The Wescor Vapro and
Colloid Osmometers
New Generation, New Design
For the design of their new generation vapor pressure and colloid osmometers, Wescor, once again, turned to IDE for the design research, industrial design, component packaging, mechanical design, solids and surfacing CAD modeling, and product branding. IDE's design team worked seamlessly with Wescor's internal development team to create the new generation Vapro and Colloid Osmometers, strengthening Wescor's position as the worldwide market leader for laboratory osmometry.
Conceptual development included a thorough review and analysis of the Wescor's previous osmometers with respect to ergonomics, usability,
aesthetics, and manufacturability. IDE's design team developed several possible packaging concepts for all internal components including
electronics, fluidics, and Wescor's proprietary pressure stack mechanism.
Based on ergonomic and human factors considerations, IDE's design team recommended a motorized implementation for managing sample processing and collaborated with Wescor's mechanical engineering team on its development (Wescor concentrating on the internal motorized mechanism and IDE concentrating on the external, user interaction elements).
All In The Family
In parallel with Vapro design, IDE's design team also began work on its sister product, the Colloid Osmometer, creating an industrial design
that presented a strong family product identity and some shared component packaging and enclosure tooling commonality.
The design process for the Colloid was similar to the Vapro; however the Colloid required unique solutions for its fluidics, sample processing and user interaction.
IDE's design team also developed the design, layout and artwork for each instrument's keypad-display assembly, branding and overall color schemes.
The Vapro and Colloid designs are two recent examples of ten years of successful product design collaborations with Wescor dating back to the
design of the RDT800 ruggedized handheld data terminal completed in 1999.
