Shredder range
Services
- Ergonomic design
- Aesthetic refinement
- 3D modelling
- User experience (UX) analysis
Sector
- consumer
Awards
Acco is one of the world's largest manufacturers of branded academic, consumer and business products. It is home to two of the biggest names in office equipment: Rexel, a household name in the UK; and Leitz, a premium European brand of products designed for exceptional performance and style.
The OPD team was tasked with completing the industrial design for a range of auto feed document shredders for each brand.
CONCEPT IDEATION
We began by producing and presenting to the client a wide range of concept sketches to explore various forms, finishes and interfaces. As a group, we evaluated the concepts, then refined the preferred aspects and developed digital sketches to delve deep into the details of the designs and hone the final design concept.
A-SURFACE CAPTURE
With final concepts approved, the designs moved into 3D CAD surface capture, to ensure that the design intent is maintained throughout the transition from 2D to 3D. This data - alongside photorealistic renderings - provided the basis for all the downstream engineering work.
BRAND LANGUAGE
The autofeed ranges were designed to have a strong aesthetic synergy with other Rexel and Leitz shredders whilst maintaining distinction both from one another and from the existing manual feed machines for each brand.
A simple white and silver colourway for Leitz, and sleek black and silver for Rexel, provide a clean look in keeping with the respective brand identities and are suitable for use in both home and office environments. Bold, striking design details ensure that the products command attention even when shown as small images on the pages of Amazon and office stationery catalogues.
PREMIUM INTEGRITY
As high-end professional models, contemporary aesthetics, intuitive usability, high quality build and durability were key elements to success and to growing the Leitz and Rexel premium brand integrity.
FROM DBA DESIGN EFFECTIVENESS AWARD
After launching the newly designed Leitz Autofeed range, the brand went from zero share in the auto-shredder market to a 16% share of the overall market. This contributed greatly to a 55% growth in sales across ACCO.
Although ACCO changed its manufacturing supplier for these machines, the economies of scale by utilising common tooling and common components between brands will have contributed
significantly to the reduced prices, averaging 20% lower than previous Rexel range, and so increasing margins too. The design also saved 1/3 of the initial investment by utilising 27 shared tools.
Shared tooling and components saved on manufacturing and verification time meaning product made it to market in just over a year even with Covid delays.
The new premium design meant the Leitz models could be sold with a larger margin.
‘REDACTED CONFIDENTIAL DATA’
Simple, yet highly effective product design across all the machines has enabled highly cost effective and consistent manufacture, facilitating unparalleled speed to market and success.