PART 1 - HOW IT BEGAN
Flink has established itself globally as a hub of creative innovation and a dependable manufacturer of high-quality consumer goods in the industrial, medical, and sports sectors.
What were the initial steps?
Curdegn Bandli and Remo Frei, bonded since school through shared mountain excursions, embarked on different academic journeys: Curdegn pursued Mechanical Engineering at ETH Zurich, while Remo studied Industrial Design at the School of Applied Arts.
Convinced that engineers and designers should collaborate from the outset, they, along with David Jenny, united for their final thesis at ETH.
With a vision for an ergonomically optimized battery-operated tool system, inspired by Remo's father Ruedi, a construction foreman with hands-on experience, they not only persuaded ETH and ZHDK of their integrated approach but also clinched the Dyson Student Award.
2004 INTEGRAL
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Curdegn and Remo prepare for their ISPO presentation with strong support from family and friends.
The backpack system resonates with the current trends, allowing the young developers to engage in deep discussions with project managers, CEOs, and designers from top outdoor brands like Deuter, Mammut, Arcteryx, Ortovox, Salewa, and Millet.
However, the initial enthusiasm gradually diminishes in subsequent conversations. It turns out that the innovative backpack system diverges too much from established solutions, leading brands to see significant challenges and risks in developing a market-ready product from this idea.
2004 INTEGRAL
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
INSPIRED BY THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN CURDEGN, DAVID, AND REMO, ETH AND ZHDK HAVE CONTINUED THE INTEGRATED PROJECT COLLABORATION TO THIS DAY THROUGH DESIGNTECHLAB.CH
The next year, Remo aimed to revolutionize the backpack market in his thesis by tackling the limitations imposed by shoulder straps and waist belts with an ergonomically optimized design.
He developed a functional prototype featuring an innovative shoulder carrying system, decoupled by a ball joint.
Following rigorous development efforts, with Remo's mother contributing to the textile production, the backpack equipped with the FlexibleLINK system garnered multiple awards, including the Dyson Student Award, a nomination for the Swiss Design Prize, and the Ispo Brand New Award.
2004 INTEGRAL
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
FLINK - COMPREHENSIVE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TO COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
Full of determination, Curdegn and Remo decide to showcase the functionality of a backpack with the FlexibleLINK system to the world.
They establish the company FLINK. Curdegn travels to Taiwan to find suitable manufacturers. Remo focuses on further developing the backpack system and later also travels to Asia to integrate the textile components and, together with Curdegn, fine-tune the plastic parts on-site.
After about a year of intense development, industrialization, and sourcing efforts, Curdegn and Remo are financially stretched but have two convincing and production-ready prototypes in their luggage.
2004 INTEGRAL
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
FLINK SOLUTIONS
Flink is developing and producing challenging and outstanding products since 2004.
We look forward to our cooperation, please do not hesitate to contact us.