Here’s some changes regarding our packaging and shipping methods; as well as some information about our commitment to sustainable business and sport!
We’re committed to creating products with sustainability in mind, with particular emphasis on reducing our carbon footprint, as well as making ethical choices in all of our business practices.
Here’s a brief summary on how we’re tackling sustainability and accessibility in our product design and manufacturing in 2026.
Sustainable Design
We believe in a sustainable approach to business and technology, and we create our products with longevity and ease of repair in mind.
We intend for our products to evolve both into better products, but also into more sustainable products.
For example, with our Display Box we’ve already improved our previous product designs to make the manufacture and use of this product more eco-friendly;
- The Display Box is easy to take apart and repair. We can instruct customers on minor repairs with videos or written instructions. More major repairs may need to be undertaken by our repair team, but with an emphasis on repairing or replacing specific parts, not asking the customer to replace the whole product when a repair is possible. We also repair units past the warranty period, so that otherwise working condition systems are not needlessly discarded and replaced with new systems. For more information on our in-warranty, and out-of-warranty repairs, please see our “Repairs” page.
- Products that are scratched or damaged in some way, but are still in working condition, are sold to test clubs at a reduced rate, or are used as a demonstration system by us or our suppliers.
- The lithium iron phosphate battery in the Display Box is better both for the user experience (up to 60 hours of use on one charge, while on default settings), but also for the longevity of the product; the number of charge cycles is much greater than regular lithium batteries. We intend for clubs to be using these systems well into the future.
- Features like Bluetooth updates (or memory card updates on the Relay Box) reduce the product’s after-sale carbon footprint by not having to be returned to the manufacturer (or to be shipped additional parts) each time the FIE introduces a timing or rule change.
- The updates also allow older products to be used with newer products – for example, the Display Box is backwards-compatible with all Pocket and Piste Boxes already in clubs.
- Design decisions like making Epee cords compatible with our Relay Boxes. It seems intuitive now, but our original design decisions were considering the pros and cons of different connectors. We chose three-pronged connector wires so that customers could use any Epee wires they had spare, rather than buying additional, custom cords.
Our adherence to sustainable design principles is part of what earned our Display Box product an Australian Good Design Award in 2020. You can learn more about the Display Box’s sustainable design here: https://good-design.org/projects/enpointe-fencing-wireless-display-box/
People
Our wireless systems are designed and made in Australia. The workers who make our wireless scoring machines are paid fairly in accordance with Australian labour practices. All our staff are paid above the award wage, including interns. Superannuation (retirement savings fund), is paid to all (inc. interns) on top of wages.
All our employees are protected by Australian employment laws, and we follow and exceed all occupational health and safety requirements for the operating of machinery, as well as the handling of any chemicals. Any fencers testing equipment at our facility are required to wear full FIE safety gear (no shorts, sorry everyone!).
We’re also proud to have worked with talentbeyondboundaries, a charity that links refugees with businesses. In 2023-2024 we’ve sponsored an employee and their family fleeing global conflict, enabling them to work and live in Australia.
For our supply chain, we do our best to source parts locally – both because we’re confident in Australia’s employment rights, safety and pay practices, but also so we can reduce the carbon footprint of our products. Where we’re unable to source parts locally, we try to choose countries with secure employment practices that ensure workers’ rights.
While we’re doing our best to trace our supply chain as far as it goes, unfortunately some things, like where all the different kinds of metals in the 100+ electronic components in our products are mined, and the conditions those workers are in, is not something we as a small company are always able to trace. While we aim to make choices that are as ethical as possible, sometimes being a small business, with a low volume of products (especially when compared to big tech companies), means we’re limited in our ability to trace these supply chains. This is an area we’ve identified as a future sustainability target for our business.
We want the sport of fencing to be as accessible as possible, for as many people as possible. This led us to creating accessible features on our Display Boxes, such as the “colour friendly” display style on our Display Box, which displays red and blue directional arrows for on-targets, with differently-shaped directional off-targets lights, so that fencers and referees with red-green colour blindness can more easily see the scoring lights. Similarly, we created a sound library of different tones so that fencers with auditory processing, and general hearing difficulties could more easily identify the hit tone on their own piste. Especially in noisy environments with many other identical scoring machines. For more information about our accessibility feature, see our blog posts about vision impairment and hearing difficulties in fencing.
Animals
We don’t use animal based materials (like leather) in our products. All the glues used in our factory are from non-animal sources.
We dispose of all chemicals used in the manufacturing of our products (including glues, solders, etc.) in the manner outlined in the product factsheet, and in accordance with local council and state ecological recommendations. We also recycle electronics and batteries that our business uses rather than disposing of them with general waste. We’re committed to ensuring these chemicals don’t enter the natural environment, and that the plants and animals that we share our planet with are not exposed to harmful post-business waste.
Planet
We’re also in the process of reducing our carbon and plastic packaging footprint. All of our packing materials (like bubble wrap or paper/cardboard) are re-used from packages that our business has received, if the packaging is in good condition. Currently orders of two or more systems are sent with recyclable cardboard, and smaller orders are sent in home-compostable mailing satchels. In 2026, we intend to offer compostable packaging options at checkout for no extra fee. Once our previous stocks of packaging are depleted, compostable packaging will be the default option.
We also have been sending shipments with carbon-offset, where the courier allows (if you’ve bought a system in the last three years, you may have seen the “GoGreen” option that we selected on your shipment label). We’re in the process of moving couriers for all parts of the world to be covered by this carbon-offset shipping. This is also at no extra cost to our customers.
More Information
We’re still on the way to becoming a more sustainable and eco-friendly business, but we hope that the changes we’re making now, coupled with our business’ approach to sustainable design principles for all of our products, can make a positive impact on our company’s carbon footprint, and by extension, the global impact of the sport of fencing.
We’ve added the above information so that customers can make a more informed consumer choice. However, if you don’t find the information you’re looking for here, please don’t hesitate to ask us – by email or via any of our social media – if you’d like to know something specific about how we’re approaching sustainable business practices. We’re always happy to answer as completely and honestly as we can.
Thanks for joining us on our journey towards a more sustainable business, and a more sustainable sport!