It was a sunny day. We received an inquiry through email about “Stuart The Snowman Project”. Though as an experienced inflatable toys manufacturer, we considered it a difficult project since we didn’t see any similar products before. However, the clients eagerly pushed on this project and we can feel their anxiety. Finally, we decided to take it.
Today I am gonna show you how we customize the inflatable snowman, a brand new product. Here is a step by step guide based on our process. Kindly use the links below to jump to a specific section.
1. Problems We Met When Developing the Snowman Sample
After the clients sent us the PDF design files and paid the sample fee, we began to develop the snowman sample. It came as no surprise, we ran into some problems.
1.1 How to make the body parts round?
Based on the design file, we can see its body has 3 round parts. For some inflatable toys manufacturer in China, it’s even hard for them to make very round beach ball, let alone 3 consecutive round parts in one product. Undoubtedly, we can make very around beach balls. But for this item, it’s still a challenge.
1.2 Which position to put the battery pack?
From the design file, the battery pack was originally intended to put on the head of snowman. However, for clients, the issue was that the battery pack on top of the head which would look poor if no hat put on the head. Their initial proposal is to let us think of a way to get this area to the back of the head.
1.3 How to wrap the battery pack to avoid getting wet?
The initial sample we made out didn’t seal the opening of the battery pack. It looks like below picture. Not only it looks ugly, but also there would be risk for people to destroy the product by pulling out the LED wire accidentally. As a result, the clients required us to think of a way to cover the opening.
1.4 How to properly put the lights through the snowman body?
According to the client’s design, the LED lights drop down a tube through the centre of the snowman so that all 3 areas of the snowman can be lit. The biggest problem would be how to place the lights through the whole body in a right way. Notably, this should be the most difficult part during the proofing process. Below is the idea picture that client conceived.
1.5 How to enhance the luminance of the lights?
For our initial sample, the base section was hardly lit up, which made the snowman look dark. So the clients asked us how to enhance the brightness of the LED lights. Below is the picture show the brightness level.
1.6 How to stabilize the arms and adjust the nose position?
Apart from settling the LED lights, making the arm recess and nose recess could be the second big difficult. Because it refers to special design, which needs special technology to support.
For the arms, our initial sample was strictly made on the basis of the design file. Then the problem occurred. “The arm recesses do hold sticks if they are not too heavy which is good but they do droop down.” So we had to think of a better way to stabilize the arms.
As for the nose of our initial sample, the recess part was fine to proceed. The problem occurred on the position. “The position of the seams will make it difficult to draw the buttons. Can the top (head) be rotated so the carrot hole line up directly in between the two lower seams?”
2. How Did We Solve the Problems
As an expert inflatable toys manufacturer, we will not complain about the difficulty. What we would do is trying our best to help clients solve the problems. Now let’s work out one by one.
2.1 (Solution to 1.1) How to make the body parts round?
Normally, it’s easy for us to make a round ball. But for the snowman body, there are 3 consecutive round parts. So we would need to keep testing and adjusting the mould, which quite took time. After reshaping time and again, finally we successfully worked out a perfect mould for the snowman body.
2.2 (Solution to 1.2) Which position to put the battery pack?
In order to achieve better looking, we suggested to put the battery pack on the bottom, right beside the air valve. In this way, people would not see the battery pack when the snowman stands.
2.3 (Solution to 1.3) How to wrap the battery pack to avoid getting wet?
As for this problem, we aimed to seal the opening. Based upon our experiences, the easiest way would be adding a Velcro patch to help cover the battery compartment. Check below picture and you can find it works well.
2.4 (Solution to 1.4) How to properly put the lights through the snowman body?
The client’s idea would be fine but the loop stability and redundant wire were the problems. Thus we came up with another idea by making full use of our own advantage. That is electric tension technology. We used electric tension to fix the end of LED light on the top head. Then the light would cross the whole body to illuminate the snowman. Below picture can describe.
2.5 (Solution to 1.5) How to enhance the luminance of the lights?
We recommended 2 kinds of LED lights for clients. One is 1.5m long and 10 LED lights whose brightness are enhanced. Another one is 3m long and 20 LED lights whose brightness are same with the initial sample. Both ways have same extra costs and all need 3 AA batteries to bear the power consumption. So for the revised samples, we submitted 2 samples for clients to choose.
2.6 (Solution to 1.6) How to stabilize the arms and adjust the nose position?
To prevent the arms from drooping down, we would lengthen the plastic strip restraints and arm recess. Put the cross point on the opposite. In such a way, the arm recess would be more stable to hold a long and heavy stick. Certainly, the sticks or the snowman arms would present an upward angle.
In addition, it’s relatively easier for us to move the nose hole to line up directly in between the two lower seams. Since it’s not a difficult adjustment, we can quickly amend.
3. Place Orders and Proceed Bulk Production
The clients loved the sample and promptly placed the bulk order. Upon receipt of the deposit payment, we started to proceed the bulk production. Most importantly, as a professional inflatable toys manufacturer, we can assure the clients that the bulk goods quality would be strictly same as the sample.
4. Confirm Color Box Printing and Packing Info
The clients also needed to customize the color box. Although we don’t directly manufacture the color boxes, we have long-term cooperation relationship with the printing factory. So we can help obtain the competitive prices.
Meanwhile, we would suggest the reasonable color box size for clients based on the actual product folding size. In this case, the goods can avoid the box crushing and bad looking when being transported.
Besides color box, we also customize the master cartons as per client’s request. Moreover, we would help print the right shipping marks on the master cartons & inter boxes.
5. Inspect Goods and Arrange Shipping
Normally, the clients would entrust the third party or their own agent to inspect goods. Without doubt, the inspection was going well and pass at one time. After the client paid the balance payment, we arranged the shipping on the client’s expected delivery time. Thus, the inflatable snowman customization process was successfully completed.
The End
Thank you for coming with me here. I hope this article can help you know more about how to customize your own products through an inflatable toys manufacturer. Feel free to send an inquiry. Kindly leave a comment below and we will get you in touch as soon as possible.
