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What
does XYZ do? We conceptualize, design, manufacture
and implement products in local and international markets.
What
products do we design? We have, among others, provided
solution to the medical, telecom, industrial and domestic
markets.
How
many of our products are in the market? Since XYZ's
inception, we have delivered more than 71 products (not
concepts) to the market. Production quantities for each
product, range from 5 per annum to 1000
per day.
How
complex are our products? Our products manage diverse requirements
such as RF, optical, acoustic, impact and water ingress.
Although our primary design goal always aims to simplify
complex systems, product component count can be from 3 to
150 items.
Where
do our product ideas originate? 95% of product ideas
come from our clients, with the remaining 5% generated
in-house.
What
type of clients do we have? Our clients are corporate,
individual and state institutions. They are based in South
Africa, England, Taiwan, France, Botswana, USA,
Canada, Nigeria and Sweden.
What
structure does XYZ have? Our dynamic team of ten,
comprises of industrial designers, mechanical engineers,
industrial engineers and prototyping technicians.
What
is industrial design (ID)? ID links society
and technology, focusing on cultural values,
engineering factors and financial realities.
Where is XYZ?
We are located in the Cape Quarter, Cape Town, South Africa.
I
have an idea, how do I go forward? Please contact us on
+27(0)21 421 7236 so we can discuss further.
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We
observe markets with multiple lenses created from our
diverse skill-set and portfolio.
Both of which assist in identifying novel patterns and market
opportunities. Please read on for developments within
this centre.
XYZ
has launched an Innovation Starter Pack (INSP) for inventors
who require a strategic platform and clear vision of the
product development landscape. Click the
image to find out more.
What
is the World Design Capital? This prestigious status is designated
biennially by the International Council of Societies of
Industrial Design (ICSID) to cities that are dedicated to
using design for social, cultural and economic development.
This title will give Cape Town a ... Click the image to find out
more.
Case
Study: A systems thinking
approach to product design. Systems
thinking – the underlying approach to large-scale problem
solving that is the foundation of the GSB EMBA – is
synergistic with the way a Cape Town-based company has
evolved its strategy for design thinking and product
development. Click the
image to find out more.
...XYZ
launched Design With Africa (DWA) in 2009 to provide a
focused product development model for the African
continent. The model brings together Information
Communication Technology (ICT), socioeconomic and
socio-technical constraints in a manner that highlights
indigenous African innovation. The model is commercially
driven, but has the additional benefit of promoting a
positive African narrative. In other words, products will be
designed using global scientific and technological
principles, by Africans, for Africans. Although ...XYZ has
many successes in this domain, for example the Freeplay
wind-up radio and the Informal Taxi phone, the DWA goes
further to provide African solutions to developed markets.
Simply stated, Africa is sandbox for global
challenges. Click the image
to view the DWA blog, or see completed projects in our
portfolio section by clicking here
Products
are becoming more important to the brand than they were a
few years ago and consumer are aware that brands are
more than visual. They are also tactile. A good-looking
product may fail in... Click the
image to find out more.
Design
Indaba - Most Beautiful Object in South Africa. Design
indaba expo presented a marketplace for
South Africa
’s top design talent for the fourth time, with 260
exhibitors, 40 of them students.
This was a strong increase
from 163 exhibitors last year, including students. This
curated showcase of the best original South African design
across ... Click the image to find out more.
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Our holistic
and qualified design centre covers brand,
industrial design, mechanical engineering and industrial
engineering disciplines. Please read on for
developments
within this centre.
Due
to market demand, XYZ is expanding its studio. We have a
permanent position open for a junior industrial designer,
who will work from our office in the Cape Quarter. The
position requires a motivated individual, who is passionate
about new product development, has an attention to detail,
takes responsibility and pride in their work, and can work
to strict deadlines.
Click the image to find out
more, and how to apply.
XYZ
partnered with TEDxStellenbosch 2010 in a design and
organisation capacity. TEDxStellenbosch 2010, where x =
independently organized TED event, brought together thinkers
and doers of the Southern African hemisphere. 550
entrepreneurs, architects, scholars, business leaders and
designers gathered to share innovations and experiences that
are changing the face of the African continent. The
conference, '...with Africa', championed four themes that
are at the forefront of the debate surrounding growth and
development on the continent: storytelling, innovation,
community, and nature. Click the image to find out
more about the event.
XYZ
has designed and manufactured a variety of access control and information dissemination
systems.
Click the above image
to view our range of kiosks and retail solutions.
Sustainable
design - window dressing or ingenuity? What motivates sustainable
product development? Sustainability has a chameleon like quality
in the product development and marketing world. Unfortunately, it
is used mainly as a marketing buzzword to sell... Click the image
to find out more.
XYZ
has ambitions to solve South Africa’s rural transport conundrum,
and is seeking manufacturing and
distribution partners to help drive the idea off the drawing
board and onto the country’s roads. Click the image to find
out more.
SA
creates world's safest traffic light pole. A new South
African innovation is being heralded as the world’s
first truly safe traffic light system and is currently
being piloted on the streets of Johannesburg. The Modular
Traffic Light System (MTLS) is the safest in the world as
the entire system is composed of polymer or plastic with no
steel or metal components. Click
the image to find out more.
The
SABS Prototype initiative was established to assist product
developers with the design aspects of their product by
offering a free consultation with design experts. The SABS
Design Institute and the South African Institute of
Intellectual Property Law established a support programme
for prototypes in 1997 to... Click the image to find out
more.
I
have a dream. Thabo Mboneni is aiming to join the elite –
and small – group of fellow South Africans to have made it
in the heady world of international car design.
Sponsorship of Chavant Y2 modeling clay was kindly provided
by AMT Composites .... Click the image to find out more.
XYZ
is fortunate to be formally recognized by local and
international design communities. Click the image to view
our awards and exhibitions, including products in the Museum
of Modern Art's permanent collection.
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Market
requirements and design intent is ultimately provided and
managed by our manufacturing centre. Please read
on for
developments
within this centre.
Sustainable
soccer? ...XYZ worked with sOccket to produce an energy harvesting sports product, intended for children in emerging markets. It makes use of inductive-coil technology to generate, and store energy, in the ball whilst it is being played with. When the game of soccer (football) has been concluded, the child can return home with a fully charged ball, and using the built-in fixture, connect a LED lamp to illuminate the home. Although the product is still in a prototype format with trials being conducted throughout the African continent, it is destined to
... Click the
image to find out more, and to see the ball in action.
The
global rewiring of 2009 is providing our clients opportunities that
were not available a couple of years
ago. For example, rather than continuing to import from a
European OEM supplier, the Racetec Timing Chip (as shown
above) was developed
and produced by XYZ in South Africa. Unit costs have been
drastically reduced and are no longer directly subject to
international exchange rates.
XYZ
has successfully designed and run a 900kg injection
moulding tool for South Africa's petroleum sector.
The tool provides multifunctional and brand compliant components
to protect sensitive transaction equipment.
The client's products can withstand the
rigors of
use within the specified environment and usage. Product
failure in the field must be avoided at all costs. Material
choice strategy takes six main steps... Click the image to find out
more.
XYZ
won four awards at the 2009 SABS design excellence
awards.... Click the image to find out
more.
Dual
economies, like South Africa, offer challenging environments
for product developers. Language and cultural diversity
often means that assumptions about product acceptance
imported from developed economies fail to gain acceptance.
Devices that are contextually sensitive and perhaps .... Click the image to find out
more.
The
Snuza baby monitor required a single part to provide the
functionality of four. Additionally it must provide an
ingress protection rating of IP67. The complex yet novel
tool was successfully manufactured in China an component
production is currently being run in South Africa... Click the image to find out more.
President Nelson
Mandela at the launch of the reintegration employment
concerns. "With
the advent of democracy in our country, we all became
quickly aware of the extent of the devastation left by
apartheid on our people. We realized the enormity of the
challenges facing the new government, amongst them
widespread poverty, hunger; unemployment; a lack of skills;
inadequate shelter; health services; and education for the
vast majority. Government
cannot tackle these problems by itself, and we have been
calling for..." Click the image to find out more.
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