The ‘Project Exemplar’ award recognises exceptionally high levels of innovation and collaboration between a firm, their graduate and an academic as part of the InterTradeIreland FUSION programme.
Malone FM is a young dynamic company with a commitment to innovation and creativity in the agricultural sector. Founded in 1999, the company manufactures a wide range of agricultural products including self-loading wagons, post drivers, toppers, log splitters and mowers, operating from its 55,000 sq ft premises. The SME works closely with farmers, the ‘end users' of products, in order to understand their needs and requirements.
The FUSION project involved Malone FM partnering with the InnoTech Centre of South West College, Enniskillen with the support of InterTradeIreland graduate, John Sweeney. John worked for Malone FM for the 18 month duration of the project, which was completed in January 2015, and has since been offered a role as a design engineer in the R&D department with the company.
Michael Malone, from Malone FM, commented: “We are delighted that our innovation has been recognised and are proud to accept our Exemplar award. The FUSION project has brought us a great deal of in-depth market research of the forage machinery sector. This concluded with a niche market discovered for a specific type of silage trailer, which has since been taken through the design, development and testing phase. We are delighted that involvement in this project also has allowed us to forecast expected export sales of more than €1/2 million by year three.”
Dianne Dundas, from InterTradeIreland, added: “Being selected for this award signifies that the FUSION project has been a great success for all parties. In this case the company was able to innovate a new product for a niche market; the academic institute had a unique opportunity to become involved in a commercial project, while the graduate has gained valuable project management experience and a permanent job with Malone FM. Congratulations to all of the team on its hard work and innovation throughout this project.”
For further information on the FUSION programme please visit, www.intertradeireland.com/fusion.
