TMC Offers One-Stop Design and Display Shop

Display wizards. That’s TMC, a Yorkshire-based design and display equipment company in a nut shell.

Established 18 years ago, the family-owned firm has its roots in the DIY sector, supplying retail display solutions to major retailers.

More recently, it has spread its wings to serve major supermarkets including Morrisons, Tesco and Marks & Spencer as well as top health and beauty brands L’Oreal, Maybelline and Rimmel. Its latest venture has taken it into the toy arena, developing interactive in-store displays.

James Dixon, TMC managing director, says there are synergies in display across retail sectors.

“There is a definite cross pollination of ideas,” he says. “It is amazing how concepts coming from the more mundane side of DIY transfer and arrive in sectors such as confectionery, for example.”

Business is robust and Dixon claims it is because retailers and brands have recognised the vital role of good display.

“People have switched onto the fact that when they are spending so much on a brand image, that display is a direct reflection of that.

“Consumers - the target audience - will stand in front of a display and make a judgement about a brand. If a company is investing a huge amount of money in a brand, some of that money can appear in display - it’s a form of advertising.”

TMC’s unique structure appears to be paying dividends. The Group comprises 4D Creations, a design house; Metalco, a metal working arm offering on-site manufacturing, powder coating and printing; and RS Pro, a merchandising business set up a year ago.

While the member companies work for the Group, they also have their own trade clients. 4D Creations, for example, will undertake graphic design and packaging work.

From a display point of view, however, the vertical integration means TMC is a one-stop shop.

“We are a concept to reality business - we design and manufacture equipment and we merchandise it,” says John Earnshaw, sales and marketing director.

“We are a design house, not a manufacturer,” he stresses. “We design from the ground up, ie the displays will work.”

It sounds simple, but TMC can recall t projects it has rescued, which were either too expensive to manufacture or could not be manufactured.

“We produce visuals, which include all the nuts and bolts so that there’s no disappointment,” says Earnshaw.

New technologies such as LED lighting and touch screen are driving some of the latest display concepts at TMC and, as technology becomes less expensive and more compact, its role in display is gaining ground.

According to Dixon, shopping has to be an experience and interactivity plays a key role.

“There has to be reason to get away from ASOS otherwise, why move from the screen to go shopping?” he says.

TMC’s latest toy project, for example, was interactive and included flashing and sparkling LEDS plus floor graphics.

“It’s a playful display with a playful production for an audience that wants to play,” says Dixon.

In another project for Wolf Garden, TMC devised a display featuring an LCD TV to demonstrate the brand’s innovative garden tool range, featuring tool heads with interchangeable handles and poles.

“People were walking straight by and, while keen gardeners got the concept, it required the visual of the person putting the tools together for customers to appreciate it in store,” says Dixon.

A tour round TMC’s site - the design studio and metal works - reveals some of the latest retail concepts ranging from new bakery units for a major supermarket, tropical fruit units for Marks & Spencer to counter top displays and a free standing display unit (FSDU) for a new tannning product plus a novel, collapsible unit designed for events.

According to Earnshaw, TMC typically works with retail development teams on display projects and will feed the brief back to its design team. Based on the brief, TMC will develop a couple of ideas and then progress to prototype stage. In a recent project for Morrisons, TMC took just 24 hours to design and manufacture new FSDUs. In another, a FSDU for Tesco for a range of Apple products, which needed to be functional and provide security in a 24-hour store, was turned around in just two days.

TMC’s responsiveness is partly a function of its on-site manufacturing capability where two machines punch and laser sheet metal before bending and finishing.

But it’s also a result of investment. Earnshaw reports the company has invested in a tool cutting machine to ensure tools can be cut in-house if required.

“We can’t let a major retailer down,” he explains. “We have to hit schedule for roll out so we’ve put in place something that could cause less problems. It doesn’t sound a lot but it’s making a big difference to what we do.”

Similarly, the company has invested in robot welding for short runs, providing a competitive edge over European rivals, and helping to deliver a 12% rise in export orders.

TMC always manufactures a few overs, adds Earnshaw, so it is able to react very quickly.

The operation’s spread of business is another advantage. Business in the supermarket and health and beauty arena is robust, reports Earnshaw. DIY is currently buoyant too on the back of recent good weather.

Garden centres, meanwhile, have endured three years of hard times, according to Dixon. This group is now beginning to make moves in areas such as category management and look hard at their ranges and core products, he says.

Budgets in the health and beauty industry are under less pressure, TMC maintains.

“There’s no price pressure - it just has to look good,” says Earnshaw. “It’s all about getting a high end finish.”

Units are powder coated, a more environmentally-friendly technique versus wet spraying, says Earnshaw.

TMC is keen to discuss environmental issues regarding display and, as a result of its work with major multiples, it incorporates ‘end of life’ documents for the displays it produces. The move towards LED lighting in display is another environmental win, says Dixon.

The business is scratching away at new opportunities too. As well as landing its first toy client, the company’s new merchandising arm is trading well, says Earnshaw.

Ever aware of the latest retail trends, the company has its eye on developments regarding cigarette display.

“There’s going to be a huge amount of work in that area,” says Dixon, “the area behind the till is a very important space. “Customers make assumptions as to where products are and a lot of products are merchandised tightly but there is no link between them - there is going to be quite a lot of scrabbling.”

TMC is limbering up to such challenges with gusto.

Dixon again: “One of the big things that has changed our company is that retailers are relying on suppliers to do things for them so we have changed and are taking on more responsibility.

“If you are a one trick pony, you need to make a lot of calls to get a job done. We are trying to move forward and broaden our capability. Our goal is to come out of the other side of recession with a much stronger offer.”

Expect more design magic then.