Goeppingen, 14 March 2012 - It is one of the world’s most highly regarded design competitions: the red dot design award. Its past winners include such companies as computer producer Apple, carmaker BMW, watch designer Maurice Lacroix – and now also Schuler: the Göppingen-based press manufacturer is to receive the red dot design award in the “Industry and Crafts” category for its Icon V-Drive packaging machine. At its early March meeting in Essen, Germany, the high-caliber international jury had to select from a total of 4,515 products submitted by 1,800 companies. “The carefully conceived and innovative product design of the Icon V-Drive enabled Schuler to beat off some very stiff competition,” congratulated Professor Dr. Peter Zec, initiator and CEO of red dot. The packaging machine’s housing was designed by the Ulm-based agency designship.
“Customers are not only impressed by the performance and technical specifications of our presses, but increasingly also by their design,” states Schuler’s CEO Stefan Klebert. “It is a visible representation of the innovation leadership we have achieved with machines like the Icon V-Drive.” Schuler is the technological and global market leader in the entire field of metalforming – including presses for the automotive, forging and household equipment sectors.
The red dot design award will be presented at a gala event held at Essen’s Aalto Theater on July 2, 2012. It is already the second such prize for the Icon V-Drive: at the METPACK packaging fair in Essen last May, it received the fair’s Innovation Award. In 2011, it was also nominated for the German Packaging Award in the machine technology category. The Icon V-Drive is a press for manufacturing up to 250 aerosol cans per minute. It features extremely low material consumption – as much as 40 percent less than conventional methods – and can also process 100 percent recyclable materials, such as aluminum alloys and tinplate.