldwide, from smartphones to tablets to laptops. Recently, they applied their creative brainpower to a solution that helps ensure customers have Avery Dennison products close at hand in the race to create the next ‘big thing’.
Putting products at designers’ fingertips
Avery Dennison Innovation Pods are distinctively designed, easily portable sample-display systems that enable customers to consider the full range of our high performance tapes and select the best product for their particular applications. Our Innovation Pods make it easy for customers to choose from an array of adhesive materials – from very thin micron acrylics to thermal management solutions – according to what materials they want to bond. An engineer who wants to adhere a next-generation touch screen to a sleek new smartphone design, for example, can look to the Innovation Pod to see what adhesive tape would work best.
Choosing the right tape is simple, thanks to a chart mounted on the pod that displays products, suggested applications and the best tape thickness for a given need. Visuals on the chart illustrate each product’s construction and recommended application use.
“Our Innovation Pods essentially put our products in customers’ hands so they can brainstorm different solutions to their design problems,” said Ryan McCall, business development manager for Avery Dennison Performance Tapes. “The Innovation Pods contain a selected range of our products, and once they’re at a customer’s facility, their portability makes them easy to move among different workspaces. Their distinctive Avery Dennison branding makes sure customers identify our products with our company and keep our name top of mind.”
“The conventional way to provide samples to customers is to ship big rolls of material,” said Josh Bogner Sr, senior research and development engineer with Avery Dennison Performance Tapes. “Innovation Pods replace those cumbersome rolls with sheets that are about the size of a notebook. That makes samples easier to handle and also helps reduce waste.”
Shortening the innovation cycle
Bogner says Avery Dennison customers like the Innovation Pods because they help them execute on their ideas faster.
“The Innovation Pods enable us to be more responsive, even when we can’t be there in person. When a customer needs a new or custom solution, all he or she has to do is go to the Innovation Pod, take a quick look at the chart and find the best solution for what they’re conceiving. It saves them a lot of time. They don’t have to call us, and they don’t have to rummage around in big rolls of samples. They just grab what they need and go. And all the while, they’re interacting with our brand, which is great for building the long term, one-to-one relationships that are central to how we do business.”
Recently, a high profile technology customer had an immediate need for a high performance foam tape and couldn’t wait days for samples. They called our business development team, and we informed them that the exact product they were looking for was right there in their Innovation Pod. The customer was able to take that sample material and quickly turn it into prototypes to validate their design.
Being there for customers
The bottom line, says business development manager Ryan McCall, is that the Innovation Pods give Avery Dennison one more way to be an indispensable partner to customers who are under continuous pressure to put new products in the hands of insatiable consumers faster. Understanding customers’ needs, and making it easier for them to innovate, is what the Innovation Pods – and Avery Dennison – are all about.
“Our customers asked,” said McCall, “and we answered.”
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