At the ANZ Canterbury Export Awards this month the Christchurch company was awarded the prestigious 'Deal of the Year Award' for the NZ$2 million trans-Tasman contract
Syft Technologies has been recognised by Export New Zealand for the sale of five Voice100s to the Australian Customs Service (ACS).
The Syft instruments were installed in Australian ports to monitor fumigant levels in cargo containers, creating a significantly safer work environment.
With the ability to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in real time, the Voice100 is uniquely effective for high-throughput production sites.
The potential fumigant detection export market for the Voice100 is substantial.
There are more than 1200 seaports in Europe alone, which collectively process more than 3.5billion tonnes of cargo every year.
With such large volumes of cargo, fumigant detection is a serious issue.
The United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods is studying the danger to unprotected dock workers from inhaling these chemicals.
In a recent report, they noted that, "even when [a cargo] unit has been ventilated after fumigation, traces of fumigant may escape from the packages and may accumulate in harmful concentrations during a longer lasting transport, thus endangering persons inspecting or unloading the cargo." The successful deployment of the Voice100s in Australia means that Syft Technologies will be able to leverage that experience in other international markets.
"The ACS sale enables us to demonstrate proof of capability to others in the freight forwarding industry," says Geoff Peck, chief executive officer of Syft Technologies.
"We are vehemently pursuing similar opportunities for the Voice100, and are presently in the early stage of negotiations with multiple major ports." Right now, Europe is a key focus for the company.
Product trials and demonstrations have taken place in several European ports over the last six months, and earlier in the year the company signed a distribution agreement with the leader in the Benelux spectrometry market, Interscience BVA.
Peck says, "This award means a great deal to us".
"The success of the first major, real-world deployment of the technology is a testament both to the scientists who developed it and the vision of ACS in adopting it." The Voice100's technology platform uses Sift-MS, or selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, to instantly and accurately detect minute traces of VOCs.
The Voice100 can be used for a wide variety of commercial applications, including environmental monitoring, food and flavour research, indoor air quality, fumigant detection, homeland security, petroleum exploration and medical and diagnostics research.
The technology has won several awards and accolades for Syft including Most Innovative Product at the 2004 NZ Hi Tech awards and Regional Emerging Exporter of the Year 2005.
Through a range of funding, including grants, private investors, and Canterprise (the commercial arm of the university), Syft has grown into a company that is now able to compete on an international scale.
