`Design for manufacture' helps bring endless sales: Schering-Plough HealthCare Products Inc. conquered several production challenges for its first, and highly successful, dual-chamber container

Food & Drug Packaging, May, 2002 by Lisa McTigue Pierce

It's not easy competing with Mother Nature when it comes to delivering an even, natural-looking tan.

But the scientists, engineers and marketing experts at Schering-Plough HealthCare Products (SPHCP) created the next best thing. Together they developed two new sunless tanning products--Coppertone[R] Endless Summer[R] sunless tanning lotion and Bain de Soleil[R] Radiance Eternelle[R] self-tanning creme--that combine an innovative product formula with an attractive and functional dual-chambered packages.

The package is instrumental to the product's success. The container keeps the two ingredients--which will react on contact--separate until time of use and then dispenses them in an even one-to-one ratio. A radical improvement in sunless tanning, the patented formula produces visible color in 30 minutes and is done in less than two hours.

During the 2001 selling season, the two Endless Summer[R] stock keeping units (SKUs) were the No. 1 and No. 2 best-selling items, not just in the sunless segment, but in the entire sun care category. The two Radiance Eternelle products also performed well. Brand manager Steve Hazlett characterizes the products' launch as "enormously successful."

A number of `firsts'

This favorable end result belies a number of production challenges that were overcome:

* Filling and sealing--This was the first time they handled a dual-chambered container.

* Wraparound labeling--This was the first time they worked with a wraparound clear film label.

* Quality-seal application--A clear quality seal was added to the Coppertone[R] Endless Summer[R] package after the initial packaging line was designed without it.

* Cartoning--This was the first time they worked with a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) carton.

* The timeline--Schering-Plough acquired the Bain de Soleil[R] brand half-way into the Coppertone[R] Endless Summer[R] project. This was after many details of the package and the packaging line had been designed for two SKUs, not four.

The same, only different

Though they share the same technology, the product formulations for the two brands are different. The packages are also similar but not identical:

* The Endless Summer[R] container has a dome-shaped overcap, which gives it a soft, feminine look. Because it's not sold in a carton, it has a small, quality seal on the back, which secures the friction-fit overcap to the container to deter in-store sampling.

* The Bain de Soleil[R] package is slightly shorter and a different color. To be consistent with the brand's family of products (which are all in secondary packaging), Radiance Eternelle[R] is packed in a carton, so it doesn't need an overcap. A clear PVC carton was chosen because it lets consumers see the unique dual-chambered container inside. "This signals the consumer that the product is something different," Hazlett says. The PVC carton also has an elegance that matches the brand's high-quality image.

These differences in packaging reflect the distinct positioning of the two brands. The Coppertone[R]. product appeals to mainstream, all-American women who are looking for practical beauty. The Bain de Soleil[R] product is for the more upscale female customers, who strive for glamorous beauty.

Managing the project

Usually the marketing manager or brand manager, rather than someone in manufacturing, coordinates all aspects of a new product launch. But in this case, Eric Houston, manager of process engineering, acted as project manager.

This atypical arrangement helped contribute to the products' success. Houston explains, "Since the other departments were there during discussions about manufacturing, they were more understanding of the production challenges."

This "understanding" allowed them to collectively "design for manufacturing," keeping production efficiencies in mind during project development.

Houston held frequent, but short, management update meetings. At each meeting, information was shared on the project's main points:

* Product formula;

* Product packaging;

* Packaging/compounding equipment;

* Project schedule; and

* Capital spending status.

"High levels of documentation, agendas, minutes and action items were done for each meeting," Houston says. "This was a time-consuming task for me but it was important that everyone stayed on the same page."

Communication, which is always essential for projects of this scope, took top priority. Conference calls and e-mail messages helped key personnel stay connected, even though they work out of three different locations. Brand manager Hazlett works in Berkeley Heights, N.J.; Michael Tune, principal scientist in package development, works in Memphis, Tenn.; and Houston is at the manufacturing facility in Cleveland, Tenn., which is located at the opposite end of the state from Memphis.

Concurrent development

The concept of creating a new product requiring two separate chambers for delivery came from the research and development group as they experimented with ways to improve sunless tanning products.