The finished Work Putty tin is the part customers see. Before that, there is a series of hands-on jobs: getting the materials ready, measuring, making the batch, filling containers, and applying the labels that give the product its familiar look.
For Shift Shield™, that work is part of building a small business around everyday workers. Here is a closer look at the steps behind the tin.
The work starts before the heat goes on
Founder Kyle Lawson has described preparing ingredients and opening what he needs before beginning a batch. Measuring first makes the work easier to organize, with the next items ready when they are needed.
It is an ordinary but important part of making something by hand: a finished product starts with preparation that the customer never sees.
Making a manageable batch
Kyle has used a double-boiler setup and worked in batches equivalent to two full-size tins. Keeping the batch manageable has been part of his approach to consistency as the business develops.
The making stage turns individually measured materials into the balm that will go into the containers. This is an overview of the process, rather than a recipe or a set of production temperatures.
From the batch to the container
Next comes filling and allowing the product to set before moving on to the finished packaging. The container may look like a simple detail from the outside, but it determines how someone carries, opens, and uses the product.
Shift Shield has also been working on smaller formats. That adds another hands-on part of the process: preparing smaller containers and fitting the brand's identity onto a much smaller lid.
Labeling is its own job
Kyle has filmed the process of labeling the mini containers, including lining up the finished products after working through the different options. Applying one label is a quick task. Repeating it across a batch takes attention.
The label helps a customer recognize the brand and identify the product. Getting it onto the container is one of the final steps between making the balm and having something ready to offer.
Packing connects the work to the customer
The last part is preparing the finished products for the person who ordered them. Making, labeling, and packing are separate jobs, and all of them belong to the same small-business workday.
That is the story behind Work Putty: a compact product with a hands-on process behind it. You can read more about the beginning in how Shift Shield began.
The featured image is an AI-generated illustration of the making process, not a photograph of the actual production workspace.