ifm flow meter successful at Red Dot Design Award
The SM Foodmag magnetic-inductive flow meter from ifm wins the Red Dot Design Award 2025. The sensor for the food industry impresses with a reduced set-up time and an easy-to-read graphic display. For ifm, this is the next success in a design competition within a few weeks.
The demands of the food and beverage industry are high: In the plants, strict hygiene standards and harsh operating conditions apply to ensure product quality and consumer safety. The SM Foodmag hygienic flow meter was specially developed for use in this industry and sets new standards: Thanks to the intuitive design, the sensor can be put into operation in less than 20 minutes - a status LED and the large full graphic display form the basis for this. ifm has attached great importance to the fact that the shape and surface characteristics enable easy cleaning. This complete package also impressed the jury of the Red Dot Design Award, with SM Foodmag receiving the prestigious quality seal this year.
SM Foodmag joins the ranks
The Red Dot Design Award is one of the most important prizes for industrial design. The “red dot” has been awarded since 1954, since 2001 with an English name due to increasing internationalisation. ifm has already been successful several times in the past: Products from the Essen-based automation company have already been honoured in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2023 and 2024, the PQ Cube pressure sensor for pneumatic applications being the latest winner. Only recently, ifm was honoured with the iF Design Award for the PQ Cube and the moneo Track & Trace software.
Convincing workmanship and user guidance
“The SM Foodmag impresses with its excellent workmanship and intuitive user guidance, which significantly simplifies installation and process monitoring,” says the Red Dot jury in its statement. This is no coincidence: At ifm, design is considered right from the start of the development process. “The purist design and the focus on conveying information via the display and LEDs are striking and concise features,” explains Martin Schmidt, Senior Industrial Designer Industrial Design & Innovation Strategy at ifm. The SM Foodmag thus joins other products such as the TCC Transmitter and the SU ultrasonic sensor in terms of design.
It is not a long way for the ifm team to this year’s Red Dot Design Award ceremony. It will take place on 8 July at the Aalto Theatre in Essen. Then the awarded companies can receive their Red Dot Trophy.