ReDesign of RollNap - a technical and aesthetical development of a napkin dispenser

Abstract: This report is part of a Master Thesis in Mechanical Engineering with Industrial Design at the Faculty of Engineering, Lund University. The Master Thesis was performed at SCA, a global paper company that operates within the segments personal care, tissue, packaging, publication papers and solid-wood products. SCA sells products in more than 100 countries. Tork is the global brand name for SCA products in the tissue segment and SCA offer complete hygiene solutions with both dispensers and tissue. The purpose of this thesis is to redesign a napkin dispenser for the North American market. The dispenser, RollNap, has been on the market since the late nineties but a poor dispensing function and an old design have made the product fail in competition with other products. With an improved working function and an attractive design that is in line with today’s Tork values, RollNap can take larger market share and thereby strengthen SCA’s position on the napkin market in North America. During this project a method for systematic product development was used to manage the different phases, from collecting and compiling information about the target market and users, to idea generation and realisation of concepts. Through interviews, observations and benchmarking customer needs were identified as specifications for the product. The specifications constitute the basis for the project and ideas were generated with this information in mind. The ideas were divided and organised into two fields of focus, design and mechanics. The mechanics were divided into sub-functions and combined into three general concepts. These concepts were evaluated, which resulted in a winning concept. The winning concept was further developed and through mock-ups and basic tests the function was set and a working prototype could be built. Within the design field three concepts were generated and evaluated. The winning design concept was then combined with the mechanic concept and presented as a final prototype. The final prototype has a more attractive design and twice the capacity compared to the original. It meets the requirements of one-at-a-time dispensing which has been the ultimate reason for poor function. The RollNap solution, with perforated napkins on a roll in combination with a well working dispenser, gives SCA the opportunity of a proprietary dispensing solution for the North American market.