TOMRA wins red dot international design award for the "Multipac" backroom solution

12 april 2012 TOMRA has been selected among an exclusive group of companies to receive this year's red dot design award in the product design category for the "Multipac" backroom solution. "The award of the red dot to MultiPac is a great acknowledgement of TOMRA's design work, and to the team involved in developing this revolutionary backroom solution," says HÃ¥kon Volldal, SVP and Head of Collection Solutions. The red dot design award is one of the most internationally recognized awards within product design, dating back to 1955. With more than 14,000 entries from over 70 countries, the red dot design award truly is a global design competition. The red dot is described as "the distinctive quality seal for aesthetic forms, moving trends and designers with a strong sense of responsibility". High standards Within the product design category, 1,800 companies and independent designers from 58 countries registered this year. A total of 4,515 registrations have been submitted and 30 international experts in the jury examined, tested and evaluated each individual product. The jury evaluated the submitted candidates based on a range of different criteria, such as the level of innovation, functionality, self-explanatory quality and environmental compatibility. The initiator and CEO of the red dot design award, Professor Dr. Peter Zec, points to the high quality level of the competition: "The most distinguished products of the respective branch of industry faced up not only to the tough competition this year again, but also to the critical eye of the jury. With their performances, the laureates did not only demonstrate an extraordinary design quality, but they also showed that design is an integral part of innovative product solutions." Demonstration of design capabilities With growing competitive pressure on the international markets, it is now more important than ever for manufacturers to set themselves apart from the competition by proving quality rather than simply pursuing an aggressive pricing policy. "The success of MultiPac in the red dot award is a testimonial to our excellent design capabilities," says HÃ¥kon Volldal. "MultiPac is one of the most innovative solution that TOMRA Collection Solutions has presented to the market in several years. Focusing on functionality and intuitive operation, it revolutionizes automated handling of empty beverage containers for the store personnel." Industrial Designer Silje Sandahl in TOMRA Collection Solutions comments on the MultiPac project: "To be allowed to create products that represent something completely new and better is a designer's dream! In real life though; designers often experience limited degrees of creative freedom in projects. Luckily some projects allow room for new thoughts. MultiPac is such a product. Based on new usability principles, a new product structure, lines and look, it's designed to facilitate the store staff and make their workday easier." The full list of award winners will be available on http://en.red-dot.org/ before the award ceremony takes place in Essen, Germany on 2 July. The ceremony will gather more than 1,000 international guests from the design world, society and the media to celebrate the highlights of this year's competition. Media contact Margareth Aske, PR Director, TOMRA Group Mobile: +47 92 66 70 83 Email: margareth.aske@tomra.no TOMRA was founded on an innovation in 1972 that began with design, manufacturing and sale of reverse vending machines (RVMs) for automated collection of used beverage containers. Today TOMRA is active in more than 50 markets worldwide and had total revenues of ~3.6 billion NOK in 2011. TOMRA has over 1,800 employees and is publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The TOMRA Group continues to innovate and provide cutting-edge solutions for optimal resource productivity within two main business areas: Collection Solutions (reverse vending, material recovery and compaction industries) and Sorting Solutions (recycling, mining and food processing industries). TOMRA MultiPac: http://hugin.info/162/R/1599725/504805.jpg This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Tomra Systems ASA via Thomson Reuters ONE [HUG#1599725]