Impey – British Manufacturing & Product Design C
lare Cranston is the Design and Development Manager at Coram UK. We caught up with her to chat about design and manufacturing, and find out a little more about her role and how it integrates into the business.
1. You’re the design and development manager at Coram UK. Can you explain a little about your background?
Product design is my background; I have worked across a range of sectors including homewares, toy, industrial design, cookware, aerospace and now at Coram UK focusing on the showering environment.
2. Can you tell us what your day to day role entails?
There is no typical day; every day is very different. I can be working on three or four projects at a time involving everything from testing, meeting with suppliers and product development to monitoring budgets, research and collaborating with colleagues across the business.
Continuity comes in the form of our product. Product is the heart of Coram UK and continuing innovation is the key to our continued success.
3. You design for Impey, Coram UK’s flagship brand. What are some of the most significant considerations when working on a new Impey product design?
Research plays a pivotal part in our product development. Whether we are designing a new product or making amendments to our current portfolio; innovation is the focus.
We consult with customers, installers, retailers and specifiers to understand how they work and ensure the best possible manufacturing process with no compromise on the final result.
4. Can you briefly explain your product design process you undergo when you start working on a new project?
We start with research. Looking at the market, speaking to our sales teams, and to retailers, installers and specifiers to decide whether a product is viable.
Once we enter the concept phase, we liaise with our team at our manufacturing site to work on the specifics of the manufacturing process. This involves looking at the intricacies of the design, USPs, sustainability, tooling, packaging, deliverability; it’s a collaborative team effort to fully explore the feasibility of manufacturing the product effectively.
5. What product designs are you currently working on? We have several new product designs in the pipeline at various different stages, but nothing that we can talk about yet. Watch this space very soon for more information!
6. Women are under-represented in the product and industrial design and manufacturing industry. Statistics indicate that in the UK only 5% of the product and industrial design industry and 26% of
4 BKU MAY 2024 BEST OF BRITISH EDITION
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