POS Display Factory Visit – Manufacturing in China

Recently, ODM managed to spend time visiting one of our POS Display Factories in Guangdong Province, East China. Our mission was to make sure production was running smoothly and at the same visualize the processes involved in POS Displays made from Acrylic.

The ODM team recently visited a POS display factory in Guangdong, China, to review the production process behind acrylic and MDF retail displays. The visit gave us a closer look at how materials are prepared, cut, finished, and checked before they move closer to final assembly.

For brands planning a custom POS display, this process matters. Good design is important, but production control is what turns the idea into a reliable retail display.

Why POS Displays Still Matter in Retail Marketing

Retail shelves are crowded. Many products compete for the same shopper attention, and brands only have a few seconds to make an impression. This is why a POS display remains one of the most practical tools in trade marketing.

A strong POS display can help brands:

• Improve product visibility in-store
• Highlight new product launches
• Support seasonal promotions
• Promote gift-with-purchase campaigns
• Encourage impulse purchases
• Organise products neatly
• Strengthen brand recall at the point of sale

For drinks brands, a POS display can highlight bottle shape, flavour range, or limited-edition packaging. For cosmetics brands, it can present testers, skincare sets, or new launch collections in a clean and premium way. For FMCG and food brands, it can push fast-moving items closer to checkout areas. For electronics brands, it can organise small accessories while showing product features clearly.

In short, a POS display helps brands control how their products appear in-store. Instead of relying only on standard shelf space, brands can create a branded retail moment that supports the campaign.

POS Display Factory Visit

A beautiful display is not enough if it cannot hold the product properly. A low-cost display can also become expensive if it arrives damaged or needs to be replaced. This is why brands should consider design, material, production, and logistics together.

Step 1. Making the Acrylic Sheets

Acrylic is a popular material for POS display projects because it gives a clean, modern, and premium look. It works especially well for beauty, drinks, electronics, skincare, and countertop retail displays.

Without going into Chemistry Lessons, Acrylic plastic polymers are formed by reacting a monomer, such as methyl methacrylate, with a catalyst.  Acrylic plastics are available in three forms: flat sheets, elongated shapes (rods and tubes), and moulding powder. We use Acrylic Sheets for our base production, which are formed by a process known as bulk polymerization.

For brand managers, this stage is important because the material sets the tone for the whole display. If the sheet has colour inconsistency, scratches, or thickness issues, the final POS display may not look professional. Checking the material early helps reduce these risks before production moves forward.

It is during this process that the Acrylic Sheets are dyed to the appropriate colour or Pantone. Once this process is completed, the acrylic sheets are layered together and cooled to form the rectangular sheet from which the shapes can be cut.

Step 2. Cutting the POS Shape

During this stage, the acrylic sheets will be cut to the appropriate shape of the POS, this can be done by hand or through a machine.

For beauty brands, display parts may need small product slots for lipstick, perfume, skincare bottles, or testers. For drinks brands, the display may need larger bottle holders or stronger support areas. For electronics brands, the design may need cable holes, security points, or product demo areas. For FMCG brands, the structure may need more capacity to hold higher product volume.

Some POS displays also use MDF together with acrylic. MDF can add strength and stability, especially for the base or supporting structure. It can also be cut into more complex shapes, making it useful for bespoke display designs.

This is where good technical planning matters. A creative design must also be practical to cut, assemble, pack, and ship.

When creating POS’s, they do not only use Acrylic; our supplier also uses MDF, which will give the display a bespoke feel. The Wood is cut via laser heating and can make much more complicated designs by machine than if this was created by hand.

Now that the shapes are cut, the next step is to remove any excess material, or flash, is trimmed off the edges, and masking paper or plastic film is applied to the surface of the finished sheets for protection during handling and shipping.

Step 3. Finishing and Protecting the Display Parts

Now here’s the exciting part, we’ve made our Acrylic/MDF sheets, we’ve cut them down to size and shape and then added a touch of finishing to make it nice.

No POS would be complete without a nice solid base from which to have the display on. In the case of this project our supplier had gone for a large MDF base where the display could be positioned in.

Step 4: Building the POS Display Structure

A POS display is not only judged by how it looks in photos. It also needs to perform in-store.

The structure must be stable. The base must hold the display in position. Shelves and product slots must support the weight of the items. Branded panels should stay aligned. If the display will be shipped flat-packed, the assembly method also needs to be clear for store teams.

Unfortunately, the day we had visited the factory, they had not begun to assemble this display, but after walking around the Sample room, a few displays caught our eyes, which we’ll be blogging about soon.

Why Factory Visits Are Important for POS Display Quality Control

Factory visits help brands reduce risk. When production is managed from far away, small issues can be missed until the final goods arrive. By then, fixing problems can be expensive and time-consuming.

A factory visit gives the team a chance to check production while there is still time to make adjustments.

For POS display projects, factory checks can cover:

• Material quality
• Colour matching
• Cutting accuracy
• Printing position
• Logo placement
• Surface finish
• Assembly strength
• Product fit
• Packaging protection
• Production timeline

This is especially important for international brands that do not have their own teams near the factory. A photo update can be useful, but it does not always show every detail. Seeing the production site, checking samples, and speaking directly with the factory team can make the process more controlled.

For ODM, factory visits are part of helping brands manage product development and production through our trusted factory network. Our role is to support the process from concept and sourcing to sampling, quality control, and logistics coordination.

So why does ODM take the time to visit factories and put boots on the ground?

When manufacturing in China, it is imperative to visit factories often and control all aspects of production. This is often a difficult task when located halfway around the world. Having a trusted agent who can make sure that production runs smoothly and the quality is up to spec is extremely important.

Here at ODM, we have years of experience in manufacturing promotional products. Feel free to get in touch and let us assist you in coming up with some new and innovative ways to promote your brand. Check out our recent POS Display Blogs for more information on what displays could work for you!

• Advertising POS Displays – 2016 Best Ideas
• Coca Cola Instore Marketing with Unique POS Display
• Custom POS Displays to Boost Product Visibility

Please check our video below to know more about the production process.