Dell Precision Helps Green Toys Design Products Made From 100 Percent Recycled Materials

Robert von Goeben, co-founder and chief creative officer of Green Toys Inc. spent much of his life designing electronic toys for large companies and noticed there weren’t many considering the environmental impact of their production techniques. Robert’s wife suggested that he pioneer an effort to make environmentally friendly toys.

Soon after Green Toys Inc. was founded by von Goeben and his partner, Laurie Hyman, under the simple concept of producing not only the best quality toys, but ones that were also fun, safe and friendly to the environment. Dell shares that passion for innovation and sustainability, and is proud to driver the powerful Dell Precision workstations designed to tackle the vast complexity of that simple concept.

Today, Green Toys makes a line of classic children’s toys constructed primarily from recycled milk jugs, helping to reduce fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. The company’s US-made toys are now sold to more than 3,000 retailers in the US and close to 100 countries around the world.

Green Toys is especially passionate about is its Green Toys Train – a classic product created to inspire creativity and encourage open play. The eco-friendly train is designed without a track and is safe and versatile for both outdoor and indoor play, as Green Toys believes in teaching children there is no limit to where you can go.

“Green Toys is not just a business. It’s a mission,” said Robert von Goeben of Green Toys. “We truly believe that we’re making the best quality toys for kids. Technology drives our mission.  We couldn’t achieve the Green Toys mission without technology.”

“The inspiration driving Green Toys to take on the complexity of environmentally conscious toy development is a perfect example of what drives us to build the world’s greatest workstations,” said Andy Rhodes, executive director of Dell workstations. “These creative designers tackle immensely intricate projects and need reliable performance to bring these iconic toys to life; the Dell Precision team is proud to meet the challenge for a true industry innovator.”

Green Toys uses recycled milk jugs, one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly and safest types of plastic, but also one of the hardest materials to work with. According to Vince Giudice, the design manager of Green Toys Inc., one of the biggest challenges is to make something that looks deceivingly simple out of a process that is incredibly difficult. There is no glue, there are no screws and there is no paint – and that’s where good engineering comes in.

 Spring gardening toys from Green Toys Inc designed on Dell Precision workstations

The company will usually start with a 2D drawing by an in-house designer, then show the conceptual sketches to consumers to gather feedback and then move into 3D CAD design. For that, Green Toys primarily uses Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS software on a Dell Precision workstation to bring its innovative designs to life.

“At the beginning of a project, our models can be relatively simple but as the project moves forward, these models can be extremely large. Dell Precision has the processing power to push those products through to the end,” said Vince Giudice, the design manager of Green Toys Inc. “In the past, it could take 20-30 minutes for one of our engineers to pack up files and send them to us, but using Dell Precision, this process can take just 20-30 seconds, which could be the difference between on time delivery and shipping late.”

“At Green Toys, our goal is to be the next great American brand.  We want to be one of the most trusted brands out there when it comes to children’s products,” added von Goeben. “At the end of the day, Green Toys doesn’t just sell toys, but makes the world a better place.”

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About the Author: Laura Pevehouse

Laura Pevehouse was profiled as one of five “social media mavens” in the March 2009 issue of Austin Woman Magazine and named an AdWeek’s TweetFreak Five to Follow. She has been part of the Dell organization for more than 15 years in various corporate communications, employee communications, public relations, community affairs, marketing, branding, social media and online communication roles. From 2014-2018, Laura was Chief Blogger/Editor-in-Chief for Direct2DellEMC and Direct2Dell, Dell’s official corporate blog that she help launch in 2007. She is now a member of the Dell Technologies Chairman Communications team. Earlier in her Dell career she focused on Global Commercial Channels and US Small and Medium Business public relations as part of the Global Communications team. Prior to that, she was responsible for global strategy in social media and community management, as well as marcom landing pages, as a member of Dell’s Global SMB Marketing, Brand and Creative team. When she was part of Dell’s Global Online group, Laura provided internal consulting that integrated online and social media opportunities with a focus on Corporate Communications and Investor Relations. She managed the home page of Dell.com, one of the top 500 global web sites in Alexa traffic rank, and first brought web feeds and podcasts to the ecommerce site. In her spare time she led Dell into the metaverse with the creation of Dell Island in the virtual world Second Life. Laura has earned the designation of Accredited Business Communicator from the International Association of Business Communicators, and received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Louisiana State University. Before joining Dell Financial Services in 2000, she worked at the Texas Workforce Commission and PepsiCo Food Systems Worldwide.