Design Network North project – creating a new shower pod range

1. Design Network North project – creating a new shower pod range • Overview • The background • The design stage • Achieving customer buy-in • Moving to manufacture • Where now?

2. Overview • Typical SME – 40 years old • Sub contract manufacturer of glass fibre components for the caravan, motor-home, holiday home, bus & coach, electric vehicle, modular building market, as well as running a solid surface casting dept, producing, sinks, baths, shower trays for retail & commercial. • Recession resulted in 25% drop in turn over • Sales in the leisure industry declined, from early 2008 • Looking for sales opportunities • Looking to fill the gap left, when we received an email & follow up call from DNN explaining the exemplar program

3. The background • RTC support & guidance • John Hethrington explained how the DNN process worked & we sat down to think of a suitable product. • Why develop a one-piece no leak shower pod? • Thought over several options, inc range of basins, a light-weight WC, but choose a shower pod for a holiday home, as we knew there was a market for a higher quality product • DNN process • We were successful in getting funding & picked a design team to work with. • Market research • We did initial market research by looking at existing holiday homes to see what was been installed, we also visited websites & looked at brochures.

4. The design stage • Developing outline requirements with design team • We discussed initial requirements with Bigto, based on the market research we had done, we give them just basic information, as we wanted to see what they could come up with. • Visiting customers to build the “wish list” • We then visited a few holiday home companies to find out what was important to them in a form of a questionnaire.

5. Achieving customer buy-in • Design team developed several options • Bigto came back with several options, each offering something different, like moulded in seats, shelves, columns. • Compromise required • We looked at all the options & decided on a one piece pod, we could then market it as seamless-leak free. With not having anything moulded inside the cubicle, the internal space was greatly increased, we also decided on a retro fit valve access service cover with a built in shelf. • Scale model goes on tour • Bigto made a scale model & we took this down to one of the companies that expressed an interest in using the pod, we had compromised on a couple of things, but they liked it.

6. Moving to manufacture • ‘Tweaks & mods’ • We made some changes inc, having a central waste hole & added a rubber seal for the valve cover. We also had to source shower doors, valves/mixers & shower kits. • Full scale patterns & moulds • Using the CAD data, the pattern was produced, we are now running 4x mould tools & can produce 20 per week on a normal shift. • Current sales at £350,000 per year • Current monthly sales based over the next 12 months, should increase, as we have just added a new customer.

7. Where now? • More sizes • Currently making mould tools for an 800sq pod based on the same design • Basin range • This has giving us the push to start manufacturing our own basin range, now in mould tool production. • Develop sales within holiday home market • Talking to a few more holiday home companies. • Multi sectional pods • One for the future, these pods will be able to fit into retail homes. • Sell on line • Currently looking at a e-commerce site to sell the shower pods & basins

8. A successful DNN project safeguarding jobs and increasing headcount

9. Lamplas Valley Road Castleside Industrial Estate Consett Co.Durham DH8 8JA Tel: 01207 502474 Fax: 01207 500407 sales@lamplas.co.uk www.lamplas.co.uk