Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

We get nervous here just going to ATMs much less public johns.  You never know who's around and by the time you do there's usually no cops there to hear your screams . . .

I have seen/used just one high-velocity hand dryer here and it wasn't Dyson's.  Can't recall the brand name or the place I saw it, just that it looked rather like the usual type but had a high-bowered air blast that did the job quickly and relatively well.  There are other companies now manufacturing hand dryers claimed to dry your hands in as little as ten to fifteen seconds.  Most notable though was that the design of the machine I saw was totally uncomplicated and would only require two or three seconds to wipe clean. 

Dyson would have a hard time landing a deal with the city if the price on the Air Blade is not competitive with the more general type of hand dryer.  The finer points of the better mouse trap and the better hand dryer would probably go over the heads of most of the officials they'd have to pitch to but then again there's always bribery to fall back on when all else fails.

In any event, Dyson's design doesn't lend to easy clean up.  The folks tending to our subways and public areas though in no way lackadaisical about their work aren't much enthused by challenges so, again due to design, I think the Air Blade would suffer hit and miss maintenance.  Dyson would have to offer lowest possible cost plus strong assurances that maintenance is easy.

Best,

Venson

Re:  Airblade:  The Dyson annual report along with its Airblade, in the news.  Here.

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Is the article dated November 5, 2007 and/or May 11, 2007?  I'm inclined to believe it is May 11, 2007 and archived on November 5, 2007.   If that is the case, the information is for 2006 calendar year, not 2007.

Carmine D.

Carmine D.

If so, the dyson strategy, which is very costly [funding two new products with the same technology at the same time] back-fired.  No sales for the AirBlade, no test results, huge sunk costs for the product with no tangible benefits.

A better dyson business strategy is determining which one of the two new products is likely to be successful and profitable.  Then, go with the one.  Get the sales and profits from the product before undertaking a  spin-off product with the same technology.  Rather than taking dual risks and costs that both products may have dismal results leaving the company with double the sunk costs for 2 failed products.  

The dyson core business is vacuums.  Use the DDM in a new vacuum product and market it first and foremost, before using the "unproven" technology on an unrelated product [like a hand drier].  This gives the added benefit of reducing the retail price of the spin-off product [hand drier].  Why?  Much of the R&D costs of the DDM would be amortized and deducted over the life cycle of the new vacuum sales, making the costs [losses] for the spin off product less and potentially the profits more [if there are sales].  And another benefit, a lower retail price can be set for the spin-off product.   

Still another benefit of honing in on one product first for the new technology, is getting it to the market quicker.  This In turn gets the spin-off technology product to the market quicker too.  Plus, management has more knowledge,  based on the new technology experience, to decide if it will be profitable to bring the spin-off product to the market.   Plain and simple business common sense.

Carmine D.

We've had two Dyson Airblade units installed at the shopping mall near where I live. It's perfect for the site as the washroom in question is very small and the last thing you need is people in queues for the hand drier. Its digital motor is noticeably different in sound to the conventional type - you can hear it soft start and finish and as described, the airflow heats up within a few seconds due to the high velocity.

I've never seen the airblade units in need of an urgent clean - it looks like it'll be just fine being cleaned as part the daily routine. One point is that as long as the digital motor holds up, I'd imagine it'll give many more hours between servicing than a standard type. At the business centre where my office is, the shared washrooms regularly have hand driers where the heater element has failed. It can go a very long time before it is reported to someone and even longer before it's fixed.

http://www.dysonairblade.co.uk/why/case_studies/

Recent patent filings suggest that Dyson is continually looking to increase the efficiency of the manufacturing process with the digital motor to make the cost more competitive to a standard motor type. Reliability is important and I suspect that the DC12's 'phone home' feature was more about getting back usage reports 'in the field' than providing enhanced customer service - from what I can work out from the DC22 photos, they're no longer using this feature? Lastly, the sound levels need to be reduced as much as possible. I understand that the DC12s with digital motor have a 'turbo' power setting for this reason.

Very interesting that there appears to be two new airblade models in the pipeline. I wonder what the improvements might be? Cost could be one. A hand sanitizer could also feature - if you look up Dyson's peroxide making unit patent it suggests uses including a dishwasher, but also for hand sanitation. Although with regards to a germ control application (e.g. in hospitals) would this add any real benefit over existing wall mounted hand sanitizers? Maybe they can further improve the drying time; maybe they can further control the noise level.

One thing that is a little strange is apart from the Airblade now, why Dyson has not launched the DDM in a vacuum in the UK!?  After all it is where it all began mainly!

DC18