Dave Spencer, Director of Kool Ideas, sums up the project, “The speed and innovation of the process was astonishing.  RGE is a company that can overcome any obstacle when it comes to plastic design and I am very happy with the resultant product. To go from a wooden model to full production volume capability of 5,000 per week in less than 3 months was beyond our expectations and we will certainly be using RGE for our next generation of products which are due to release soon”.

For more information on Kool Ideas visit  www.koolideas.co.uk

Jump For Joy

Nigel Underwood is the director of Jump For Joy, the UK’s leading manufacturer and supplier of professional horse show jumps. Nigel came to RGE with a manufacturing capacity constraint on his current design of show jump. The jump used a fabricated steel base for each jump up-right and Nigel simply couldn’t produce enough to keep up with demand. His initial thoughts were to make a plastic version that could be molded . He had heard of RGE’s leading position in the production of plastic structural bases and wondered if they could help.

As it turns out an entirely new and innovative product was born, one that has enabled rapid expansion of jump for joy and left both Nigel and RGE jumping for joy with buoyant orders.

For more information on Jump For Joy visit  www.jump4joy.co.uk

White Goods Front Fascia Design

RGE has a long history of producing high quality visual parts for domestic white goods appliances stretching back over 40 years.  In 2004, RGE embarked on a project that was the culmination of this experience, to design, develop, tool, and manufacture a completely new range of white good's front fascia console panels.

RGE's commitment included the development of the buttons, light guides, and assembly clip features, as well as meeting strict manufacturing cost restrictions, volume capacities, and high-gloss finish requirements.  The project included the creation of 40 new tools made in RGE's toolrooms in Portugal, China, and the UK.  The design was carried out in the design center at RGE Godmanchester, and took 12 months to complete.

Working from A-surface designs along with the freedom to develop the fixing methods and mechanical assemblies behind this project was a real challenge.  The result was an extremely successful product with over 1 million units produced in the first 18 months after design release.

Nomique Wo Chair

RGE has been a leading producer of office furniture components since the early 1980's and has components in more office task chairs than any other component manufacturer.  RGE worked on a new chair design project with Nomique, a leading UK producer of office furniture.  The project involved the creation of a new Structural Seat with an integrated seat slider and flexible waterfall.  The product is a universal RGE product that was customized for Nomique's specific needs.  A set of new gas-adjusted arms was also produced to compliment the unique style and high end pitch of the Wo Chair.

For more information on the Nomique Wo Chair visit  www.nomique.com

PDY Design

PDY Design was formed by Paul and Graeme Purdy as a design company for consumer products.  Their background includes over 20 years of designing and manufacturing film props for some of the largest film production companies in the world including:  20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Columbia, and Dreamworks.

For many years, the company was involved in making bespoke tools and toolboxes for their own professional use in the film industry.  This resulted in a new and innovative toolbox concept that PDY Design commissioned RGE to engineer and develop to a product that would be suitable for mass-production using injection molding.

The overall design project was to turn an SLA and 3D solid model with no draft or split lines, into a manufacturable item.  Utilizing RGE's extensive knowledge of injection mold tool design, and the design of plastic components, the design project led to a number of improvements and enhancements in the tool layout and feed points of the components.

The project was led by Iain Rollason-Hill, RGE's design manager, using RGE's UK and Portugal design resources. The tools are being produced at RGE China, and will be molded at RGE's USA molding facility located in Newport, Tennessee.  A truly global RGE design and development project.

For more information on PDY Design visit  www.pdydesign.com

Cool Blue Box Company

In Summer 2006, RGE embarked on a partner collaboration to develop an innovative new coolbox for transporting fish for the UK fish markets. The hub of all fish production in the UK is Grimsby on the NE coast of England. Cool Blu Box Company operates out of Grimsby and already provides distribution and hygienic cleaning services for fish transportation. Scott Masterton and his team developed a new  type of fish box that could be tracked with RFID wireless scanning and used to transport salmon from Scotland to Grimsby using re-usable plastic boxes rather than disposable polystyrene.

RGE was so attracted by the concept that it took a share of the company and partnered up to develop the cool blue box and launch it to the UK fishing industry.  The design project will use RGE’s core strengths of plastic product design, design for manufacture using linear vibration welding and large part plastic injection molding.