Fit for washing; Human factors and ergonomic evaluations of washing machines

People do the laundry all over the world. About 500 million washing machines are in use at the moment. To reduce the heavy workload, washing machines were invented about 100 years ago. 50 years of innovations led to a reduction in water, energy and detergent consumption and the interface became easier to use. However, the overall usage of the...

Accelerating the Access to Automatic Washing for Low Income Market in India

Today there are more than 4 billion people in the world who still wash their clothes manually, using a time consuming and backbreaking process. Majority of these are from the low income but emerging markets like India. A wide range of washing machines of different machine manufacturers already exist in this market; But there are many...

A market entry strategy for HyperWash's hand-powered washing machine targeting low-income households in Gujarat

This master thesis concerns the design of a market entry strategy for a hand-powered washing machine by startup HyperWash in the state of Gujarat, India. This product is to offer an affordable alternative to the backbreaking and lengthy current manual laundry practice of many low-income Gujarati housewives. By doing so it fills the gap that the...

Designing a human-powered washing machine for Gujarat's lower middle class

Worldwide, roughly five billion people do not have the funds for purchasing an electric washing machine or the means (piped water and an electricity connection) to operate one. As a result, mostly housewives are left washing their clothes by hand. This is a labour-intensive and time-consuming task, commonly taking place on a daily basis. Not...

Internet of Things for Circular Economy: Design of a Pay-per-Use smart PSS eco-system

This thesis explores how Internet of Things (IoT) can support Circular Economy in its goal of decoupling economic development from finite resources consumption. This is made specifically in the context of products as services, using as the case of study the Pay-per-Use washing-machine service by startup company HOMIE. The machine is connected to...

Creating sustainable washing behaviour within a pay-per-use business model

This report focuses on the start-up company HOMIE B.V. (hereinafter refered to as “HOMIE”).<br/>HOMIE is a household appliance company, currently focused on washing machines, that provides its products through a pay-per-use model. Here the customer does not buy the product, but only pays a small fee for each time that the product is used.<br/>...

Design IoT Supported User Interventions for Sustainable Washing Usage

Nowadays, the increasing populations and the higher demands of human’s life are creating a high pressure on the environment. Laundry as a routine for all the families, requires a large number of resources especially with regards to its water and energy consumption. With the innovation in both the business model and IoT technology, HOMIE is...

Co-creating circular product-service systems for long-lasting washing machines

This paper presents the result of a co-creation and context mapping study amongst seventeen washing machines users. The users had widely varying experiences with products offered through alternative ownership models, including three who were active users of a washing machine with pay-per-use or monthly subscription model. Through the co-creation...

The Future of Washing as a Service in a Circular Economy

Bundles is a Dutch startup that is working on developing circular propositions by offering products on a subscription model. Bundles already offer high-quality Miele washing machines on a “pay per wash” model to consumers. However, high lifecycle costs hinder the competitiveness of the business. This high cost is a result of the product (washing...

Improving the environmental impact of the washing machine product-service system by Coolblue

In 2019 over 670000 new washing machines(WMs) were purchased in the Netherlands (Statista, 2020). With a WM ownershiprate of 98%, the Dutch people have one of the highest WM ownership percentagesin the world (Laitala et al., 2018). In the traditional business model (BM)these WMs will be used, discarded and recycled. In order...

The Impact of Co-Creation on the Design of Circular Product-Service Systems: Learnings from a Case Study with Washing Machines

Designers play an important role in service transformation and the development of product-service systems by applying co-creation methods. This paper presents a case of how we applied co-creation in practice and the impact this has had on developing a circular product-service system. It details the method used in the co-creation process and...

Washing as a Service - Quantifying the Environmental Impact of a pay-per-use washing machine through Life Cycle Assessment

In order to live more sustainably on this planet, the world’s population needs to transform the current take-make dispose society towards a society with more maintainable consumption patterns and more sustainable business models. A way to achieve this, is a circular economy in which value is maintained within the product cycle, by sharing,...

Circular PSS: IncreasingConsumer Acceptance through a Rewarding Digital Brand Experience: A rewarding digital brand experience & strategy to help increase consumer acceptance and engagement towards the circular product service system of washing machines from ASKO

One of the key business models Gorenje andASKO have researched upon is a service model of circular washing machine under a pay per use (PPU) business model. PPU business models are currently mostly used within shared washing rooms, which is also the segment in which ASKO will enter withtheir first circular washing machines. However, even though...

Enhancing Energy Efficiency and Sustainability in Healthcare: Implementing a Heat Exchanger for Carbon Footprint Reduction

This paper addresses the urgent need to optimize the GreenCycl facilities energy utilization, by harnessing heat from the effluent of three thermal washing-disinfection machines into the preheating of cold clean water. Currently for every washing-disinfection cleaning program, 60 times a week, 105 liters of water with a temperature of 60 \degree...