A Wisconsin kitting and assembly partnership that turned a 70%-finished idea into a market-ready product
How Beyond Vision Helped RTC Products Launch a New Retail Packaging Line
About RTC Products
RTC Products (formerly Russo Trading Company) is a Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based manufacturer and nationwide wholesaler of professional tile and stone installation tools. With over 25 years in the industry and a catalog of more than 1,400 SKUs, RTC serves tile installers, fabricators, and distributors across the country. Their products carry the RTC Shield of Approval, earned through rigorous field testing by professional installers, and the company is known for innovation that makes installers’ jobs easier and less physically demanding.
The Challenge
RTC Products was preparing to launch a product into a new retail sales channel. A significant step that required purpose-built consumer packaging rather than the trade-focused presentation their existing products used. The product itself was roughly 70% developed when the project came to Beyond Vision. The remaining 30% wasn’t technical, it was practical: how do you take a concept on paper and turn it into a repeatable, cost-effective packaging process that can compete at retail price points?
The stakes were tangible. If the per-unit packaging cost came in too high, the product couldn’t move forward. RTC needed a partner who could think through both the design and the economics simultaneously.
The Beyond Vision Approach
Beyond Vision’s engineering team consisting of two engineers and one junior engineer dedicated to customer support, worked closely with RTC to understand not just what they wanted, but what they needed. That distinction mattered.
The team identified that RTC didn’t just need a packaging solution. They needed an efficient, cost-effective solution that would keep the product competitive in the retail market. Through close collaboration and honest conversations, Beyond Vision’s team proposed a packaging approach that differed from RTC’s original design. One that came in within budget while actually improving on the original concept’s appearance and performance.
The Result
The revised packaging solution gave RTC a unit cost that allowed the product launch to move forward. The project is now in production, and RTC has indicated they are already looking ahead to their next project together.
“There are so many reasons to work with Beyond Vision it is hard to reduce the list down to a few talking points. They are a true partner that has the ability to think outside of the box and offer solutions to a problem that are different than what we had originally asked for. This collaboration gave us a different packaging solution that was within our budget and looked and performed better than our original design. It gave us a unit cost that allowed the project to move forward. Most vendors would have said ‘I am sorry we cannot do this for you at that price.’ However, through close collaboration and honest conversations, we were able to identify ‘how do we do this.’ Understanding we didn’t just need a solution, we needed an efficient and cost-effective solution to be competitive in the market.” – Jim Sandstrom, CEO, RTC Products
Why It Matters
For manufacturers and product companies preparing retail launches or entering new sales channels, packaging is often the last thing considered and the first thing that kills a margin. Beyond Vision’s combination of engineering support, kitting expertise, and a 200,000-square-foot Wisconsin facility means customers get a partner who can bridge the gap between product development and production-ready packaging. Without the overhead of doing it in-house.
Let’s work together! Contact us today to see what we can do for YOU!