Our modular inventions take on new life when users get their hands on them. Apparently this also applies to our bag dispenser, which we thought was already fully developed.
You may have already realised it, but let's start by making it clear: We're big fans of modularity and love it when our inventions become a tool that can be used in many scenarios - and can have new add-ons added to it continuously.
Our first invention, the SmartMover, is a good example. It's basically an electric stone trolley, but today it's also used with a mortar box, a module for roofers or an extra wheel if needed.
The new ideas for new use cases usually arise when the invention gets into the hands of the users. Sometimes the ideas are so good that you can feel completely stupid that you didn't come up with it yourself.
We were hit with one of these recently.
Two products - or a small add-on?
A little over a year ago, we launched a bag dispenser, which makes it easy for Copenhageners to get a bag for their food waste.
Basically, the bag dispenser was born as a fairly single-function product, with variations limited to making the opening bigger or deeper to accommodate other types of bags. We thought.
Because a simple request gave birth to a new feature: Can't we put dog air bags in it too?
The immediate solution would be to have two dispensers - one for each type of bag. But why not just make a room divider so that both types of bags could be in the same dispenser?
It's a banal idea for a simple problem. The solution is just a bent steel plate that divides the dispenser. And when something is this simple, it can pass straight through, be quickly approved and quickly on the shelf at no extra cost.
The solution is super simple, but it's often hard to think about during development when you're solving another problem. But as soon as the product is on the market and it's being used, new ideas and sometimes obviously good add-ons arise. And it's amazing, to say the least, when these simple add-ons appear out of the blue - because unfortunately it's rarely as simple as in this case.
See more of our solutions for waste sorting at www.nordicsorting.com