Locks and Security News: your weekly locks and security industry newsletter
24th April 2024 Issue no. 702

Your industry news - first

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Tradelocks oil organiser tray - a design of excellence

UAP Tradelocks are half way through their fantastic Summer Oil promotion. The company constantly strives to update and renovate their catalogue of exceptional products and aim to offer only the finest locksmith tools available on the market.

Their incomparable merchandise is contemporary, fresh and current, and this is why they decided to team up with The Gift of Oil, as their main emphasis is also on affordability, originality and excellence.

However, there is a lot more than meets the eye with week 4's oil organiser tray giveaway, as John McLoughlin, UAP Tradelocks' award winning R&D manager explains, "The brief was to create a design to organise and present the range of prestigious olive oils being offered to loyal customers.

It had to be special, just as UAP Tradelocks' customers are special. Though the lyrics of the old song, "Ten Green Bottles" tell us they were "standing in a row," I wanted to show them proudly, rather than just line them up. In any case, there were to be five, not ten and I certainly did NOT want them to 'accidentally fall'."

The inspiration came from John's long experience as an amateur musician in bands, choirs and orchestras. To get the best visual and acoustic impact, musicians often stand or sit in an arc, rather than in a straight line. With this in mind, actual bottles were set out both in a gentle curve and a straight line. The curve won the beauty contest!

"The design process then moved to the CAD (Computer Aided Design) stage on PC. After a few minor adjustments to the layout, I then designed what was essentially a stage, with the star performers - the bottles - held safely and presented attractively."

John continues, "A clear material was chosen so as not to visually "compete" with the bottles and the thermoforming process was chosen as most appropriate for the numbers required. A quick check was made on the candidate material's (PET-G) compatibility with any spilled oil. This is a sort-of "cousin" to the tough and strong polymer used for drinks bottles."

UAP Tradelocks had already built up expertise in using their 3D printing capabilities in novel ways and not "just" for developing product designs. Their latest printer was used to directly produce a mould for the forming process. This was supplied to the forming company, saving both them and UAP the time normally taken by mould manufacture.

John concludes, "Kamila, our graphic designer, designed a discrete label for the tray. So, apart from the specialist service-providers who moulded the trays and made the high-quality decals, everything was done in-house, with the same attention-to-detail and specification of high quality materials that is a hallmark of UAP Tradelocks' philosophy. Who knows, the tray may well become a collectors' item in years to come!"

A video of the moulding process and the development of the oil trays can be found at www.youtube.com You can get your hands on the oil trays by placing an order on www.tradelocks.co.uk for over £150+VAT, and the oil organiser tray will automatically appear in your basket free of charge!

5th August 2015