.svg){kind=small}
The Brief
After Flambeau’s acquisition of Stadium building products in 2010, our technical team was tasked with investigating new products and optimising product manufacture. One area which stood out to us in particular was our bucket range. While extremely well made, the product was ill-suited for targeting the DIY sector effectively, due to the associated manufacturing costs. The one question we needed to answer was, “Is there a gap in the market for a high-quality product in a crowded, cheap mass market?” And if so, how could we satisfy that need?
Our Solution
The Flambeau team held a series of brainstorming sessions to look at what could we do within the market to make a product that was not only high performing but also offered something different at a competitive price. The market segment we identified as needing further development was the pour and scoop bucket – an action builders were performing continuously without a purposeful bucket – we determined there was a demand for a single bucket fit for both purposes.
The Result
We immediately went about investing in test productions, looking at thicknesses and pour and scoop functionality, utilising FEA analyses in our design. We self-examined our solution to ensure it met the quality and benefits criteria the market required. After three rounds of design iteration we finally produced a design we were happy with. The next step was a full-sized 3D print of the bucket, which we used as a marketing tool to introduce customers to our new mid-priced option while continuing to optimise tooling. We received very positive feedback, which led to a full production rollout and mass sales into the market sector. As a result, the pour and scoop bucket has gone on to be one of Flambeau’s best-selling products in our history, with over 2.5 million pieces sold to date.