RX Plastics Launch Major Product Innovation at Fieldays
RX Plastics Launch Major Product Innovation at
Fieldays
This year’s
Mystery Creek Fieldays was the platform for New Zealand pipe
and irrigation specialists RX Plastics to launch their
biggest range of pipe fittings yet for the farm irrigation
market.
The result of a
year’s worth of research and development time, prototyping
and tooling up, the injection moulded range is glass
reinforced nylon, and will firmly cement the company’s
position as New Zealand’s premier fittings manufacturer
and distributor.
According to industrial designer and
project engineer, Chris Clay, this is the first time in the
company’s history that such a major product development
process has been undertaken.
“This range includes
more than 100 new fittings, which means precision design,
tool design, tool making the moulds from solid steel,
testing and finally manufacturing the range. We have been
selling LD fittings into the marketplace for 30 plus years
and we know the market well.
“The sheer number of
individual components meant we had to contract multiple tool
making companies to carry out the work, and steel had to be
bought to make the moulds, which combined make up tonnes of
steel.”
The robust glass reinforced nylon product is
frost resistant, making it ideal for the New Zealand rural
market.
RX Plastics’ Ashburton factory is the
location for the new equipment, which will extend their
existing manufacturing capacity and make full use of other
investments in machinery over the last few years.
Being situated in a rural heartland has been ideal for RX’s development process, which has made the most of having the ideal field test environment on its doorstep
“We are
able to test our products in the real world, gain valuable
customer feedback and ensure that we are meeting the
requirements of New Zealand farmers – simply by working
with our local farming community,” Clay comments. “We
have made a New Zealand product that’s perfectly suited to
the New Zealand rural environment.”
“The approach
has been highly successful with our well known K-Line
irrigation and effluent ranges, and we are applying the same
approach with the LD product range”
He says the
decision to manufacture the range in-house was made after
several changes in the New Zealand LD fittings market among
RX’s competitors.
“Our customers are now able to
buy the full range of irrigation pipe and fittings from one
manufacturer, with our guarantee of quality and
performance.”
Fieldays was the first chance for
customers and distributors to see the new LD range, ask
questions and express interest in stocking the product,
which is expected to be available in retail stores around
the country from September 2012.
ends