Interview with Cyril Stocker, Group Project Director at RFD Beaufort / Survitec
Who Are RFD?
Founded in 1920, RFD are safety and survival experts and the world's largest manufacturer of inflatable liferafts. To maintain their position as global leader in maritime survival equipment, they place a strong emphasis on customer focus, product excellence and technical innovation and as a result, share of lot of the core values as at 4c Design.
Founded in 1920, RFD are safety and survival experts and the world's largest manufacturer of inflatable liferafts. To maintain their position as global leader in maritime survival equipment, they place a strong emphasis on customer focus, product excellence and technical innovation and as a result, share of lot of the core values as at 4c Design.
4c Design Delivers
RFD, whilst a major player in the commercial liferaft market, fail to have the equivalent share in the leisure market. With this objective in mind, 4c were briefed to redesign the leisure range liferaft cases to meet the demands of the marketplace. But what were they?
We carried out extensive research to allow us to get under the skin of the product, the competition and the needs of the user. This in turn, helped us refine the brief resulting in a case design that was not only more aesthetically pleasing, but more durable, functional and economical to produce.
RFD, whilst a major player in the commercial liferaft market, fail to have the equivalent share in the leisure market. With this objective in mind, 4c were briefed to redesign the leisure range liferaft cases to meet the demands of the marketplace. But what were they?
We carried out extensive research to allow us to get under the skin of the product, the competition and the needs of the user. This in turn, helped us refine the brief resulting in a case design that was not only more aesthetically pleasing, but more durable, functional and economical to produce.
How did we do it…
Success = A strong Return on Design Investment
The unexpected outcome from this project was how much 4c was able to reduce part cost, with initial estimates intimating that the full project (including all design tooling costs) will have paid for itself within the year. The case was put into full production immediately.
