Dunedin tech company Bison was awarded the gold pin award for its innovative product design called Weighing Jacks at the Best Design Awards.
The Bison Weighing Jacks are the world’s first portable solution for calculating the weight of a shipping container in situ, rather than transporting the container by truck to a weighbridge.
From 2016, new international maritime rules will oblige shippers to verify the weight of every container they export.
“Shippers have to verify the weight of every container they ship”, says Bison CTO, Dr Mark Fahey. “But weighing a 30-tonne container is not a trivial task and there’s widespread concern about the limited range of equipment available to do this.”
Bison’s design team asked the question, why not take the scales to the container? It then set out to develop a product that is fast and easy to use, accurate, reliable, robust and cost-effective.
The Weighing Jacks are four small scales that attach to each corner of the container, lift it slightly off the ground and weigh the container to within +/-25 kg.
Using latest Bluetooth technology, the Weighing Jacks sync with a smartphone App, enabling the weight and other shipping data to be stored, printed and sent automatically through the logistics chain.
Weighing Jacks are now in commercial use around New Zealand and trials are now underway in Europe and Asia.
Bison is also working on some related product developments, due for release in time for the new container weight verification rules, which take effect on 1 July 2016.
The Best Design Awards is the annual showcase of excellence in graphic, spatial, product and interactive design.
It is an initiative of The Designers Institute of New Zealand.
