R&D/Leverage provides wide range of structural brand development with moldmaking services

If you want to visit with a mold manufacturer who has gone way beyond just making molds, you should stop by booth S-28000 at NPE2015 and have a chat with R&D/Leverage (Lee's Summit, MO). The company is an innovation-driven, independent structural brand development and mold manufacturing specialist that has become a global supplier to brand owners looking for the complete package under one roof.

Show attendees will be able to explore R&D/Leverage's capabilities in precision injection molds, preform tooling, injection stretch blow molds, injection blow molds and blow mold tooling capabilities. The company works with innovators such as Replenish Bottling LLC—creators of a bold new format for plastic spray bottles and injection molded containers that will be on display. Attendees also will learn what the "Leverage" in R&D/Leverage is all about.

Structural brand development isn't exactly a phrase that is usually bandied about in mold shops, but for R&D/Leverage this concept results in consumer packaging that delivers real-world advantages and becomes a catalyst for brand growth. R&D/Leverage's staff is comprised of inventive, creative specialists on the same corporate campus who work with consumers to tap deep into the heart of the brand experience, using cutting-edge research methodologies for exploration and validation. Additional value-added offerings include upfront research such as retail audits, trend and color studies, ethnographic research, consumer focus groups, concept development, validation and implementation.

"We understand the challenges our customers face and we constantly invest in the latest equipment and our people in order to ensure success, no matter how difficult the package creation or moldmaking assignment," said Robert Schiavone, Global Marketing Director, R&D/Leverage. "In today's world, speed to market and value are mission critical. Because we are independently owned, and have nearly four decades of industry experience, we deliver quickly and on budget, and can tackle a wide variety of assignments. High-volume production, high cavitation, and close tolerance work—no matter the needs, we have them covered."

For example, Replenish Bottling's team created truly reusable bottles designed for consumer mixing, and chose R&D/Leverage for its injection mold building expertise when it came time to scale up from initial pilot molds to production molds. Jason Foster, founder and "Chief Reuser" of Replenish Bottling based in West Hollywood, CA, and his team met the R&D/Leverage group at a packaging trade show in Florida. "From the inception of our partnership with R&D/Leverage, it was clear that they recognized and were excited about the potential of our new category, and that their expertise is second-to-none. Together we are changing what a bottle can be."

Replenish required injection molds designed for high-speed automation to produce six different parts used in an integrated, lead-proof bottle-interior reservoir design that would appeal to makers of a wide range of packaged goods. The newly designed Replenish bottles required cutting-edge molds for cutting-edge molding processing. The bottles feature an internal mixing cup that easily allows consumers to add the right amount of concentrate into the bottle, which is then quickly mixed with household tap water when turned upside-down. The concentrate is squeezed from the refill pod into the built-in measuring cup.

NPE2015 attendees at the R&D/Leverage exhibit will be able to experience the company's range of capabilities:

"We have the full service know-how to help with everything from quick emergency repairs to extensive overhauls of a family of molds," said Schiavone. "Our in-house expertise means faster turn-around, which enhances productivity for our customers. Evaluations, diagnosis and refurbishment and repair of tooling and molds are all completed in our work center, by our team, which has more than 350 years of combined experience."