What it Takes to Run a POP Display Company – a One Year Snapshot

What a year!

Now, you know us, not usually ones to blow our own trumpet, but, what the heck, this time we’re going to.  2017-18 was an important year for DisplayMode and we want to tell you all about it. Bear with us and you’ll see why we need to tell you this stuff.

We kicked off the year exhibiting at Euroshop. This isn’t just any old trade fair. Oh no. This is the world’s number one retail trade fair and is the place to be seen. So be seen we were. Our sales team worked their collective socks off promoting Reflex and came back with many new important contacts. Perhaps you are one of them. Pleased to meet you again if you are.

So we certainly started the year in style. But did we rest on our laurels? No sir. Our Shell Tic-Tac display – designed by our very own, highly-talented Adam was nominated for our second POPAI award. Marvellous effort Adam. Autographs and photos will have to wait. So much to tell you, so little time.

We completed the roll out of stadium carts for Krispy Kreme and installed a whopping number of healthy snacks and news cubes for Shell forecourts across the UK. That’s our second mention of Shell in as many paragraphs. Disclaimer: other petrol stations are available.

We also worked to improve our health & safety policies and procedures, and installed a new fire alarm system. An external audit scoring showed a 152% improvement. Not bad if we do say so ourselves.

At DisplayMode we have a reputation for great teamwork, it is what drives the success of our business (as well as excellent products). So we knocked down all the office walls – except the external ones, obviously – and created an open plan office space to facilitate communication and team work. We also created a rec room where staff can chill out. “Time away from the desk leads to more productive time at the desk”, we always say. Actually we don’t, but there is certainly merit in it and that’s what the rec room is for.

Oh, and remember that POPAI award we talked about? We won! Whoop!

With slightly sore heads we returned to the office and thought how best to celebrate. Why, process mapping of course! We mapped out all the steps involved from receiving an order to despatch and the sales invoice. In doing so we highlighted areas of improvement and where efficiencies could be made.

By this time the gentle jingling bells of the oh so festive Coca Cola Santa truck were calling and we donned our best 90’s gear for a Christmas fancy dress party. Mad for it.

We saw the New Year in with the launch of our online shop and  a portal we made for a customer. They now submit all their global POP orders via this platform. Speedy and efficient.

Unfortunately you can’t see the portal as it’s for clients’s eyes only, but have you seen our website? You should take a look. At the beginning of the year we achieved a record high number of visitors! Some big UK retail and brand names have been attracted by our knowledge sharing content, come join them www.displaymode.co.uk

Reflex is our sign holder range and just happens to be the world’s best-selling end-of-arm product. We thought it was time to give it a makeover. We rebranded Reflex and created two sub-brands, Select and Prime, to make it nice and easy for customers. We also created a glossy brochure to show off the rebranded range. Want to get your hands on one? Give us a call on 01536 460805.

You probably know all about clicker presses and overhead routers, yes? I mean, who doesn’t? Ok, so I don’t either. But luckily some clever people at DisplayMode do know about this stuff, so we got new ones and are now more efficient and producing even higher quality products than ever before.

Along a similar vein (not the jugular sort) we created a new role with a pure focus on quality improvement. Our business reputation rests on the quality of our products. We take it seriously.

Nearly there now. Bear with us.

Sorry? What’s that? Do we have an improved estimating system? As a matter of fact we do! I thought you’d never ask. We put together a very special estimating system which allows us to better compare the actual cost of a job compared to the estimate. This helps us keep our pricing fair and improves our estimating accuracy.

And finally…we launched in to the US of A. Yes diddly dandy do. We are now up and running in the United States of America. You’ll find DisplayMode Inc. working out of Seattle, pop by and say howdy.

That’s it. Well, it isn’t, we could go on but those are the highlights. And now to the point of all this.

Each highlight clearly is riveting in its own right. But the point of them collectively is to demonstrate to you in practice our philosophical approach which is ‘better before bigger’. Businesses exist to make money. We don’t deny that fact. However for us it is so much more than that. We want to do things better. We want to work together more effectively, to design and produce the best products on the market, to provide exceptional service to our customers. The changes we have made, everything we have achieved, it is all demonstrative of our core values.

And now my friends, I must take a well-earned rest in the rec room.

And here’s the full infographic to tell the story.

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