Limerick company goes global with suitcase weighing device
A NEW company in Murroe has gone global. Noel Regan and Pat Madigan launched their innovative suitcases with a built-in weighing device on December 12. Flylight, which is based in Abington, secured sales of €10,000 in the run-up to Christmas and has had enquiries from as far away as Thailand, Singapore and Australia.
Mr Regan thought they had missed the Christmas market, but the orders have been flooding in on their website.
"It far exceeded our expectations as we thought we had missed the Christmas market. Over three-quarters of the sales were in Limerick. It's all word of mouth," said Mr Regan.
He said the reaction from people had been positive and people wondered how it had not been thought of already.
"The general reaction has been: 'What a unique idea and why wasn't it done already?' I met one man who flies quite regularly over and back to England. He has a handheld luggage scales which has a hook at the end of the scales. He takes it with him when he flies to weigh in his bag. He was travelling back last week and the airport security cut the hook off the end of it," said Mr Regan.
The best inventions are the most practical ones, and Mr Madigan and Mr Regan said they came up with Flylight on a return Ryanair flight from Shannon in 2008.
"At check-in we saw people frantically transferring clothes, duty free, presents from one bag to another and even throwing away things because their bags were overweight. We wondered was there a business opportunity that hadn't been exploited yet? Would it be possible to incorporate a weighing device into a suitcase that would inform the passenger, instantly, the exact weight of the case," said Mr Madigan.
Most European airlines charge up to €15 per kilo, or part thereof, if a bag exceeds 15kgs for checked baggage or 10kgs for cabin baggage. Mr Regan said this situation will be exacerbated when passengers have to cary out their own check-in in the future.
Their solution was to design a luggage case to carry approximately 15 kilos suitable for the hold of the plane, and a second case that would carry 10 kilos and fulfill the size dimensions that most airlines allow for carry-on luggage. These would incorporate an integral weighing device to avoid the stress of weighing at the airport and having to throw items away or buying a handheld luggage scales.
Mr Regan and Mr Madigan, who were supported in starting up Flylight by Limerick County Enterprise Board and Ballyhoura Development, have been nominated for an award in the 2010 JFC Innovation Awards.
The luggage can be bought on their website www.flylight.ie or by calling 061-625910. The set of two suitcases in navy, red or charcoal grey costs €79.99.
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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