Raymond Dobbe, CEO and Founder of Greenbox and Owner Manager Programme alumni, has received industry recognition for his groundbreaking and industry-shaking business Greenbox Self-Storage.
They have beaten tough competition to win the Innovation Award at the Australasian Self-Storage Association Awards in Melbourne.
Dobbe says the company has helped turn the idea of traditional self-storage buildings in New Zealand “on its head” as Greenbox eliminates the need for rushed packing or renting an expensive van, truck or removal company. With its “Green Machine”, Greenbox takes a large storage unit to a customer’s home, reverses the unit up their drive where it is safe and secure and provides each customer with up to seven days to load their house, or part of it, into the unit.
Portable self storage is not a new concept, but with the help of Greenbox’s Green Machine, Raymond says he is confident it is now a safer and more convenient option “than anything else in the marketplace”.
The Greenmachine with its very different “u shaped” chassis and “in front” suspension design was an idea conceived by Raymond after he saw many different portable concepts in the USA and a couple on a smaller scale here in New Zealand. “Competing with similar offerings was just going to create a price war. "I had viewed the limited, self-storage options around the world and thought there had to be a better way – surely people should not have to walk up and down driveways carrying heavy boxes and furniture, then load them on a busy roadside where cars rush by an opportunists lurk? So I thought about a fork hoist that could comfortably drive on the road and manoeuvre a water-tight but breathable storage box all the way up the drive to where it is safe from opportunists.”
However, while the concept seemed simple in theory it was painstaking process to produce the final product and obtain certification for the road so it could tow a trailer with two additional “Greenboxes” as well. “We designed it from scratch and then made modifications so NZ Transport was happy to certify our creation for the road. It took a few refinements along the way and a while to find an enthusiastic Certifying Engineer who understood our vision - but we got there. We now have a fork hoist which is road registered and does 100mph!
