Consortium edges up the competition

East Anglian industrial design group Minima Design and electronic design specialist Seescan have teamed up with two manufacturing firms to work together on bringing new products to the market.

The consortium, called Synergy, has its formal launch at the beginning of this month.

Seescan managing director Philip Gaffney says: “The Department of Trade and Industry argues for UK companies to co-operate in order to compete internationally. [Synergy] takes responsibility for the whole project, so customers are not at risk, as they would be in co-ordinating a project split between several specialist subcontractors.”

Synergy’s first joint product is a hand-held hygiene monitoring system for food manufacturers (pictured), produced for client Celsis in Cambridge. It is being distributed worldwide through Lever.

“We know this consortium makes us more attractive to clients. It’s so logical I’m sure [such collaborations] will happen more,” Gaffney adds.