An innovation-fest such as the Carter Holt Harvey New Zealand Pavilion will invariably showcase high-tech companies doing incomprehensibly complex things at the cutting edge of technology.
But innovation need not involve whiz-bang technology.
Designline, one of the 80-plus companies featured at the pavilion, has a very down-to-earth business - it builds buses.
TheAshburton company is the country's biggest bus builder and has put together more than 2500 vehicles for New Zealand and overseas customers during its 17-year history.
Almost 10 years ago the company recognised that its future depended on embracing innovation in its bus designs.
The New Zealand market for its buses was limited, and given this country's geographical isolation from overseas markets export success required differentiating its products from those of the competition.
Since then the company has won international recognition for revolutionising bus design.
Designline buses can be personalised to its customers' requirements with distinctive styling and customised interiors.
The company prides itself on its quality body-building techniques and has negotiated a licensing agreement to use a cobalt aluminium construction process that produces lighter buses with greater strength and higher resistance to corrosion.
Designline's buses have low floors and air-suspension systems which allow them to "kneel" closer to the road, allowing easier access for passengers.
The company has also attracted international attention for its environmental focus on manufacturing practices and its hybrid electric buses.
Fuel consumption has been reduced, repair and maintenance needs cut and for some designs up to 70 per cent of the body of the bus can be recycled.
The coaches are manufactured to stringent environmental requirements for low noise, vibration and exhaust emissions.
The company's emission-reducing hybrid engine is used in a fleet of Christchurch buses and has a four-year record of reliability.
The company's hybrid models are also being used by operators in Japan and Hong Kong.
