Clearly, having the design and prototyping resources of ROBRADY has enabled us to produce a 'knock 'em dead' product.
— Tom Ollila, Parker Energy Systems
ROBRADY design has a long-standing working relationship with prominent manufacturer Parker-Hannifin Corporation. Most recently, the company engaged ROBRADY to excite the design of its newest fuel-cell educational product.
The TekStak™ Educational Fuel Cell Kit is a high-use, low-power instructional tool. The goals of the product’s packaging design were to familiarize students with the Parker brand (expertise) and mission (exploring alternative energy sources/solutions).
The ROBRADY solution focused on the reality that TekStak kits would ship unassembled but could be fully or even partially assembled when stored. Because this particular packaging would be live, or interact with the product, ROBRADY created an internal toolbox design with a vacuum-formed interior to accommodate the diverse degrees of assembly.
Once the ROBRADY product requirements document (PRD) was completed, it became evident that a uniform box for single-, 5- and 10-stack versions of the kit would be ideal. This cost-effective measure was made possible by employing a coordinating decal system for labeling the various kit contents.
To further enhance the product’s aesthetic, ROBRADY worked with Parker engineers to redesign the fuel-cell end caps. A durable materials choice, GE Plastic’s Ultem® polyetherimide provided the necessary thermal and structural properties. Its opaque amber hue added functionality and branding value, as the color complements the gold used across Parker product lines.
In addition to generating the product logo, icon, typography and supplemental imagery for the product’s instruction manual and CD/DVD cover, the ROBRADY graphics team leveraged its internal ideation capabilities to generate the TekStak name.
ROBRADY provided Parker with five complete production simulated prototype assemblies—including vacuum-formed interiors and full mock-up instructional materials- for the product's international launch in Germany.
