The Challenge
Find an alternative to EPS
Butters Group, a market leader in plants and bulbs in the UK, delivers predominantly to supermarkets. They had been using EPS trays for transport, but these are non-stackable and so take up a lot of space. It had got to the point where they couldn't store the 260,000 trays they needed. What's more, EPS is inflammable, giving them headaches with their fire insurance. Butters Group asked us whether it would be possible to deliver them an alternative within four weeks.

The Solution
Skip the prototype phase
When you're asked to deliver on the double, this calls for good judgement of which corners it is safe to cut. This did not at all mean we were incurring major risks, because we have since produced transport trays in all shapes and sizes. But even so, clients — justifiably — do mostly have more confidence if they can lay eyes on a prototype before giving the go-ahead for production. Butters didn't feel this was necessary, as they knew what we were capable of delivering and had real trust in our quality and our methods. By removing the prototype phase from the planning, we were able to slash production time considerably. 

The Result
Production within four weeks
So we managed to go from design right through to production of our thermally-formed, stackable growing and transport trays in just four weeks. The first production run has been in polystyrene but in time we will be making the move to 100% recyclable PET. These trays are easier to use, both for Butters Group and for the supermarkets they deliver to. The perforations mean that the trays can also be split up into smaller units.

For more information about Butters Group, please visit:
www.butters.co.uk Website Butters Group Limited

The Challenge
Find an alternative to EPS
Butters Group, a market leader in plants and bulbs in the UK, delivers predominantly to supermarkets. They had been using EPS trays for transport, but these are non-stackable and so take up a lot of space. It had got to the point where they couldn't store the 260,000 trays they needed. What's more, EPS is inflammable, giving them headaches with their fire insurance. Butters Group asked us whether it would be possible to deliver them an alternative within four weeks.

The Solution
Skip the prototype phase
When you're asked to deliver on the double, this calls for good judgement of which corners it is safe to cut. This did not at all mean we were incurring major risks, because we have since produced transport trays in all shapes and sizes. But even so, clients — justifiably — do mostly have more confidence if they can lay eyes on a prototype before giving the go-ahead for production. Butters didn't feel this was necessary, as they knew what we were capable of delivering and had real trust in our quality and our methods. By removing the prototype phase from the planning, we were able to slash production time considerably. 

The Result
Production within four weeks
So we managed to go from design right through to production of our thermally-formed, stackable growing and transport trays in just four weeks. The first production run has been in polystyrene but in time we will be making the move to 100% recyclable PET. These trays are easier to use, both for Butters Group and for the supermarkets they deliver to. The perforations mean that the trays can also be split up into smaller units.

For more information about Butters Group, please visit:
www.butters.co.uk Website Butters Group Limited