> Developments in development

> Visit us at the ESEF Trade Fair for Supply, Subcontracting and Engineering

> Indes develops and delivers

> iZi Sleep and iZi Up win the iF Product Design Award 2008

> Indes Case: Power Support

> @Indes: new colleagues (René, Sander, Chris, Marc)

Indes is increasingly becoming a development partner and a delivery partner

‘Design sector on the move’ ran the headline in the press release of the Association of Dutch Designers (BNO) about the sector monitor. Trade volumes were growing, as were staff numbers. Indes is also flourishing, thanks in part to delivery, a service we organise for our clients as an addition to design.

Delivery included
In addition to design & engineering, businesses are increasingly outsourcing production management. Indes is able to take over this work for several businesses, thanks to its dedicated into-production team. During the design stage, we search and select the most suitable supplier and can therefore determine the cost price early on in the process. Henk Janssen, director of Indes, says, ‘We’ve had production management knowledge in-house for some time already. And demand for it is growing.’ A case in point is Handicare’s Power Support. By using the excellent supply chain of Sparta, Indes can arrange the delivery accurate and affordable.

Proactive Partner
‘We are aware that clients more and more choose a development partner who provides input in production management, and who is prepared, when necessary, to take on part of the responsibility for the job. That affects the contracts with clients. That responsibility translates into agreements about royalties when achieving arranged agreements,’ says Janssen. He expects royalties and bonuses to increasingly become part of a contract. ’We have a similar agreement with HTS BeSafe, for instance. Our involvement in the success of the children’s seats means that we’re not only designers but also partially co-entrepreneurs.’

Looking backwards and forwards
2007 saw an increase at Indes. Staff numbers grew and so did client numbers. Janssen expects further growth in 2008. ‘With our expertise in development and delivery, combined with a focus on usability, comfort and safety, we have a lot to offer clients,’ he says. Delivery through Indes’ contacts in the Far East can yield substantial savings. To make lines even shorter, Indes will be opening an office in China this year.

Growing importance of usability
The world of medical product development is also in flux. The new standard of usability engineering is to come into force in 2008. Janssen: ‘With these guidelines, businesses are required to indicate clearly that their product designs have taken the user into account. Indes has always taken the user as its starting point, which means our design method blends seamlessly with the new standard.’ To elucidate what the standard involves and how Indes can help to test it, we will be organising a themed symposium in the spring. If you are interested in being kept informed about this, please let us know by sending an email to us. Feel free to contact us at any time, if you have other questions.

Hall 1, stand A134, 11-14 March

Design, engineering and delivery. Visit our stand at the ESEF and we will tell you what we have to offer. Come and have a look at the products nominated for the ESEF Audience Award for Engineering.

The ESEF – the trade fair for delivery, outsourcing and engineering – starts on Tuesday, 11 March and goes on until Friday, 14 March. Indes has been designing and engineering products for consumers and the professional market for some 20 years now. We are rapidly becoming a product delivery partner too, which enables us to offer our clients the convenience of a one-stop shop.

Register
Use this link to register for complimentary tickets to the ESEF.

ESEF Audience Award for Engineering
Two of Indes’ designs have been nominated for the ESEF Audience Award for Engineering. Easy installation and safety are the characteristic features of the Essence hinge system developed for Kupan (a manufacturer of sanitary fittings and clean room cabins), a system in which children can no longer get their fingers caught.
The BeSafe iZi Sleep car safety seat made by HTS BeSafe combines safety and comfort. You can vote here for one of these two.

Would you like to arrange a meeting with us? Call Ira Hesp on tel. +31(0)53 480 3927 or send an email.

Indes is renowned for user-friendly and safe solutions. Businesses come to us with a wide range of questions and call in our design and engineering services. We are increasingly in demand for supervising production and delivery.

Thanks to our long-standing experience with suppliers, moulds, cost price negotiations, production facilities in Europe and beyond, Indes Production Management offers a service that provides much more than just design and engineering. Negotiating with manufacturers, arranging moulds, supervising production start-up – all of them time-consuming undertakings.

As soon as the first sketches are ready, we select the right suppliers from our ‘preferred suppliers’ network and prepare a cost overview. It is the ease of consolidating development and delivery with just one partner which assures you of a smooth transition from design to production.

Examples of projects include injection-moulded products such as Brainquiry’s Q-PET, as well as the UMCG Spinny infusion and Arion’s Cairlift, a mattress lift, for which IPM takes on costing calculation, supplier assessments, mould construction and production start-up.

Would you like to find out what advantages there are for you with Indes as a partner? Phone Kay Behrendt on +31(0)53 480 3931 or send an email to make an appointment.

Regularly achieving design recognition underscores the quality of Indes’ designs. The designs of the HTS BeSafe car safety seats have won several awards. The BeSafe iZi Sleep and the BeSafe iZi Up both carried off an iF Product Design Award.

The BeSafe iZi Up is the latest in the HTS range of car safety seats, providing safety for children between 15 and 36 kilos. The height of the seat is easy to adjust to the height of the child. And the seat has been designed so that the width can also be adapted to the height. Both the iZi Up and the iZi Sleep are user-friendly, safe and comfortable. The iZi Up has already won several design awards such as a Red Dot, the Norwegian Design Prize and it has been nominated for the ESEF Engineering Award.

The Power Support
Client: Handicare

Lots of wheelchair-bound people, in nursing homes or in their own home, are completely dependent on others. Enlarging mobility in this group of people is crucial. And it is possible with Power Support.

Turning the spotlight on the user. For years, Indes has been developing products and services that take the user as their starting point. Individual independence is of special concern in the Human Care market. To encourage this and meet the needs of wheelchair users, Handicare asked Indes to develop an attendant control drive for push wheelchairs.

Using the ION technology, Indes designed the Power Support. This gives the person pushing the wheelchair the freedom to decide the level of support required. The device is suitable for use with the IBIS wheelchair. The Power Support won the 2004 Fireva Design Award.

Indes was not only responsible for the design, Indes Production Management (IPM) also supervised the production of all component parts – from the injection-moulded casing to the wiring. What is more, assembly and quality control also took place at IPM, guaranteeing exclusivity.

The Indes team has recently been joined by four new people.
René Brinkhuis started as deputy director, Sander van der Giessen and Chris van Dijken as assistant project leaders and Marc Ettema as engineer.

Indes and Indes Production Management now have a staff of 35.

ESEF Audience Award

You can still cast your votes for the ESEF Audience Awards. Two Indes designs have been nominated; the Essence hinge system for Kupan and the BeSafe iZi Sleep for HTS. .

Vote here.

Dutch Minister of Finance Wouter Bos at Indes

Wouter Bos visited Indes with a delegation on 4 February. Read more about this visit here..

Vacancies at Indes

WWe are always on the lookout for good designers, engineers and project leaders. Currently, we have vacancies available for:

• a logistics/commercial employee
• an employee for project and finance administration
• an enterprising care innovation consultant
• an account manager/project manager
• an experienced mechatronic engineer

For more information, visit the site, or contact Monique van der Geest on +31(0)53 480 3928.