Flash Flare

Marche developed the FlashFlare initially for professional applications such as law enforcement, firefighters and rescue personnel. At the time, the vast majority of flares in use were traditional flame flares, which are a serious safety hazard. Electronic flares provided huge advantages in both safety and performance. Only a small number of manufacturers had entered the electronic flare market.

Marche recognized the high demand for innovation. The goal to design a high performance electronic flare was feasible, and relatively untapped. As Marche International does on many projects, we became financial partners with our clients.

Although opportunities existed for professional applications, Marche and its partners saw greater possibilities in the consumer sector. Marche then developed the FlashFlare as a professionally reliable product, while manufactured at a price suitable for the everyday driver.

Three main goals drove the design and development process:

• High visibility day or night. To enhance the visibility of the flare, Marche utilized color, reflective polished surfaces, and highly engineered LED lighting. Each LED was spaced and angled to achieve maximum brightness at all angles. The polycarbonate lens was engineered to disperse the LED light for high intensity and even distribution. When the product was released for retail, it was the brightest flare on the market.
• Positive and reliable user experience. The main design goal was to make the ‘feel’ of the product perceived as reliable and well crafted. Painstaking time was spent on the feel of the on/off button, the removable base, and the case (all things the user directly touches and interacts with).
• High impact strength. High grade Polycarbonate combined with silicone padding and the overall shape of the parts make this one of the strongest plastic products imaginable. The FlashFlare can withstand 6 foot drop tests, constant outdoor use, and hundreds of pounds of rollover weight.

The case was designed for easy access and reliability. While many similar products used soft cases, Marche’s designers realized, through prototyping, that a hard case would provide more ease of use for the user. When the easy-snap latches are removed and the case is opened the user has full access to the flares without needing to reach and feel or pull to release them.

Since the product launched in 2005, retailers have requested many types of retail packaging solutions. Marche has has worked hard to provide retailers with graphics and manuals that speak directly to their audiences and meet their standards and requirements.

The FlashFlare has been reliably contract manufactured by Marche International for over 5 years with a very low return rate. Eight factories in southern China are seamlessly contracted to produce the products plastic parts, metal parts, electronic boards, final assembly, and packaging.

The basis for the manufacturing success was the quality of plastic injection tools and metal fabrication tools that Marche contracted. The product requires 17 tools in total.