Creata (USA) Inc., Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, United States: Creata (USA) Inc. product development team of the year

Company: Creata (USA) Inc. Oakbrook Terrace, IL
Company Description: For over forty years, Creata has found the connection between brands and play. We’ve put that connection to work for the world’s leading marketers such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Kellogg’s, Mars and others. Our insights and ideas become innovative products and our innovative manufacturing solutions provide vision and reality to sustainable goals.
Nomination Category: Product Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Product Management Department/Team of the Year

Nomination Title: Creata (USA) Inc. product development team of the year

Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the achievements of the nominated department or team since January 1 2023, OR written answers to the questions for this category? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Briefly describe the nominated department or team: its history and past performance (up to 200 words):

Total 197 words used.

CREATA’s Product Development Team, has a rich history of delivering innovative products for some of the biggest name in the marketing world. The Team has been behind campaigns like the famous Happy Meal Toy program, and promotional campaigns for Coca-Cola & Kellogg’s,

In 2022, Mars Retail Group partnered with Creata to re-design their top selling items for recyclability and also design new food grade recycle products and be ready for multiple launch dates and meet their sustainability goals of 100% of packaging to be recyclable, reusable or compostable.

The Creata Team set out to not only eliminate PVC, and choose recyclable materials, but also to ensure the production factory partners can deliver on a durable, safe solution for a full product line of food grade packaging.

The team consists of talented product engineers, dedicated account managers, versed project managers, sustainability experts and an efficient supply chain team to ensure the delivery of innovative recyclable line of products.

The team consists of:

Joyce Sprau, VP Product Development

Mark Baltes, Product Engineer

Martin Holzmann, Business Manager

Ian Shen, Senior Digital Designer

Luke Daab, Senior Art Director

Rocky Zhou, Director PD

Peggy Wong, Logistics Manager

Jacky Jiang – Director QA/QC
If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Outline the department's or team's achievements since the beginning of 2023 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 164 words used.

Together the CREATA Product Development Team accomplished the following over the course of 2023-2024 for the Mars Sustainable Re-Designs and new product development helping Mars achieve their goals of eliminate all PVC from all packaging and 100% of packaging to be recyclable, reusable or compostable with the following:
- Redesigned and newly developed 34 unique SKUs all with recyclability and post-consumer recycling solutions in mind.
- 100% on time delivery
- Phased out PVC, HIPS, PET blends and ABS and replaced these materials with more sustainable options like PP & 100% virgin PET.
- Achieved 75% revenue growth from 2023-2024
- 250,000 total quantities produced in 2023 and 1.1MM total quantities produced in 2024
- 1 Patent Pending application for a unique and innovative mini dispenser design
- Found two factories to partner with who can handle production of custom designed products in the specific recycled material requirements. Two in Mexico and one in China.
- Ensured the Factories can meet with Mars strict audit requirements for food grade products.
If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the department's or team's past performance (up to 250 words):

Total 231 words used.

One of the biggest challenges the Creata team had was the replacement of two plastics, PVC and ABS for the figurine lids which in combination cannot be recycled. Replacing both materials with one material that can achieve recyclability while still maintaining the quality and durability of the figures was difficult. They finally recommended that the replacement material to be polypropylene (PP) plastic, but it served up another set of challenges since PP material is very hard to paint and ensure good adhesion.

The Creata team worked closely with paint suppliers to develop a special paint formula that combined pre-treatment and paint, resulting in easier application and consistent results.

The product redesign and expansion of sustainable container options has been a smashing success and can be found on shelves at all Mars M&Ms Retail stores worldwide. Creata was able to revamp and expand on a great looking product lineup fit for a more sustainable future by redesigning the product from the ground up with recyclability at the core of all decisions. Together with suppliers and factories, Creata is proudly leading the way in responsible manufacturing practices.

As a team, they were able to design, develop, gather solutions, work with factories, and work with Mars expectations and cost targets to ensure that multiple products were delivered to strict specification standards but also ensure a high level of quality for a food grade products.
You have the option to answer this final question: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):

Total 103 words used.

Please see the attachment for visuals of the number of products that were designed by the Creata team. It shows the important details of the sustainable re-design and the level of achievement to accomplish the task of sustainability. The team worked together to accomplish these goals and commitments to Mars in record time. The re-design included all new tooling development, on boarding 3 new factories, and many long hours of hard work. Its shows a strong team work can accomplish great things together.

The success equates from the sales figures of selling 1.1 million units of these items all in 2024 alone.

Attachments/Videos/Links:

Creata (USA) Inc. product development team of the year
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