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Description
IZIT d.o.o. is innovative micro enterprises located in Zagreb (HR04 Continental Croatia). Founded in 1990, the company started in publishing and wholesale, but due to market trends it progressively began to focus on the field of 3D modeling and material production. After several years of experience in this field the main activities of the entity today include: 3D printing/ Additive manufacturing, Topology Optimization, Reverse engineering, Generative design, development and production of 3D models, repair and implementation of 3D data and model making. Over the years, the company has built a stable market position in the domestic market, but they aim for more international clients. The Project Promoter has a small team of experienced experts within reverse engineering, CAD modelling and 3D printing. The goal of the company is to become a reference center for 3D modeling and analysis on the global market by continuously improving technological equipment and maintaining a recognizable partnership approach to its customers and suppliers.
In this small R&D project, the Project Promoter and its partners will develop a new product, a hand-hold Personal Water Purifier for desalination (PWP Sea). The device is intended for manual desalination of seawater and is ideal as a safety device in vessels that are imprinted in the high seas. This portable hand-operator desalinator, with a high desalination efficiency, can provide high output of potable water needed to survive in lifeboats or other situation where the only source of water is seawater.
The project will be implemented together with three partners: Purifier Ltd., a Croatian micro company that owns the international patent (reg. in Europe and US) for the PWP, the Norwegian company TM Separation AS, with membrane filtration expertise, and the Norwegian micro enterprises Aquasolis Global AS, with expertise in reverse osmosis-based water purification and desalination. The partners will not be beneficiaries.
Summary of project results
The main source of motivation for the innovative PWP Sea (Portable Water Purifier) emerged as the result of:
1. Lack of portable and compact seawater desalination solutions – which are crucial for survival in lifeboats in case of an accident or disaster, whose target users are shipping companies/fleets, army, large and small shipyard/lifeboat manufacturers and search and rescue organizations at sea.
2. Need to provide drinking water on smaller vessels that have a significantly lower storage capacity than larger ships and in case of an emergency – used by fishermen, sailors and hobbyists.
The project developed an innovative product: hand-hold Personal Water Purifier for desalination (PWP Sea) with filtration system that consist of membranes for reverse osmosis, a container concentrate of certain volume with integrated piston pumps for seawater supply and recirculation of concentrate. The product was developed, field-tested and finished succesfuly.
Expected outcome - Increased competitiveness of the company (baseline year 2019 - target year 2024):
- Expected increase in turnover: 49% - Since IZIT already has a constant increase in yearly turnover, so with the new PWP Sea, the expected increase of 49% is believed to be reached in 2024.
- Expected increase in net operating profit: 37% - As in turnover, IZIT has a constant increase in net operating profit as well, therefore the expected increase of 37% will be reached.
- Expected number of jobs created: 2 - From 2019 IZIT grew from 5 to 8 employees (plus 2 employees via student contract). With PWP Sea ready for the market, there will be a need for more work force so it is expected that 2 more people will be employed in 2024.
- Expected number of new IPRs: 1 (industrial design) – Purifier paid a fee for writing and submitting a patent application to ADMOVEO. In 2022 an official statement from the European Patent Office was received, that the patent is approved under the international number PCT/EP2022/055323.
Bilateral outcome: Business partnership expected to continue after project implementation - partnership is expected to continue with Purifier and Aquasolis. As for MT Separation, very good business relationship was built so it is expected for the cooperation to also continue.
Output indicators:
- 1 innovative Blue Growth product/solution developed, completed and certified by 2023: a hand-hold Personal Water Purifier for desalination (PWP Sea) with filtration system that consist of membranes for reverse osmosis, a container concentrate of certain volume with integrated piston pumps for seawater supply and recirculation of concentrate. - The device PWPSEA 2514 with an integrated pump assembly has been developed and tested. PWPSEA2514 is a portable manual desalinizer whose filtration system consists of a MF prefilter and a main RO SW filter. European Patent Office approved the patent under number PCT/EP2022/055323.
- Serial Manufacturing Readiness Level achieved by 2023. - The device is ready for serial production. Technical documentation was prepared, supply chains were defined. The produced prototypes are used for demonstration.
- Commercialization of the production process of PWP Sea to relevant production partners by 2024. - It is expected to conclude commercialization contracts in 2024. There are negotiations with a potential partner from the USA. It is panned to exhibit at the Marine Equipment Fair in Miami at the end of March 2024.
Summary of bilateral results
The partnership is expected to continue with Purifier and Aquasolis. As for MT Separation, very good business relationship was built so it is expected for the cooperation to also continue.