Case Study: Appello Smart Trigger Cradle

Appello are market leaders in digital telecare and Technology Enabled Care (TEC). With over 30,000 customers and 550 digital developments across the UK, they have delivered safer, happier and enriched residential communities through technology, people and innovation. By 2025, British Telecom companies, such as BT and Openreach are scheduled to switch off their analogue telephone network and transfer to digital phone lines. This could lead to over 10 million people being left without the communication infrastructure they currently rely on. In readiness for this Appello started developing the UK’s first fully digital telecare solution, Smart Living Solutions (S LS) in 2016, this became the first digital telecare offering in the UK. Appello went on to develop SmartConnect and one of the first digital dispersed alarms with interop erable capability called SmartLife, all part of their SmartTEC range. One of the newest additions to the range is SmartTrigger an emergency alarm pendant, developed to work with hardwired and dispersed alarms in their SmartTEC range. It can be worn either around the neck on a lanyard or wrist mounted like a watch and, via their monitoring team, provide customers with the peace of mind that help can be accessed at any time with a simple press of a button. Appello approached Plunkett Associates in early 2022 asking us to create, from scratch, a brand-new wrist cradle and strap for the SmartTrigger device. Appello needed a product that would be secure, robust, and reliable, and chose to work with Plunkett Associates because they knew they could support all stages of the route to production. Starting with a blank sheet of paper the design moved through the concept stage supported by a number of rapid prototype parts. These parts, made on our Fig ure 4 machine, allowed the team at Appello to accurately assess each design from both a functional and aesthetic point of view. Once a prototype was approved, we got to work creating the injection mould tool for the cradle. With an imminent order of 25,000 units, we had to manufacture a mould tool with the capability to produce the quantities required. Producing 25,000 mouldings was just the beginning of the manufacturing activity. Each then had to be assembled to the strap and packed in a printed bag, so they were ready to ship and be customer ready as soon as they were received. Within a couple of weeks, the team at Plunkett Associates had the order ready to go and be delivered into Appello’s warehouse. Iain Hockings, Head of Marketing at Appello said: “We are very pleased with the outcome of the wrist-cradle and strap for our emergency pendant. Plunkett Associates listened to our brief and style guide and produced a product which is very smart, elegant but also discreet meeting the expectations of our service users.”