Ar-Nua Tec

Founder: Anthony Glynn and James Sherlock

Product: Dunk-E small hydro turbines

Category: Manufacturing

Contact details: www.arnuatec.com

If you have water flowing close by, Ar-Nua Tec wants you to make your own electricity. Anthony Glynn and James Sherlock have developed a new range of small turbines called Dunk-E. The name comes from the fact that you can simply dunk them in the water and they start producing electricity.

The small units are specially designed for areas with shallow and slow-moving rivers and streams. The smallest ones operate at a depth of just 0.1m compared with 1m of water which the ones currently on the market need. The river speed only needs to be 0.3m per second, much lower than their competitors, which need a flow of 1m/s. With the average river speed in Ireland at 0.6m/s, it opens up a lot of opportunities for small-scale electricity production. The first product, Dunk-E 3, was designed during a course Anthony attended at Tipperary Institute of Technology. Anthony has nine years experience in renewable energy and from his research on water turbine technology he found that the high cost of diverting rivers and planning issues as well as poor performance leading to extended payback times put many people off.

To get over these problems, he designed hydro turbines that could be lowered into position in a river, weir or sluice gate. It does not obstruct the river flow and has no planning or environmental issues, which were he said confirmed by Inland Fisheries of Ireland.

James has worked in the Volkswagen group and has expertise in strategic management, pricing and product management.

The company’s success will come down to price and the return on investment. They are still working on exact prices, but say their turbines will be priced to give buyers a good payback by allowing them to reduce their own electricity bill and offer the potential to sell surplus electricity into the grid.

They have installed their first turbine and have orders of €150,000 for 2014. They see the greatest potential for their micro generators in developing countries. They already have advance orders for 2015 from Asia. They are getting different companies to make the individual components and then assemble and test the units themselves.

They intend to form partnerships with established energy services companies to gain rapid access to international markets. They are planning to raise finance of over €500,000 to gear up to supply the market potential they are finding.

Green Earth Organics

Founder: Kenneth Keavey

Product: Home delivery organic service

Category: services

Contact details: www.greenearthorganics.ie Tel 091763768

2010 was a tough year for Green Earth Organics, based in Galway. The company delivers organic fruit and vegetables and other products directly to their customers’ doors. The business had been growing but that year they saw sales drop by 20%. Owner Kenneth Keavey knew he had to make changes.

The company responded to the downturn in a number of ways. It started to diversify, looking at selling to other local businesses. It now supplies six busy supermarkets and most of Galway’s top restaurants. For its customers, it improved the quality of the service. The company started to provide recipes and health information to customers. It also reviewed pricing and increased value to customers. The company launched a proper sales initiative where each member of staff was trained in never missing an opportunity to sell or sell more. It also embarked on a driven marketing campaign, keeping in touch with existing and potential customers. It hired a new accountant and book keeper and bought new financial software to track the business much more closely. Each area of the business is now closely monitored to assess which is most profitable. Within the farm, the cost of each crop is assessed, from the seed to the labour involved. To do this properly each member of staff has to record how and where they spend their time.

In 2012 a farm manager was hired, allowing the company to focus more on sales.

One of the most important changes was the investment in software to improve the online ordering service in 2013. It took nine months to design from scratch. This gave customers the ability to customise their boxes and order exactly what they wanted. The software also tracks and organises the key customer information, including their likes and dislikes. It was the first step in automating the company’s system. An automatic payments system for the home delivery service was also put in place, dramatically improving cashflow and reducing bad debts. Green Earth Organics has between 150 and 250 home delivery customers each week in Mayo and Galway.

It has also partnered up with a courier company, opening up the possibility of nationwide deliveries. This is the first step in a structured nationwide expansion.

By the end of 2011, sales were back up. In 2012 they increased a further 47% and they jumped again in 2013. The company has started to do home deliveries in Limerick and is also looking at the Dublin market to grow the business. “The business has never been in better shape and all because of the downturn,” said Kenneth. “If we had not experienced the pain, we would not have implemented the changes. It has changed the way I see business and made me very aware of the potential of continuous improvement and expansion.”

Stealth Manufacturing

Founder: John Kennedy

Product: New design of silage trailer

Category: Manufacturing

Contact details: www.stealth.ie Tel 086 2463813

John Kennedy has been a contractor for over 25 years, focusing primarily on silage. During that time he has harvested over 50,000 acres and lost count of the thousands of trailers of silage he has cut and drawn into farmers’ pits around Nenagh.

He was always looking at ways to reduce costs, especially as diesel costs increased. He has a keen interest in manufacturing, developing his own land leveller, buck rakes and land rollers to name a few. He built his first trailer 22 years ago. It stood the test of time, as he still uses it today. However, its days might be numbered as he is just about to launch a new type of silage trailer that he believes has hugely enhanced efficiency. It is called the stealth Kompactor 40. Stealth reflects the speed, strength and agility. Kompactor refers to the fact that the trailer uses a unique system to fill the trailer, which is 40m3 in size when empty. However, by using the tractor hydraulics he has designed it to compact the grass silage when it is being loaded. This gives the potential to compact 60m3 into it.

Carrying out tests in 2013, John found that it can reduce the trailers needed from three to two on many jobs. This reduces fuel, labour and time, three of the biggest costs for contractors.

The compactor also allows the loads to be pushed off at the pit. This means the trailer does not have to be tipped up, further reducing time and increasing safety. The unloading time is just 40 seconds. The fact that the grass offloaded is already partly compacted makes it easier to load in the pit. This loading system makes it attractive for indoor use.

John also believes the K-40 will be used for transporting other crops and products.

The trailer will start at €35,000 + VAT, not much more than the standard 24ft tipping trailer. It weighs less when empty and has a sliding axel underneath. This ensures it has better weight distribution for safety and reduces soil compaction.

Videos of the trailer working have had over 33,000 views on YouTube from individuals all over the world. John is planning to launch the Stealth Kompactor 40 at the Grass & Muck event in Gurteen on 14 May and hopefully change silage making forever.

Graze Mate

Person: Neilus Murphy

Product: Drover – portable text gateway

Category: Manufacturing

Contact details: www.grazemate.ie tel 0872788040

Graze Mate Drover is a new labour-saving device that every dairy farmer will want. Designed by former dairy farmer Neilus Murphy from Cork, it is a mobile gate that is operated by a mobile phone.

The farmer sets the system up at the gate of the paddocks the cows are grazing. He then can send a text message to open the gate before milking to let the cows in and also text to tell it to close when the cows are let out.

It is especially useful when farmers are letting cows out to the paddocks in batches – for instance, when they are testing or for AI.

The Graze Mate system can also operate through a clock on the machine that can be set around milking times.

The product has a telescopic boom that extends up to 3.6m. If needed, bigger gaps are closed with a spring- loaded tape that extends to 10m. The Drover also has a buzzer to alert the herd that the barrier is open.

Neilus first entered the idea in the JFC innovation awards in 2013. Since then he has developed the concept and won the top prize in the Toplink innovation awards at the National Ploughing Championships. As part of the prize, he went to the LEMMA show and won another award there.

He has already sold 100 and his website www.grazemate.ie has just gone live, allowing farmers to look at the product and buy direct. The Drover is priced at €695 +VAT. It comes with two rechargeable batteries. The only ongoing cost is for the sim card in the device to ensure there is credit to send texts as it texts you back to confirm the gate is open or closed.

Neilus has identified a distributor in Britain, Kiwi Kit. Helped by Enterprise Ireland, he also has plans to launch the product in New Zealand at the Fieldays event in June. He received a grant of €20,000 from the county enterprise board and has funded the development from bank loans and personal funds.