nuts and bolds of point of sale displays

The workshop of POS or how to get the best bang for your money

Is PMMA the same as Plexiglass? Is injection molding more costly than thermoforming? How should electrical installations be certified?

Do you wish to broaden your knowledge of fabrication processes of POS displays? We highlight some of the materials & processes used to give you a quality display and help you to make smart decisions while designing POS and, more importantly, how to get the best bang for your money.

              metals
              plastics
              wood
              industrial process
              cardboard
              printing
              light & electricity

metals

Metals, steel and alloys are used to create the most solid constructions. We will discuss their usage and finishing:

metal wire Full metal wires, such as steelwire, with variable diameters. Inexpensive alternative to more stylish materials. Highly specialised fabrication process.

metal plate Metal plate, such as steel plate, is a sheet metal in a thicker form (eg. 10/10 = 1 mm). Plates are cut, bended, punched, weld, soldered to form a composing item of a display.

perforated plate Different forms of panels perforated with variable perforation diameters for decoration or functional purposes, designed for the use of various hook systems (for blisters) and accessories.

metal tube Metal tubes can be round or square shaped, cut, bended, weld, soldered to form a composing item of a display.

galvanizing Material finishing process. The application for waterproofing and protection of zinc coatings on the surface of a metal, by hot dipping or electrodepositing.

anodizing Material finishing process used to improve corrosion resistance and decorative aspect of aluminum and aluminum based alloys. The material is cleaned, and then immersed in a bath of acids where oxidation occurs through an electrochemical process.

alloy A mixture of metals and small quantities of non metals, e.g. zamac, and alloy of zinc, aluminum, magnesium and copper, its name being the first letters of the composites. Alloys are typically cast for resistant smaller objects.

stainless steel Stainless steel is a ferrous alloy and rusts less easily than ordinary steel. Very much appreciated for its luxury glossy surface.

epoxy Metal finishing process. Epoxy paints are pigmented resins that are used to protect and/or beautify metals, know for their toughness and durability (standard NCS or RAL Colors, other colors depending on the producer). Different surfaces structures are possible: grain, orange, mat, glossy.

chroming Steel finishing process that requires in certain cases polishing and a nickel bath prior chromium coating. This treatment can also be applied directly to certain plastics.

blister Hook from metal wire typically attached to a panel from perforated steel to present blister packs.

blister pack A blister pack is a packaging for presentation of a product in between a printed card and a transparent plastic cover, usually vacuum packed.

plastics

PET, PP, PS, PMMA Synthetic materials with different characteristics of solidity and transparency, made by connecting organic polymers through a chemical process. PMMA, Polymethylmethacrylate, better known under its commercial name Plexiglass (or Altuglas®, acrylique), is one of the most solid and transparants. Old fashioned hard contact lenses were made of PMMA.

Some attributes:
   Transparent
   Opaque - not translucid
   Opal - translucid, not transparent
   Diffusing - provides soft, even light effect
   Frosted (having a roughened coating resembling frost), mat, shiny, satin, anti scratch

resine An organic composite solid, soft or semi fluid, transparent or translucid, that can be molded into a form.

vinyl A synthetic water resistant material, in rigid plate or flexible film (mostly used for stickers and certain fetishes).

forex® FOREX® is a expanded and rigid plastic sheet material with a particularly fine and homogeneous cell structure and a silky matt surface. It is a light sheet but has high rigidity and remains stable even after intensive processing.

wood

Wooden panels are used for their solidity but also for their warm appearence. Different types exist, we will discuss the major groups:

massive wood Luxury and warm, can be tainted or varnished. Precious, costly, not ecological and thus seldom used in POS.

chiboard Engineered wood. a cheap hardboard made from wood chips that are pressed together and bound with synthetic resin. The fronts and sides are finished with melamine, laminate, veneer, or PVC. Open sides are bonded manually, this is a costly operation and to be avoided, raison why MDF or mould MDF is more often used.

MDF Medium density fiberboard is an engineered wood. A special type of pigmented tempered hardboard characterized by a very fine, smooth finish. MDF can be easily transformed and is more typically used for varnished or lacked applications. Fronts can be in melamine, laminate, veneer, …

melamine A décor layer of chemically fused printed paper pressed and sealed onto engineered board. Melamine exist in different colors and designs. Melamine can be uncolored, have different designs or wood grains.

laminated wood Engineered wood bonded with a protective transparent overlay over a decor layer impregnated with a melamine resin. The top layer has "natural" surface structure showing the natural wood veneer, pressed exactly on the décor.

veneer Thin sheets of natural wood bonded onto engineered panels to cover the lower quality surface to make it look better..

foil front Good imitation for lacquered wood. A foil is pressed on MDF obtaining seamless and round corners and joints. As costly as laminated woods, but the borders don’t need manual finishing.

plywood Laminated panel product manufactured by gluing together layers of veneer in a sandwich with the grain of alternate layers oriented at right angles to provide strength.

lacquered wood Coated MDF. Resistant, scratch resistant, waterproof. High, standard or low gloss. Different surface structures are possible (grain, orange, ..).

industrial processes

In POS most fabrication processes are traditional and well mastered. The expertise of a POS specialist is more situated in the right selection, cross tuning and guiding of the different fabrication processes for all composing items and this in the most early stage of the product developing process:

mould Industrial tool in the appropriate material, a shape into which a hot liquid is poured and left to set solid to produce a product in the shape of the mould. This hardening can be increased with pressure.

profile A fairly economic industrial tool used to extrude (pull in a form) a material (metal or plastic). E.g. aluminum profiles.

vaccuum or thermoforming The process of heating a thermoplastic sheet and then forming it into a finished shape by means of heat and pressure.

injection moulding Molding technique for plastic materials used for production of large quantities considering the cost of the mould.

extrusion A method of processing plastics where the material is pushed through a die under pressure to form a continuous strip of a particular shape.

laser cutting Laser assisted cutting is usually used for materials with important thickness. Also laser engraving and welding. Slow process and hence only used for high precision low quantity production series. No tooling cost, only set up cost.

punching Involves perforating, notching, cutting or making complex forms in metal by means of tools. Panels with a thickness of up to 2 mm. Often standard tools are used.

embossing Process producing raised or sunk images on thin materials; blind embossing (An image pressed into a sheet without ink or foil.), ink or foil embossing.

welding & soldering Welding and soldering are fabrication processes that join materials, usually metals or thermoplastics.

over & underrun A quantity produced and delivered less or larger than is ordered, permissible within the agreed tolerance degree of variation (in plus and minus)..

waste Planned non usable spoilage (imperfect parts) for all industrial operations. After industrial tools, the cost of spoiled ground material often represent the major fixed cost of any industrial process where machines need to be 'set up' for custom made piece.

cardboard

corrugated board Cardboard composed of one or several fluted paper sheets glued between or on one or more flat facings.

A: 5 mm flute;
B: 3 mm flute;
C: 4 mm flute;
E: 1.5 mm miniflute,
or the combinations: A B, B C, B E, A B C (triple wall).

card stock Non corrugated board, a thick paper based material.

kraft A word meaning strength applied to paper or board containing unbleached wood pulp, brown in color and typically used as layer on corrugated.

coated paper Paper having a clay surface matt or glossy coating which produces a smooth finish. Surfaces vary from eggshell to glossy (paper that has been highly compressed). Paper may also be qualified as containing fibers of certain types of plants, including wood. Extracted and then reassembled, they constitute the basis of a sheet of paper. The grammage is expressed in grams per square meter (ex: 80g/m2).

die cutting Paper or cardboard cutting using a form, a wooden plate incrusted with special cutting tracing or creasing steels nets, used with specific presses to shape paper, board or certain thin plastics.

score A partial cut made in a cardboard sheet to locate and facilitate folding.

creasing The making of an impression or crease by stamping the surface of paper or card with a dye to locate and facilitate folding of paper or board without damaging. For thicker card the crease has to be impressed on both sides.

laminating The application of transparent plastic film, usually mat or with a high gloss finish, to the surface of printing matter to enhance its appearance and to increase its durability.

uv varnish A liquid laminate applied after printing to give a high gloss finish and then bonded and cured using ultra violet light. Environmentally friendly.

printing

4 color process A printing process in offset and screen printing that reproduces multicolor illustrations by overprinting 4 basic colors: magenta red, yellow, cyan blue, and black. (CMYK)

complementary color Ink color used in addition to the four needed by four color process, used in direct tone. Often used for vivid colors in a logo.

Pantone® - PMS Trademark of a system for color matching designed to ensure that color output will be the color intended whether on screen or in output from a printer. Often referred to as PMS (Pantone Matching System) colors. Technical variances of not more than 5% are always allowed.

cromalin® Off press quick color proof using DuPont Cromalin materials form of dry color proofing and hence, without printing plates. Also Matchprint.

blueline Prepress photographic proof made from stripped negatives on which all colors show as blue images on white paper, used to proof films, their assembly and the position of the composing items, also called Ozalid (trade name). Final stage of approval before printing and hence, generally, any changes made after this stage are expensive.

register To position print, using register marks, in the proper position in relation to the edge of the sheet and to other printing on the same sheet.

offset An industrial printing process employing a photographic lighted aluminium plate with water repulsive and water compatible areas. Mount on a cylinder, the water repulsive areas of the plate will attract oil based printing inks. This image is transferred to a rubber roller, which then contacts the surface to be printed and transfers the image. This surface can be of paper or thin synthetic materials. High machine preparation costs for the bigger formats (1600/1200mm) and hence only suitable for the larger production series.

screen printing A printing technique involving the passage of ink through a web or fabric, which has been stretched on a frame, to which a refined form of stencil has been applied. The stencil openings, made with the help of photo chemical methods, determine the form and dimensions of the imprint thus produced. Especially used to print vivid colors and on thicker materials, fabrics, etc. The bigger the image the less it is controlled.

sticker A sticker is a printed piece of paper or vinyl that contains one side that is sticky, hence its name. The best solution for detailed 4 coulour images on surfaces that cannot be printed.

dye transfer Process in which designs or text-s in single or multiple colors on lightweight film is transferred to a support (wood or glass or metal) by depositing na fine film of coulour. A window transfer is used for transfer on a window.

rubber stamping Printing process where ink is transferred to an object by means of a tampon in rubber.

foil stamping A printing process in which a logo or text- in form of metallic or pigmented coating on plastic sheets or rolls is transferred to a material by a combination of heat and pressure of a die.

ready for press Final signed acceptance of the color inking sheet (OK sheet) by the client which establishes the standard for all of the other prints in the edition. In general also used in other manufacturing processes.

CTP (Computer To Plate) A technology that allows for the delivery of digital data directly to a plate for printing. CTP efficiency eliminates conventional films and stripping to significantly reduce prepress materials and costs, and allow for significant productivity benefits over other commercial printing solutions. CTS (Computer to screen) for screen printing.

light & electricity

Lighting can be functional or decorative to attract attention. Always ask to have its installation certified.

LED A light emitting diode is a device that emits monochromatic light. The color depends on the semi conducting material used, and can be near ultraviolet, visible or infrared.

tangential lighting Illumination of sections by means of neon or LED permitting to highlight an imprinted or painted image on a transparent plastic sheet of Light emitting acrylic.

elektroluminescentie (EL) An electrical energy application of light sensitive materials causing emission of light in form of a thin sheet. Rather expensive technologie.

AREI RGEI General rules on electrical installations (More: AREI RGEI)

certificate Emitted by an official instance (such as AIB Vincotte) that controls the CE labeling of the composing and their professional installation. Several degrees of control with varying cost are possible.