Enthusiasm spreads as the Team B students learn about the exciting technologies behind the small ear tags for animal identification in agriculture. The product life cycle of the ear tags is so simple and clear: manufactured in Bocholt, the tags leave the production site and can then be found on the ears of cows, pigs and sheep. When the livestock is slaughtered, however, the ear tags’ useful phase ends and they end up as hazardous waste. “It’s a shame for a product for which high-quality materials are used,” remarks Cornelia Nehls. She is the Managing Director of Caisley and would like the students to come up with ideas on how to recycle the ear tags sensibly.
On the other hand, there are some technical challenges. It quickly becomes clear that the knowledge from the various specialist disciplines that the students bring to the project is in demand across the board and the first ideas are not long in coming, even at the kick-off. Over the next eight weeks, the team would like to examine the problem from different perspectives in order to ultimately be able to provide Caisley International GmbH with a clear recommendation and ideas for development.