As an increased number of Irish companies seek to move to a more sustainable future and consider developing, and investing in greener products, processes or services, many can experience innovation challenges.
The good news is that opportunities in the area of research, development and innovation have also increased. There are now many avenues for companies to progress in this area. Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateways are at the forefront of assisting companies with sustainability solutions in a range of sectors such as Energy, Food and Beverage, Bioresources, Manufacturing, Engineering and IoT. With experienced researchers and engineers providing a pathway to develop ideas and access a range of skills, support and equipment available across our network.
In recent years our Irish Food Tech Cluster has collaborated on a variety of sustainable projects with companies within the food and beverage sector. One such company collaboration was Borrisoleigh Bottling Ltd (BBL), located on Pallas St. in Borrisoleigh, Co. Tipperary.
Borrisoleigh Bottling Ltd (BBL)
Water is one of the most important natural resources and Borrisoleigh is the home of Ireland’s first mineral water. In Thurles, Co. Tipperary, the natural artesian well water, which C&C has been using for many years, has received 15 gold stars worldwide. The company with the use of Tipperary’s water sources has given the rural community of Borrisoleigh new life by a rebirth and much needed jobs. With over 30 years of expertise, BBL designs and develops packaging to drive the industry toward a more responsible and sustainable future. Testament to this is the fact that, to date, BBL has won 7 international gold awards for excellence.
BBL approached Design+ Technology Gateway, situated in SETU (Carlow) to assist in creating 3D printed bottles. The Gateway offers a design-led methodology for projects in the fields of engineering, IT, and bioscience and by ulitising the wide range of technical, business, and marketing experience found within Design+, the team helped BBL to develop new products and concepts in a creative way.
Product development
Testing is essential for packaging and bottle development, in order to reveal issues with the production process that may need to be solved. Timely and effective solutions are also critical for promptly performing these trials and getting production up and running as soon as feasible. With the newly developed recyclable packaging everyday use of emissions will be lowered, creating a more sustainable future for our planet.
Design+ assisted with product development using advanced technological equipment, such as their accurate SLA 3D printer, which enabled them to create draft prototypes (sample bottle designs) that accurately mirror the final glass product down to the millimeter to enable testing of the manufacturing line.
Outcome
Companies collaborating with Borrisoleigh Bottling Ltd on projects know that they will get a rapid turnaround and assistance with any problems that may come up during the crucial phase of new product integration. The ability to test their production line with various concepts and designs rapidly allowed BBL to ensure that the deployment of a new product ran as quickly and efficiently as possible on their bottle production line.
John Hegarty, founder of Borrisoleigh Bottling Ltd said “I found the 3D process invaluable in proving our initial concept and even in the follow up trials for our production runs. These trials have facilitated in our ordering of our new bespoke Sláinte bottle in glass for our first production runs next spring. It also helps speed up the process and saved us months in costs and labor. Billy and the team could not have been more obliging and helpful in advice and timing.”
If you have an idea for a new sustainable product, service or process or are in need of innovation assistance for an existing element, get in touch to see how Technology Gateways can help you develop a solution.