THE MARKET UNDER PRESSURE FROM LACK OF RAW MATERIALS AND RISING PRICES

Successful POS materials are not just about an excellent idea and graphic design of a designer. This is where it all begins, but the implementation and preparation itself also play a key role. When creating technological drawings, it is essential to choose the right materials concerning many aspects, such as the size of the POS media, their location, exposure time, cost, installation process, and many others. However, the year 2021 does not simplify this process at all. The ongoing crisis in the field of materials such as metal, wood, cardboard, or plastic materials is very bad. The commodities necessary for the production of some materials are running short and their prices are rising considerably. All predictions are very speculative and uncertain. We try to adapt to this situation as much as possible and direct production towards expected material sufficiency and at least partial price stability.

FLUCTUATIONS MUST BE WATCHED
There has never been clearly defined which material is most suitable for specific types of POS applications and which material should be used for their production. The fact that floor displays are mainly being made of cardboard, premium shop-in-shops are being made of wood, end caps of metal, and countertop displays of plastic is a thing of the past. It cannot always be the best choice, so we threw these “standards” into the trash and now we look at each POS very uniquely.
Unfortunately, the worst situation is currently in the field of metal production. The price of sheet metal has risen by more than one hundred percent in the last six months, and this number is increasing every day. Therefore, there is no reason to produce re-editions of previously metal displays now again from metal, but we offer clients wooden or plastic variants. If we predict a problem with corrugated cardboard, for example, in the near days, we immediately offer a certain plastic variant, which is, let´s say, even a better choice for pallet wrappers. I’m definitely not saying that any of the materials end up forever in the field of in-store communication, I just try to outline that the first choice is not always the right one. It is our job to monitor the situation and offer the best comprehensive sales support solution.

PLASTICS AND ECOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS
During the last year, working with plastic material has proved very useful to us. Not only because it is well-processable, but it is also very flexible, anything can be built from it. It is not a problem to glue it over the entire surface and thus obtain the desired design. With the right choice of the strength of boards, adhesives, and locks, we guarantee a load capacity comparable to metal displays. Compared to a metal display, however, it is not so heavy and demanding of transport or handling. Very often we create displays or pallet displays from plastic, then a sales representative puts it into his car trunk and then installs it in a store himself, which represents a big financial saving for the installation teams and transport. However, we must not forget nature and the environment. For all prints, we primarily use latex printing, which, thanks to water-based inks, does not pollute the air and does not contain any dangerous and smelly substances. The prints are completely harmless to health and are suitable even for the strictest facilities such as schools, canteens, hospitals, and more. Despite all this, the quality of the print is very high and the color fastness reaches five years without any problems, indoors even up to ten years. It is not a problem to produce all plastic displays and other POS media also from “non PVC” board materials, which meets various environmental directives of the companies.

I would recommend all submitters of POS materials to get advice and get offered the most suitable material concerning the functionality, durability, and location of POS materials, but also to find out about the current and constantly changing situation of availability and prices of input materials. It is the manufacturer who can reflect on this and choose the most efficient variant and thus use the set budget to the maximum.

Author: ANNA BRŮŽKOVÁ, Dago
Source: Marketing & Media, issue 26-27 2021