Oftentimes it’s the small problems that make our day more difficult. It could be anything from headphones that constantly get tangled to an admission ticket for which you just can’t seem to find a readily accessible storage place, or a bottle that can’t be reclosed. Whether you’re looking for innovative and creative product solutions for these and many other everyday problems, have an idea yourself but don’t know how to implement it, or have already invented a product but need advice regarding the next steps, you’ll be sure to find solutions and answers in the new Innovation Area at PSI 2017. The Leading European Trade Show of the Promotional Products Industry, a time-honoured hotspot for innovations, will take place in Düsseldorf from 10 to 12 January.
Information platform for inventors
Several long-time PSI partners will be concentrated in the new Innovation Area, including the PSI Design Forum. Designers Manfred Makedonski from MMDesign in Hamburg, Henrich Piltz from piltz-design in Münster, Lutz Gathmann from Lutz Gathmann Design in Düsseldorf and Joerg Langkop from LANGKOPDESIGN in the Stuttgart metropolitan region are experts when it comes to designing and developing promotional products, and they’ll be available to answer visitor questions. TheGerman Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA), German Customs, the IENA trade fair and Aktion Plagiarius e.V. will also be located in the new area to provide information on topics such as product safety, import laws, counterfeit goods protection and many more.
Innovations Forum, the magazine for idea generation and product development, will also be on hand. The magazine covers innovation processes from brainstorming to research, idea protection and financial assistance to valorisation and marketing. It also serves as an open platform for individuals, companies and organisations connected with these topics. The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO will also be participating.
Working with partners from the business and scientific communities, the IAO develops solutions for current technical, organisational and personnel-related problems and challenges. Its Human-Computer Interaction Competence Center specialises in intuitive, motivating, efficient and meaningful technology for mankind. The interdisciplinary team’s expertise ranges from computer science to design, engineering and psychology.
The Innovation Area will also be home to manugoo, a crowdsourcing platform built to support young inventors with everything from brainstorming to implementation. With that, the Innovation Area in Hall 12 Stand L50 will emerge as the most important hub for creative professionals, tinkerers and inventors while at the same time providing a quiet zone for visitors.
Presentation area for new ideas
(above) Wood-Wallet
(below) Slim-Wallet
(Source: Wogenfels GmbH)
Inventors can do a lot more at the new area than just gather information: they can also introduce their ideas and new products to the promotional products market in order to gain new customers. Participants will include Matthias Ebel, for example, the inventor of a novel bicycle lighting system. Wogenfels GmbH will be there, too. “PSI allows us to rapidly establish contacts with lots of major companies and decision-makers, which helps us to expand our network and boost awareness of our company. We’re seen by many companies that can directly ask us questions and that we wouldn’t otherwise get to know. As a result, we can quickly wrap up preparations for future deals”, says Wogenfels co-founder Stephan Wölcher. Products shown by the Austrian company will include two wallet innovations – the Wood Wallet and the Slim Wallet – as well as a variety of hardcovers and cigarette pack holders made from wood and many other laser-customisable promotional products.
Ejnar Haugaard will introduce the Easy2Open.
Ejnar Haugaard will introduce the Easy2Open. “PSI offers us the perfect opportunity to meet precisely the visitor group we’d like to establish contact with”, says Ejnar Haugaard. His invention is aimed at dealing with beverage cans and food tins that are difficult to open and reseal. The Easy2open serves a dual purpose: it’s both a handy opener for bottles, cans and tins and a handy helper making it a breeze to reseal them all. The opener is made in Denmark.
