Zebra design wins gold at IDEA 2016

Zebra Technologies’ TC8000 enterprise mobile computer has been named a Gold winner in the 36th annual International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) conducted by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and judged by renowned design experts from around the world.
Curt Croley, senior director: innovation and design at Zebra Technologies, comments: “The IDEA Design Award recognises designs that redefine product performance, and that is exactly what we did with the TC8000. Our design team met with customers from around the world, observing their workers and processes and in some cases joining their training programmes.
“As a result, Zebra designers were able to make key observations that resulted in the creation of the TC8000 and its breakthrough form. We eliminated a wasteful step customary to other enterprise mobile computers and in doing so, increased user productivity while decreasing worker fatigue.”
Among the more than 1 700 design projects from 30-plus countries that competed in IDEA 2016, the TC8000 was one of only 26 that met the criteria for an IDEA Gold Award.
The TC8000 is a rugged handheld mobile computer with an innovative design that has proven to increase productivity and reduce fatigue for workers in highly intensive barcode scanning environments.
Zebra designed the TC8000 to be as easy to use as a consumer mobile device while redefining the form in a way that allows the user to shave seconds off each repetitive “scan and  verify” motion, resulting in a savings of one hour per worker per shift and increasing productivity by an average of 14 percent while improving fulfillment accuracy.
The IDEA is a coveted award. Winning designs needed to achieve the highest standards in the areas of design innovation, user benefit, company/client benefit, societal impact and appropriate aesthetics to be considered for a Gold or Silver IDEA Award.
Top IDEA winners are featured in IDSA’s INNOVATION Magazine: Yearbook of Excellence, and are ensconced as part of the permanent collection at The Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, celebrating the spirit of innovation.