revolutionising the shredder industry
Services
- Ergonomic design
- Rapid prototyping
- Interface design
- Aesthetic refinement
- 3D modelling
- Concept generation
Sector
- consumer
Client
Awards
Leitz is a market-leading German office product brand. OPD has partnered with them on numerous successful products including laminators, shredders, and accessories. The IQ OptiMax shredder marks a new chapter -introducing a globally patented rotating bin mechanism to maximise capacity and elevate performance.
Leitz set out to reimagine the office shredder - an everyday tool ripe for innovation. The aim was to create a product that disrupted expectations, both visually and functionally, while remaining rooted in the Leitz design language.
At the core of this was the development of Bin Rotation Technology (BRT) - a mechanism that offsets the cutter and rotates the bin, preventing shredded paper from forming a peak and unlocking up to 33% more bin capacity without increasing the device footprint.
OPD’s challenge was to package this innovation into an elegant, manufacturable form - communicating function through design while coordinating seamlessly with global manufacturing partners to maintain design integrity from concept to tooling.
Building on Leitz’s established VBL, we created a form that clearly signalled this was no ordinary shredder. Early CAD-defined architecture allowed us to explore a wide range of aesthetic directions through sketching, collaborative reviews, and rapid form model prototyping.
Small-scale 3D models helped the team and stakeholders assess proportions and usability early on. Once direction was set, we developed A-surface CAD with careful attention to part splits, assembly methods, and factory capabilities - ensuring a smooth transition to DFM and tooling.
We worked closely with Leitz’s manufacturing teams in China, supporting iterative reviews and adjustments to preserve the design vision through final production.
Performance and user experience were equally critical. The final product delivers DIN P5 micro-cut shredding, 120 minutes continuous runtime, anti-jam auto-reverse, and smart LED status indicators. The circular housing is compact and mobile - making it well-suited to both home offices and shared environments.
Our design challenge was not just to house these features - but to express them clearly and confidently through the form, while elevating perceived quality and ease of use.
The IQ OptiMax shredder was launched to acclaim - receiving multiple design awards including the German Design Award and BOSS New Product of the Year. It exceeded sales expectations across EMEA, broke into new retail channels, and introduced a new benchmark in the category.
The success of this design led to the rollout of multiple models across different price points, all featuring BRT. Its elegant form, intuitive UI, and high-security specs helped cement Leitz’s reputation as a true innovator in workplace tools.
OPD’s long-standing relationship with Leitz helped deliver not just a product, but a platform - blending engineering precision, brand storytelling, and tangible user benefits
Senior global product manager, Acco
The OptiMax project was conceived to disrupt the market. Our ambition was to create a product that looked, felt, and performed unlike anything else available. The core idea was elegantly simple: rotate the bin and offset the paper feed to prevent shredding from forming a peak inside the bin. This allows users to shred significantly more sheets before emptying is required. Following extensive engineering development and a strong marketing launch, OptiMax entered the market with no true competitors able to match its sheet-capacity performance. The response was exceptional - listings and sales exceeded expectations, breaking internal records and earning multiple awards in a remarkably short period of time.
We attribute this success to genuine innovation and a bold new design, delivered while overcoming significant technical challenges including bin illumination, a new user interface, and removable round bins. The product performed so effectively that the technology has since been expanded across multiple models at different price points and successfully integrated into our Auto Feed range
It was great to continue our long relationship with the Leitz brand, developing the Leitz VBL further and to have the product so well received in the market.
