The five-panel folding carton has long been the dominant package for condoms. However, Global Protection Corp. of Boston has decided to change that for its new One Condoms in a round, partially clear plastic case.
“The U. S. condom market in particular is prone to repetitive, me-too product and packaging design,” says Davin Wedel, founder and president of Global Protection. “But today’s consumers want choices that meet not just their practical needs, but their emotional and intellectual needs for product innovation as well. At Global, we develop choices that speak to our customers on an individual level. The new One Condoms line recognizes that when you buy a condom, you should be choosing something that reflects your own taste, style, and preferences, not just settling for the same old thing.”
The new line, which started reaching stores in June, are individually overwrapped condoms packed 12 to a two-piece, injection-molded, round polycarbonate case.
但是，即使是新线的过包与大多数竞争对手也不同。与大多数避孕套不同，这些都以打印注册覆盖。
注册印刷
“In the past, a traditional step-and-repeat sealing process produced long ribbons of foil packaging, with no way to predict where a printed image would fall,” Wedel says. “Graphics and text were repeated continuously, and perforations often fell in the middle of an image. Our new brand uses creative, diverse artwork, with each full-color design centered and printed on the wrapper.”
The new line is manufactured in Malaysia, and overwrapping is done in the same plant. Although materials are sourced locally, Global Protection’s Boston people worked closely with the Malaysian plant to select the overwrap substrate. For these premium products, the company chose a 31¼2-mil lamination of cellophane/polyethylene/aluminum foil/DuPont’s Surlyn sealant.
“We elected to spend more money on the wrapper than most other companies,” Wedel states.“我们测试了许多材料来试图消除泄漏，这就是为什么我们选择使用较重的素描层。它只是封印得很好。“
Wedel表示，美国安全套消费者与亚洲人之间存在差异。“亚洲的消费者不会被可能对此有一些润滑剂的包裹困扰。在美国，那种包裹不会出售。因此，泄漏是从远东进口的公司的最大问题。由于新材料和外包装系统，我们现在在我们达到零泄漏的点处。“
As important as the lamination and sealing process, Wedel says that training the people in the plant was critical. “We’ve worked hard to train the packaging people in the plant to make sure they used the right materials and the right settings on the equipment to get good seals. We taught them that it would reduce plant scrap as well as eliminate returns.”
来自中国的案件
The company evaluated lots of materials and suppliers before it selected a Chinese manufacturer to make the two-piece PC case. “Often it’s difficult to find all the technology locally,” Wedel says. “Even when you do, the mold costs are so different that we couldn’t produce a product that we could sell here, given the costs. We strongly preferred to source locally and not to have to worry about leadtimes and shipping, but we just couldn’t afford it.”
The PC parts were selected only after the company had evaluated other materials. It started with a different resin that the company thought had a nice tactile feel to it. When it was tested, consumers told the company they thought it was like a left-over food container, so they were unimpressed with its quality.
两件式盒子的前部有品牌的徽标压印进入它，以便如果案件被重用，它会提醒消费者的名称。此外，全球指定案例模具的轻微遮罩或纹理。“我们希望消费者看到里面的包装器的颜色，但不是通过完全清晰的窗口，”Wedel说。“我们希望它更加微妙。”
虽然工具成本使PC部件从中国更加负担得起，但全球保护表明其供应没有任何问题。在运输途中划伤了一些嵌套部件后，供应商现在将每件纸包裹在纸上以保护它们。此外，瓦楞的容器持有零件最初并不足够强大，因此损坏是一个问题。“我们必须加倍我们的瓦楞纸箱的规范，以承受运费的严谨性，”Wedel说。“这里的消费者将远离划伤或骚扰包裹。”
大部分劳动力都在这里
In contrast to what’s done by most companies that outsource to Asia, Global Protection employs most of its labor here in the United States. In no small measure, this is because condoms are considered medical devices and thus are subjected to rigorous inspection.
“Especially for a premium product, we really have to make sure our quality is the best in the marketplace,” Wedel points out. “Doing what we do requires a completely different approach to inventory management. When condoms are shipped into the United States, they undergo a quarantine while they’re being tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency does random testing at the point of entry, and it can last up to 60 days before an order is released to us.”
在其波士顿植物，工人仔细检查了所属的避孕套，因为它们被装入PC案例，以及手风琴折叠的指令小册子。在壳体顶部在内部手动标记之后，两件扭曲在一起以接合围绕四分之一转弯的螺纹。一旦关闭，压敏标签形式的安全密封被添加到两侧以进行篡改 - 证据 - 并保持两件销售过境。因此，消费者必须拆下安全密封件以打开包装。
In addition, another label is affixed to the base of the pack. But the real trick in all this assembly is the application of the inside label. Because the outside of the front panel has the brand name embossed into it, the main label is applied to the inside of the cover. “It has to be placed perfectly so the label lines up with the embossing,” Wedel says.
Supplied by Lion Label, this label is a clear polypropylene that’s reverse-printed flexo in three or four spot colors and then laminated to a metallized polyester with a matte finish. The converter’s account manager says there’s nothing unusual about the adhesive.
他说,关键是拉贝河不仅定位l but wiping it down carefully so that the adhesive becomes invisible. Thus, the front label is viewed by the shopper through the PC cover and through the adhesive holding the label in place. The art initially had to be converted from CMYK to spot colors, so they’d be bright enough to be seen clearly through the case and adhesive, says Lion’s account manager.
威德尔说,此案的腐朽will probably add clips to the inside of the cover to hold an insert in position so that Global Protection can replace the difficult labeling process.
塑料盒持有12个避孕套零售约12.99美元，目前在线提供。零售商已经计划出售新行包括Publix商店，CV和Walgreens。虽然这个包装有一个用于PEG悬挂的洞 - 最常见的商品技术 - 全球性能将在透明的塑料托盘中提供Publix三包装，用于搁板上的竖立商品。
“我们希望这个套餐以新形状创造一些兴奋，”佩德尔结束。“我们觉得这是区分这个新品牌的最佳方式。”
