Brief
KeyGlory are a leading manufacturer and distributor of darts and bingo scoring equipment, with clients across Europe and America. In 2005, low quality Far East imports were reducing KeyGlory’s sales, despite the market experiencing rapid growth from Sky TV’s extensive Darts coverage.
Keyglory asked HJC to modernise their range of products by increasing functionality and style whilst reducing assembly & manufacturing costs. The brief demanded the creation of a professional family of products to compete with cheap imports, and take advantage of new market growth by introducing modern gaming features and unique modes. It was essential that the new designs improved the supply chain and reduced the number of components, whilst also phasing out old technologies and processes.
Method
After analysing the production facilities available at KeyGlory, HJC centred design concepts around quick snap fit parts with intuitive assembly techniques, enabling the removal of over 75% of existing fixings.
Ergonomic research provided the optimum button size and location for all gaming variants, with curvaceous styling features leading the eye towards the key interface areas. Where 25 individual moulded buttons were previously used, HJC replaced these with a single universal silicone keypad which featured tear off strips for extra languages and game features.
Plano concave LED lenses were utilized to maximise the viewing angle for all displays, giving clear and bright instruction to referees and players. The final product is a sleek user friendly scorer constructed from impact resistant Polycarbonate and ABS.
Solution
With a design for assembly, HJC were able to generate a saving of over 60% on assembly costs compared to KeyGlory’s existing product line. This dramatic saving gave KeyGlory the opportunity to penetrate the European gaming market, resulting in new market orders increasing by 30%.
KeyGlory had achieved a 30% increase of ancillary product sales since the launch in both US & European markets.
HJC continue to support KeyGlory by overseeing manufacture, providing promotional materials, instructions and packaging designs for major catalogue stores and online retail outlets. Thanks to the new range of products, Keyglory have experienced a 25% turnover increase in the year to date.