Gothenburg, Sweden – ESAB announced that its Robust Feed wire feeder has received the highly coveted Red Dot Award: Product Design 2021. The Robust Feed was designed for portability, durability and productivity and is the only portable feeder with an IP44 protection class rating, which means it is protected against water splashes from all directions. A completely-sealed wire feed compartment protects the wire from dust, an optional heater drives off moisture to preserve wire integrity and its double-wall design has special zones to provide impact and abrasion resistance. The controls, power and gas cable connections are protected inside the housing, and a reliable strain relief removes cable stress. This is the second Red Dot award ESAB has won for product design. The brand won in 2018 for the Renegade TIG power source.
“We are proud that our Robust Feed earned the prestigious Red Dot award, a tremendous honor in our longstanding history of leading product innovation in welding and cutting equipment and consumables for over a century,” said Olivier Biebuyck, President, EMEAR, Equipment and Digital Solutions. “A special thanks to Red Dot’s expert jury for recognising our continuous pursuit to meet the needs of the customers we serve all over the world.”
For more than 50 years, the “Red Dot” award has established itself internationally as one of the most sought-after seals of quality for good design. For this year’s competition, designers and manufacturers submitted more than 18,000 objects to the competition and a jury comprising roughly 50 members assessed the products. The strict judging criteria, which include level of innovation, functionality, formal quality, ergonomics and durability, provide a frame of reference which the jurors then complement with their own expertise.
“I believe Robust Feed won this esteemed award because customer insights and real-life scenarios shaped its form and functions,” said Jarkko Havia, ESAB’s Global Industrial Design Manager. “We never intended to compete with existing feeders — we wanted to redefine the category, and Robust Feed achieves that goal.”
More Key Elements to Robust Feed’s Award-winning Design
ESAB designed Robust Feed for improved ergonomics when carrying. When carried by the middle handle, it rests comfortably against the side of the operator’s body when walking longer distances. Closer to the point of welding, additional front and rear handles make it easy to carry up a ladder, maneuver through confined spaces or pass the unit from one person to another.
For greater mobility, the wire feeder has an optional wheel kit that mounts on either the bottom or side of the feeder. It also features ESAB’s new PreciDrive wire drive system that combines high precision, power and reliability to feed solid wires up to 2.0 mm and cored wires up to 2.4 mm. Robust Feed automatically connects to ESAB’s Warrior and Aristo inverter-based power sources, and a connection kit enables using the unit with competitive inverters. Users include those in the ship, boat, trailer, construction, steel fabrication, pressure vessel, tank, pipe, wind tower, off-highway machinery, maintenance and repair industries. Equipped with an optional push-pull torch, it also works well for welding aluminium. For more information about the Robust Feed, click here.
About ESAB
At ESAB, we exist to shape the future of welding and cutting. We connect fabricators with the widest range of products under our industry-leading brand portfolio with the latest technologies to solve virtually any industry challenge — then we back it up with our knowledge, experience and passion to help them be more productive than ever before. To learn more, visit esab.com.
About the Red Dot Design Award
The Red Dot Award – Product Design, whose origins date back to 1955, appraises the best products created every year. In roughly 50 categories, manufacturers and designers can enter their innovations in the competition. According to the motto “In search of good design and innovation”, the jury evaluates the entries and only awards a Red Dot to products that win them over with their high design quality. More information is available at www.red-dot.org.
