The silent salesman is ever changing

May 06, 2023

Geneva AD Display Systems go beyond commodity sheet metal processing to look after your visual communication.

These days consumer industry product manufacturers and retailers that distribute their products move carefully so as to not transgress stricter rules and sociable conceptions. But sometimes they need the guidance of an engineer to eliminate costly mistakes and time wasting. A typical scenario is that they may work for months to determine how a certain product introduction will roll out. After months of discussion, they finally decide to work on the promotional aspects. This will include packaging, advertising, launch functions, how products will be displayed at the store and many others.

Geneva AD Display Systems have adapted to the changing environment and can now offer the industry virtually a one-stop experience

And of course there are all the social media activities these days too. So, the advertising agency or design studio gets to work, and true to their artistic inclination they want their design to stand out and be noticed. Sometimes it is more a case of their own indulgence and ego and less of the client's ambitions. Finally, they call the fabricator or mould manufacturer to discuss the technical aspects of the packaging, point-of-purchase (POP) and point-of-sale (POS) displays. By this time, it is too far down the line to reverse previous decisions where all sorts of technical and engineering aspects have not been taken into account. Fix it is the demand and fix it is what the fabricator or mould manufacturer will do, shaking his head.

Fortunately, today the fabricator and mould manufacturer are very creative and have the engineering acumen and tools to come up with a solution.

"Back in the 1970s, displays were designed to last in a certain retail environment for 10 to 15 years, with just a slight change in graphics. This has all changed now. Retailers need to excite and rejuvenate the consumer, who wants to go into a store and see a fresh look," explains Geneva AD's Managing Director Ignace van Goethem.

McDonald's has just opened its 300th store in South Africa and Geneva AD Display Systems were extensively involved with implementing the new design. Geneva AD Display Systems have also participated in revamping a further 34 of their stores

"No longer do retail displays have long life cycles. Many don't have a life cycle at all. Instead, retailers use the display to promote new products for a few months at most. A retail space must constantly change. If shoppers see products displayed the same way for months on end, eventually they stop seeing the products at all."

"We are a manufacturer that has to know how to work effectively with our customers’ marketing people. Product marketers come to us for custom solutions to their creative display needs, so we’ve got to be creative ourselves. We don't have a catalogue, everything is generally custom made for an individual company or product."

"We are very much focussed on the manufacture of merchandising display systems for the indoor advertising market. We don't get involved in signage or outdoor billboards, although our displays can be used in outdoor situations and the current Nando's menu boards are a good example. We work closely with the digital printing industry and we are very strong in lighting displays, whether it be the light box type with Perspex displaying the message or light boxes with tension fabric‎."

TRM Supplies supplied Geneva AD Display Systems with a specialised plastic laser cutter and marker. The CNC machine is critical for high-speed laser etching production of acrylic panels used on light driven display panels. Geneva AD Display Systems have developed a dot matrix etching system on the acrylic cover on frameless LED edge-lit light panels. The panels feature the latest in LED technology that deliver the brightest slimline display with a perfectly even distribution of light across the entire panel, eliminating hot spots or shadows. All of this is done in a super-slim panel that is only 22mm thick

One of the three press brakes that Geneva AD Display Systems has is a Durma AD-R3035

"We are one of the biggest manufacturers and suppliers of non-illuminated menu systems to high-end backlit and edge-lit systems for restaurants and fast food eateries. We only use LED lighting now. This is for both our menu boards and other merchandising display units. In the old days fluorescent lamps were used and still are if used in a ceiling display, but LED lighting has taken over because of the trend to have super-slim panels. This range is known as our Moonlight Frameless LED Panel range."

"Few areas of commerce are as volatile as the ever-changing product mix that retailers are required to navigate. Having a unique UPC (Universal Product Code) is all important and some industry experts say that tens of thousands of new products come across the retailers’ landscape each year. Many of these products are merchandised in POP or POS displays of varying types and marketers want these displays to be unique to them. These types of displays are often referred to as the silent salesman."

"But it goes further. Many retailers – fast food outlets, supermarkets and clothing stores – are constantly changing their store designs and displays. This then entails everything from furniture down to the display racks or hooks. One sports and leisure goods manufacturer that is a client of ours even sent out a team from Germany to inspect our manufacturing process so that they are confident that when they revamp an existing store or open a new store every single display element, including display walls, is exactly the same down to the last millimetre."

The machining department has two Johnford CNC machining centers and a Weiler CNC lathe to machine the many different components that are used in the various displays

Geneva AD Display Systems, a privately-owned business, was established in 1997 to focus on the manufacture of merchandising display systems for the indoor advertising market. Over the years, innovation and product development have seen Geneva AD Display Systems expand its product offering to include a wide range of retail and POS solutions

"We have had to adapt to this changing environment and now can offer the industry virtually a one-stop experience. An example of this is the same sports and leisure goods manufacturer had us manufacturing the tiling displays that they used on the walls in their shops. It was more of a creative visual feature than a practical bricks and mortar facet. We came up with a solution and they now want us to send our product to Germany but unfortunately there are too many administrative complications to consider that."

"Other products that we manufacture include our click frame range that composes of slimline frames, limpet frames, security frames and tamperproof frames. The tamperproof frame does not open like other frames, but rather holds the poster behind a magnetised cover. The magnetised cover is recessed and can only be opened using a suction cup (which is provided). This ensures that the poster is well protected from vandalism and other interference."

"The hybrid displays include A-frame, H-frame, swing star, lollipop stands and an intra-system. The banner displays that we manufacture include rolla-graphic and hanging graphic displays. These are our mainline items but these days we have many custom designs that we manufacture. The result is that we have a five-man design department working constantly with Solidworks."

Geneva AD's Managing Director Ignace van Goethem

Last year Geneva AD Powder Coating installed a new powder coating line and refurbished dipping tanks. As a result, the company has doubled its capacity processing both sheet metal and castings. When Geneva AD Powder Coating was established in 2009, initially 80% of its turnover was generated from Geneva AD Display Systems. Today the ratio has swung dramatically and Geneva AD Display Systems only accounts for 30% of the turnover, the rest coming from outside clients

Surprisingly Belgium-born van Goethem is not from an advertising or creative background. A mechanical engineer with an MBA, van Goethem spent time with a multinational in Europe and Singapore before being transferred to South Africa. Here he met up with German-born Guenther Schmitz and they developed a scrolling advert display unit, which did not have the traction as they believed it would have. Nonetheless, van Goethem hung up his corporate shoes and began Geneva AD Display Systems. His mechanical qualifications have certainly been an asset in the development of the unique designs that the company offers, and the various processes that are required to manufacture a wide range of retail and POS solutions to satisfy the demanding industry that Geneva AD Display Systems services.

Geneva AD Display Systems, a privately-owned business, was established in 1997 to focus on the manufacture of merchandising display systems for the indoor advertising market. Over the years, innovation and product development have seen Geneva AD Display Systems expand its product offering to include a wide range of retail and POS solutions.

The company operates from City Deep Production Park, Johannesburg. Within the same facility there are two affiliated companies – Geneva AD Woodworking and Geneva AD Powder Coating. These two companies have been set up to operate as separate entities, mainly supplying Geneva AD Display Systems but also to act as job shop entities.

Various components used on the different displays

Materials used by Geneva AD Display Systems include steel, aluminium, perspex, wood and textiles. Geneva AD Woodworking is equipped with three machines and they include a flatbed CNC router that can handle a full size board

"These companies evolved because of our frustration with dealing with sub-contractors. We work in a high-energy and vibrant environment and our suppliers did not seem to understand this. We have to constantly innovate and guarantee service delivery at very competitive pricing."

High performance coatings for aluminium and steel"Geneva AD Powder Coating was established in 2009 and initially 80% of its turnover was generated from Geneva AD Display Systems. We had purposely built a bigger plant so that we could explore job shop opportunities, including our competitors. Today the ratio has swung dramatically and Geneva AD Display Systems only accounts for 30% of the turnover."

"Using sound powder application processes, a no-compromise attitude to pretreatment, and world class application equipment, we are able to ensure consistent finishes on both metal and aluminium. With a 9-stage aluminium pretreatment facility and an 8-stage metal pretreatment facility we are able to successfully pass some of the most stringent corrosion tests available today. Given the benefits of our two stripping tanks and our sandblasting booth, we are able to manage and rework any rejects off the line in a timeous manner."

Many different lengths of aluminium profiles are cut to size

Display units in the assembly area

"The plant is ISO 9001 certified. Three months ago we installed a new line and we refurbished the dipping tanks. As a result, we have doubled our capacity. This plant can process both sheet metal and castings."

"Materials used by Geneva AD Display Systems include steel, aluminium, perspex, wood and textiles. Although its forte is the manipulation of light in innovative display systems, Geneva AD Display Systems’ manufacturing plant has expanded to include processing of all the components necessary for a display system as well as many other units or systems required to display merchandise."

"We don't do shelving or shopfitting. We leave that to the companies that are involved in that area of business. We rather work with the shopfitters and around the shelving. 95% of our product manufactured is used indoors and we have five installation teams here in the Gauteng area and two at our branch in Cape Town and one in Durban. These branches are involved in sales, warehousing and installation."

Display units that Geneva AD Display Systems manufactures are varied and can be used indoors and outdoors

TRM Supplies supplied Geneva AD Display Systems with a Mercury Fiber laser cutting system manufactured by Italian company SEI Laser. The 1kW machine is ideal for thin metals and metal alloys processing. The company is only processing metal between 1.6mm and 2mm. The flatbed laser has a bed size of 1 500mm x 3 080mm and is powered by a SPI Lasers source and equipped with European linear guides and motors

"We are now able to do a whole store installation, combining materials with the various display units. Important to our customers is that we can replicate a theme across all new stores as well as those that are going through a revamp, renovation or upgrade. For example, McDonald's has just opened its 300th store in South Africa and we were extensively involved and have also participated in revamping 34 of their stores. This is the fourth new store where we have implemented their new design."

Expanded sheet metal plant"We have had to be very adaptable over the years, especially with our policy of becoming a one-stop shop so as not to rely on sub-contractors. A substantial portion of our products are made up of sheet metal – both aluminium and steel. It has been natural that we have paid attention to this area of manufacturing and have expanded our sheet metal plant to include full CNC processes, including form cutting, punching, bending, machining, and welding of metal components."

"We have had two recent machine additions to this department. The first was a Mercury Fiber laser cutting system manufactured by Italian company SEI Laser. The 1kW machine is ideal for thin metals and metal alloys processing. We are only processing metal between 1.6mm and 2mm so it suits our operation. The flatbed laser has a bed size of 1 500mm x 3 080mm and is powered by a SPI Lasers source and equipped with European linear guides and motors. Additionally, it is Industry 4.0 compliant and has a dual table for easy loading and unloading."

"The second machine is an HSG TS 65 fiber laser with a 3D head for processing square, round, hexagon and eliptic tube, pipe and profiles. With the help of Guenther Schmitz of TRM Supplies, we have equipped this machine with a SPI Lasers source and with European linear guides and motors such as Rexroth and Siemens. The machine also has an auto-loader for loading and unloading."

Specialised plastic laser etcher and cutter"TRM Supplies also supplied the SEI fiber laser as they did with our specialised plastic laser cutter and marker. The CNC machine is critical for high-speed laser etching production of our acrylic panels used on our light driven display panels. We developed a dot matrix etching system on the acrylic cover on our frameless LED edge-lit light panels. The panels feature the latest in LED technology that deliver the brightest slimline display with a perfectly even distribution of light across the entire panel, eliminating hot spots or shadows. All of this is done in a super-slim panel that is only 22mm thick."

Geneva AD Display Systems are very much focussed on the manufacture of merchandising display systems for the indoor advertising market. They don't get involved in signage or outdoor billboards, although their displays can be used in outdoor situations and the current Nando's menu boards are a good example

Many retailers – fast food outlets, supermarkets and clothing stores – are constantly changing their store designs and displays. This then entails everything from furniture down to the display racks or hooks. Geneva AD Display Systems are able to manufacture a varied range of display units to suite the client's request

"Besides these machines we also have two press brakes, a Durma press brake, a CO2 laser, three CNC lathes that process the various small components, a welding department because we often have to weld components together, mitre saws for cutting profiles, a Caxton press and others that aid us being productive in the manufacturing department."

Geneva AD Woodworking"Because we often have to mix materials when equipping a store, we developed our woodworking business as a separate entity as well, also to supply Geneva AD Display Systems and to be a job shop offering services to external clients."

"The plant is fitted with the best machinery. We have three machines in this company and they include a flatbed CNC router that can handle a full size board. We are capable of creating rounded edging with our automated industrial edging machine, which can run straight from CAD and DXF files, as do all the other machines within the three companies. The third machine is a CNC sanding machine."

Geneva AD Display Systems are also able to etch messages on fabric

Geneva AD Display Systems has recently installed a tube and pipe bending machine that is equipped with an automatic material handling unit

TexFlex fabric lightbox range"The one range that we have not mentioned yet is our TexFlex range of fabric tensioning systems, which includes single-side and double-side systems, as well as free-standing screens and partitions, which has now been expanded to address the growing need for fabric lightboxes. The TexFlex Fabric Lightbox is a high-quality display that allows fabric panels of any size to be fitted and tensioned into a light box. The even light delivery ensures that no shadows are seen, even along the edge where the fabric meets the frame."

"Fabric lightboxes are a powerful display tool for retail and office indoor branding, as they combine the luxury feel of fabrics with the proven attention-grabbing appeal of light."

"We are always looking for creative, new ways to put things together and to make our processes simpler and faster. Likewise, we are always looking to design and manufacture creative new products. We have come a long way with the introduction of new equipment and systems. We like to be involved and we have project management teams, not just sales people. It is our duty to make the customer king."

For further details contact Geneva AD Display Systems on 011 613 6858 or visit www.geneva-ad.com