WHAT INNOVATION MEANS FOR APPLIANCES

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS FOR APPLIANCES

 

Dyson is recognised internationally as an innovative company. However, we tend to think of ourselves more as an 'inventive company'.

Over the past 20 years James Dyson has been re-designing our everyday appliances, and because of this we have a different approach to other manufacturers. Instead of looking at what already exists and how it can be improved upon, we look at the function we expect from the appliance and then determine the best way for that to be done.

For Dyson the obvious example of this is vacuum cleaners. They really did have a fundamental design flaw in the fact that they lost suction, when you consider that suction is the function of a vacuum cleaner. What James set about to do was determine how he could invent a machine that didn't lose suction, which he did with his patented cyclone technology. Another example, though perhaps less known because it didn't launch in Australia, was the Dyson Contra rotator. When it comes to washing clothes, the most effective way is hand washing - as the materials are flexed to help remove the dirt. Standard washing machines spin clothes around, so this flexing is not duplicated. Instead we created two tumblers that rotate in opposite directions. Thereby the clothes are wrung and twisted to duplicate the act of flexing the garments.

Our design philosophy is part of everything we do at Dyson; and it extends beyond just our products. Education in this area is something we take seriously and we're involved in many initiatives worldwide. In Australia we have the Australian Design Award-Dyson Student Award and each year we see some amazing concepts from these students. Our most ambitious project is the Dyson School of Design Innovation, a joint initiative with the UK Government, that will open in 2010. Of our 500 design engineers in the UK, the majority are straight out of university; they are fresh out of their studies, willing to stretch the barriers of design using the skills they have learned. We have seasoned engineers, including James, who oversee their work in an informal environment.

All our designs are created in the UK. We then manufacture in Asia before distributing to 46 countries. Over 80% of our sales come from outside the UK, thereby we are generating great export income for our country. Australia was our first export market, and it continues to be a strong market for us because the Australian population perceive the value of quality design and are willing to invest in technology and innovation.

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