What our second batch taught us about design for manufacturing.
Our second batch shipped with some flaws. Here is what they taught us, what we are changing with our supplier, and what happens if your pack is one of them.
A design can be right on screen and still be hard to build right a thousand times in a row.
That is what our second batch taught us. It added two new packs, the 3-Pack and the 30-Pack, to the original 5-Pack. The cards shipped. Then our own checks found flaws in some of the packaging. When we traced each one back, it led to a decision we had made at the design stage.
What is design for manufacturing?
Design for manufacturing means designing a product so that a real production line can build it correctly every time, not only once as a sample. Design asks: does this look right? Design for manufacturing asks: can a line build this the same way, at speed, on the thousandth unit? On our first product we answered the first question well and the second one not well enough.
What did our second batch show us?
Three things.
The inner bag was sized for the card, not for the string
Each card is sealed in its own bag to hold the scent until you open it. We sized that bag closely to the card. But the card has an elastic string at the top, and when the heat sealer closes a tight bag, the string can get caught in the seal. Then the bag does not close cleanly.
Too many parts looked alike
Five scents, three designs, several pack sizes. Every combination has its own printed parts, and many of them differ by one word. The more parts that look alike, the easier it is for the wrong one to go into a pack.
What we did not write down, the line decided
We had a picture in our heads of how the cards sit in the largest box. It was never in the specification. The line packed it a sensible way, just not our way.
What changes?
| What we saw | What changes |
|---|---|
| An inner bag that did not seal cleanly | Bag and seal matched to the string |
| A card or label that did not match its pack | Fewer variants, and parts that are hard to confuse |
| Cards packed differently from the design | Packing layout written into the specification |
On our side, the change is in how we design. Before a packaging design is approved, we now ask how it gets assembled and where it can go wrong. What we used to assume, we write down.
With our supplier, we went through each flaw together. They know the line better than we do. We know what the customer opens. The fix needs both. These changes are being specified for the next batch, and when it is ready we will post here what actually changed.
What if your pack has a flaw?
We take full responsibility. If anything about your SPACION product is not right, send your order number and a photo to service@spacion.com. We handle it. You do not need to work out whose fault it was.
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