Programme to boost design standards of Irish industry
A major programme to boost the competitiveness of Irish indigenous manufacturers by improving all aspects of product design will be launched on Tuesday by Enterprise Ireland in collaboration with Engineers Ireland.
The programme will feature a series of six training modules, running over one to three days, and covering all aspects of market-focused innovation and design.
The series is aimed at companies involved in the design, development and processing of products across all sectors, including electronics, engineering, food, pharmaceutical, chemical, bio and services.
According to Mr Dermot Murphy, of Enterprise Ireland, the programme is aimed at design engineers, R&D staff and executives who want to improve the design and development function in their businesses.
"We are living in an age of accelerating change, and it is generally true for all manufacturers that some form of innovation and continual design improvement is necessary even to keep abreast of competitors. Right down to the smallest firm there is a need for manufacturers to sharpen their competitiveness in developing designs for new products", he added.
Enterprise Ireland's Mr Dermot Murphy said that trained and qualified designers should be as much concerned with marketing and the customer as with the technical details and aesthetics of product development.
"Designing a product is the highly practical art of giving it the technical specification, form and style that will make it appealing to the customer; effective in use; economic to manufacture; reliable and safe, and profitable to sell. If a company wants their product to have all these qualities, they have to think design".
Ms. Parsons said that the overarching objective of this ambitious design-focused programme is to increase the potential for innovation and creative design by Irish-based firms resulting in increased global competitiveness and output.
The programme modules take place in Dublin, starting on March 14-15th, and subsequent modules take place in April, May, September, October and November. Full details can be found on the websites of Enterprise Ireland (www.enterprise-ireland.com) and that of Engineers Ireland (www.engineersireland.ie) or by contacting Dermot.murphy@enterpriseireland.com.
