The FOCUS-1 smart process node jointly developed by KROHNE and SAMSON figures among this year’s winners of the Red Dot Design Award. The novel product presented in September 2019 received the award in the Industrial Equipment, Machinery and Automation category, subcategory Control Systems. The FOCUS-1 smart process node combines the sensor, control valve and process control functions in one innovative unit. It is the first product launched by the FOCUS-ON joint venture established by KROHNE and SAMSON. Professor Dr. Peter Zec, founder and CEO of Red Dot, congratulated the winners during his laudatory speech, praising their capability to create excellent, award-worthy products. The jurors were not only impressed by the products’ esthetics but also by their unparalleled functionality. According to Dr. Zec, the awardwinning designs set new standards in their line of business.
When KROHNE and SAMSON started their cooperation in October 2017, their intention was to combine the specialist know-how of the two companies for the first time and create a novel product. Further milestones during the project were the development of an optimized valve body together with SPARK Design & Innovation as well as the integration of ultrasonic sensors into the compact body in July 2018. The result of the project – the smart process node – was presented at a joint press conference in September 2019 where the partnership between KROHNE and SAMSON was made public as well. For all partners involved in the creation of FOCUS-1, winning the Red Dot Award is a sign of recognition for their courage to rethink products and make disruptive innovations ready for the market.
From 22 June 2020, the FOCUS-1 smart process node will be on show in the Design on Stage exhibition at the Red Dot Design Museum in Essen, Germany. From that same date, the winning FOCUS-ON product will also be presented in the online exhibition on the Red Dot website. The Red Dot Design Yearbook 2020/2021 will be published in July 2020.
In order to appraise the diversity in the field of design in a professional manner, the Red Dot Design Award breaks down into the three disciplines of Red Dot Award: Product Design, Red Dot Award: Brands & Communication Design and Red Dot Award: Design Concept. With more than 18,000 entries, the Red Dot Award is one of the world’s largest design competitions. In 1955, a jury convened for the first time to assess the best designs of the day. In the 1990s, Red Dot CEO Professor Dr. Peter Zec developed the name and brand of the award. Ever since, the sought-after distinction “Red Dot” has been the revered international seal of outstanding design quality. The award winners are presented in the yearbooks, museums and online. More information is available at www.red-dot.de.
FOCUS-ON was co-founded by KROHNE and SAMSON in September 2019 to develop, manufacture and market autonomous control solutions for Process Industry 4.0 environments. The 50:50 joint venture has a clear vision of offering groundbreaking, disruptive technologies. The focus lies on combining valve and sensor engineering to simplify plants and reduce their capital and operating expenditures (CapEx, OpEx). The goal is to improve the capacity utilization in plants by achieving a higher level of safety and reliability through control quality monitoring, high-performance on-board diagnostics and an improved transparency of the device status.