DESIGNA: German Engineering Creates a Technology Leader in Parking Management

Driven by innovation and committed to staying at the forefront of technology, DESIGNA has become a global technology leader in parking management systems, is now one of the fastest growing providers in the US and the world.

It was just over 60 years ago that DESIGNA was founded in the city of Kiel, northern Germany. With a workforce of only three, back then the company was known as “Deutsche Signal- und Werbemittelgesellschaft mbH” (“German Signal and Advertising Company”). Today, DESIGNA’s parking systems are used in the management of parking facilities across the globe, from Germany, France and Italy, to Australia and the UK, to the United States. More than 15,000 systems have been installed so far, with two more added every day. DESIGNA’s customers include hotels, hospitals and municipalities, as well as airports, shopping malls and private facility operators.

DESIGNA’s story is one of continuing success and growth. In 2015 alone, DESIGNA was able to expand its business significantly and can now access new markets in the US through its twelve American Business Partners located across the country. These partners have a wealth of experience in fully integrated, state-of-the-art parking systems.

The parking business is changing, with new opportunities arising all the time – opportunities that bring with them new possibilities. With a focus on continual enhancement of its systems and a strong development team, DESIGNA has a successful history of bringing ever more complex and intelligent solutions to market, establishing a clear reputation as an innovative company and a technological leader in its sector.

This is the position that DESIGNA intends to continue occupying in the future. Where the focus used to be on barriers and automatic pay stations, DESIGNA now offers customized and integrated systems that not only provide top-quality parking management services but also enable a variety of sales and new business opportunities for operators. For example, DESIGNA is the only manufacturer thus far to have successfully operated worldwide systems with a genuine cloud-based service. These systems, which have been up and running for more than seven years now, cover more than 90,000 parking spaces and offer 99 % availability via a centralized, highly secure server.

Furthermore, with DESIGNA'S new patented Beacon-based “qinkk” app, operators are given the ability to communicate directly with their “anonymous” short term parker customers. In the future, such customers will be able to drive in and out without a ticket using their smart phone, and also pay at the pay station without needing to register in advance. This will apply to all parking facilities that have installed Beacons (Bluetooth low-energy transmitters) in their equipment.

The qinkk app is available for iOS and An-droid. You can find out more about qinkk by visiting www.qinkk-app.com.

About DESIGNA

In 1951 DESIGNA became Germany's first producer and supplier of parking meters. DESIGNA's history of innovation continued. At the end of the seventies, the Kiel-based enterprise was able to to introduce its first fully automatic parking system. The company's programme has now been further developed to encompass fully comprehensive solutions, from the design and planning phase right through to the installation and service of fully automatic parking systems. The experience DESIGNA has acquired over the last 50 years continues to benefit customers at every stage of the project.