The Optiline Drencher is a revolutionary sheep vaccination gun used for the treatment of parasitic worms that enables farmers to drench more animals per hour with less operator fatigue and stress.

Designed by Simcro and Novartis Animal Health Inc, Optiline was awarded an Australian International Design Award in recognition of design excellence and was nominated for the top prize, Australian International Design Award of the Year. The Award was presented in Sydney yesterday.

Until now, sheep drenching systems have varied little in decades. With a vast array of benefits incorporated into this product, judges were particularly impressed by the significant improvement in user ergonomics enabled by the clever and considered design of the entire system.

“The Australian International Design Awards, a division of Standards Australia, recognises product design and innovation excellence. To win an Australian International Design Award, a product needs to demonstrate superior design and innovation across six criteria including innovation, functionally, visual appeal, quality and manufacturing, human factors and environmental sustainability,” said Australian International Design Awards program director Stephanie Pemberton.

“The Optiline sheep drencher is a great example of how design and innovation can enable significant benefit to the user.

The design team has managed to resolve a number of design challenges resulting in a product that is significantly more comfortable and easier to use as well as more efficient and cost effective,” she said.

Design features include:

• Universal design approach to cater for all hand sizes and strengths;
• Quicker dosing, enabling more animals to be drenched per hour with less operator fatigue and stress;
• Patented valve technology, preventing product wastage and air bubbles;