"While some visitors to our nation's largest city, New York, find beauty at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, others are treated to a colorful and dazzling display of neon in Times Square, the world's corporate imagery center and America's busiest cross road."

Just as the multitude of visitors to Times Square each start their journey to those bright lights in remote, foreign - sometimes strange places, have you ever wondered where the most visible imagery of the 21st century comes from and how it arrived safely and intact?  Here, there and everywhere, your night eyes are treated to neon art’s warming but fragile  message.

This story starts in the Cumberland foothills, just north of Knoxville, Tennessee and crosses paths with a helping hand from little Graham, Texas, just north of the Possum Kingdom in the north-central Texas hill country, but perhaps we are getting ahead of ourselves.

Plasti-Line, headquartered in a suburb of Knoxville, Tennessee, was founded by Harry Brooks. He received his first big order in 1944 from the Pet Milk Company.  Coca-Cola became a customer in 1950. The Chrysler re-image program of 1962 was the largest U.S. sign project up to that time and the General Motors sign program, still the largest account, signed on in 1975.  PlastiLine was well on it way to today’s pinnacle position as the biggest corporate imagery, identity and signage company in the United States - perhaps the world, with approximately $250 million/yr sales? 
Corporate headquarters are still located in Knoxville where they presently employ 300 people in diverse disciplines including: image design, product engineering, project management, manufacturing engineering and management, quality assurance. Four (4) facilities with nearly ¾ million total square feet of manufacturing space are operated in Knoxville, TN, Ontario, CA, Columbia, SC and Cincinnati, OH. Plasti-Line does it all: from image design to manufacturing, installation and maintenance.

The lobby of PlastiLine Corporate Headquarters displays miniatures of many of the well- recognized symbols the company has contributed to a veritable “Who’s Who” of commerce.

Outside and adjacent to the corporate headquarters is a large area designated SIGN CITY USA and here visitors will see full-size working samples of Business Americas’, in fact, the world’s proudest signage: Coca Cola, United States Post Office, John Deere, Nissan, Toyota and the famed Golden Arches of McDonalds.

Each sign represents the thousands of identical messages at work all across the North American landscape.  No, the NBC Peacock is not here in Knoxville, Tennessee, but it was made here and it is now the most colorful and dominant symbol where our trip started in Times Square, New York City.

Neon may be the only type of sign wherein the beauty of the sign itself can be an entertainment event, the message delivered withstanding. Neon must be made from thin glass tubing and as such it is highly-breakable, most particularly before it is securely installed in a permanent location.  Mary Jane Sill is the Plastiline Manufacturing Engineer responsible for Neon operations from letter-making to shipping to installation. She had become aware of a disturbing amount of rework taking place and the attached high costs. At the time it was impossible to pinpoint exactly where and when the damage events took place. Correctly, it appeared breakage could occur anywhere: plant floor, yard storage, shipping, in transit, at installation time.  All they knew positively was: it cost considerable monies, job delays and related customer dissatisfaction.  Mary Jane recalled a former colleague mentioning a label type device that indicated shock and rough handling.  She consulted with Aimee Seiber, a PlastiLine Quality Control Engineer, then assigned to the Knoxville plant, currently Quality Assurance Manager for the corporation.  Aimee addressed looking at the entire problem and looking for possible solutions.  Her search turned up Shockwatch®, a simple indicator device that turns bright red when subjected to an impact that exceeds a pre-set limit. Aimee contacted Joe Febrey, the Shockwatch® Regional Manager from the Atlanta office.  Joe visited PlastiLine headquarters, introducing and working with Aimee and Mary Jane in the selection of an indicator from among the five(5) different sensitivity or impact threshold levels.  Impact (bumping, jolting, dropping, etc.) exceeding the selected threshold level, in any direction, will turn the indicator vial bright red, leaving an unmistakable, lasting warning sign of abuse, mishandling or    mishap that can not be erased, disguised or hidden. 

The Shockwatch® label with sensor placed on the outside of packages, containers or crates, is the first line of defense against rough handling. The warning labels are colour-coded to coincide with specific threshold levels, suitable carrier consignments and recommended product protection applications.  Actual use and statistical testimony gathered from users has shown the high visibility, and proclaimed awareness of Shockwatch® monitoring “on the job”, is by itself a strong deterrent to rough handling.  When shipping problems inadvertently occur, Shockwatch®, can help pinpoint the source of mishandling and improve claims recovery.  The PlastiLine/Shockwatch team experimented to determine what sensitivity label would work best with the neon signs? The yellow label and (L65) Indicator were selected as best-suited for this application.

The next steps, orderly introduction and education, were probably the most important in determining the future success or failure of the overall program. 

On the original concept –internal shipping and traffic did not like the idea. They particularly thought the program might hurt their relationship with shipping and freight companies.

It turned out that some of the rough handling which resulted in product breakage was taking place internally before a product ever left the plant. An example – crated products being dragged from storage and along the ground. Crated products are typically rectangular solids and lend themselves to side-by-side storage like in a bookcase.  After the Shockwatch® program initial testing demonstrated the crate / ground friction and vibration was breaking delicate neon tubing, this method was changed to using a yard crane to lift the crates first and then swing them free.

Letters introducing the program were sent to 1500 installers, their carriers, plant people, shipping & receiving, letter-making, quality and engineering personnel. Lots of training was conducted for all personnel involved and affecting the program. The customer service people had separate training which highlighted:
                 *  Handling claims
                 * Gathering and reporting essential information required
                 * Documenting,  ex,;  How to take photo’s of damage
                 * Save the crating materials involved in a damage claim situation

The program involves more than the application and reading of Shockwatch® sensitivity
indicators.  It involves a system of documentation, checking and clearing/signing off of shippable product items from manufacturing and shipping internally to each carrier (most freight loading is LTL), all the way to the field installer’s custody and final acceptance by the ultimate owner. The program has shown $92,000.00 of savings from decrease in breakage claims the first year of application according to Mary Jane Sill.  Quality Assurance Manager, Aimee Seiber, remarked, “We are presently considering applying the Shockwatch® program to our Acrylic signs, an even larger sales category.”
  

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