Good industrial design generates more turnover.
The manufacturing process starts with a design. A good or bad design can ultimately save dozens of percent of turnover. ESEF is therefore bringing Dutch designers back to the supplier fair. Together with the Association of Dutch Designers (BNO) and Designlink, it will show why good industrial design is important for the manufacturing industry.
A well-designed product can generate up to 20% more turnover than a similar product, but designed worse. This was shown a few years back by a study by TU Delft and Erasmus University. This certainly applies to consumer products, but also to B2B products. "If a product works well, is ergonomically sound and looks attractive, it sells better," says Gert Gerrits, project manager at BNO. Dutch industrial designers will show what good industrial design is at ESEF (20 - 23 March at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht). The BNO and Designlink stand (hall 1 B129) will feature products that won GIO Awards at the end of 2017. These are examples of good industrial design.
'Design doctors'
In addition, 'design doctors' will be present at the fair on Wednesday and Thursday, providing visitors with outline advice in half an hour. "Visitors who have an idea can talk briefly to these young designers about the various aspects involved in working out a design for the product or service," Gert Gerrits explains. These include the importance of ergonomics, manufacturability, copyright but also raw material selection.
Conscious choice of materials
The latter is a topic that comes up more and more often in the conversation between designer and client. "In fact, we notice that clients are increasingly conscious about the choice of raw materials. People want to make the product responsibly and keep the ecological footprint small. A good designer advises his client on alternative raw materials." This ties in perfectly with the focus at ESEF on the circular economy theme. Although BNO is the designers' professional organisation, Gert Gerrits says BNO is also there to support clients. Hence the participation in the ESEF. BNO is also organising some presentations on industrial design in the ESEF theatres.
Pedro Gomes: better products
At the supplier fair, the theme of design also receives attention in other ways. For example, in the lectures in both ESEF theatres. In this way, ESEF aims to reconnect visitors from the manufacturing industry and design engineers. On Wednesday 21 March, visitors can attend a breakfast session with top international designer Pedro Gomes from 8 am. ESEF is organising this breakfast seminar together with the Portuguese Associacao Industrial do Distrito de Aveiro (AIDA). Pedro Gomes has done design projects for LG, HTC, Huawei, Super Bock and Group Auchan, among others.
From his hand come both consumer and industrial products, up to and including robots. In his lecture at ESEF, Pedro Gomes shows how good design, made from a holistic vision, can lead to end-to-end innovation. He also picks up on the theme of circular economy. In his presentation, the top designer shows how human-centred processes and the circular economy lead to the development of more responsible products and systems. The breakfast seminar on 21 March is free for ESEF visitors after registration.
ESEF 2018 will take place from 20 - 23 March at the Jaarbeurs Utrecht.
PHOTOS of some GIO products at ESEF:
- Vervaet's Hydro Trike is a self-propelled manure injector. After 20 years, it was in need of a thorough overhaul. This was done by Eindhoven-based design agency Steketee Design. While the original manure injector was typically a functional product made by mechanical engineers, with the new Hydro Trike you can see the hand of the designer. The updated Hydro Trike features state-of-the-art drive and GPS techniques.
- Watts sets a new standard for footwear for the healthcare sector, starting in the OR. Thanks to a built-in RFID chip, bacteria-killing material and sophisticated packaging, this hygiene product is ready for the future. The design developed in cooperation with Van Berlo.
