Mount Maunganui-based industrial design company Locus Research has been turning bright ideas into marketable products for more than a decade.
Last week the firm's process for taking a concept to a commercial product paid off for Delloch Limited, founded by Tauranga paramedic Sean O'Connor, when the company secured a contract with Auckland's Middlemore Hospital for its HipFit underwear, designed to protect elderly people from hip injuries.
"Middlemore Hospital is going to be using our product shortly and we are hoping that use of the HipFit will spread through New Zealand and abroad," said Mr O'Connor.
"Without the documentation and the research done by Locus Research, there is no way that would have happened."
Started by managing director Tim Allen in a room of his flat in 2002, the Locus Research team now has a range of established clients across the primary, high tech, consumer goods, health and sports categories.