New
soap-free washing machine stirs up a bit of a lather
This material has been produced by the Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ)
under contract to the Ministry of Education. It has been written to assist teachers
and schools in their delivery of the technology/ hangarau curriculum statements.
The project is jointly coordinated by personnel from the Technology Education
New Zealand (TENZ)
and National Association of Māori Mathematicians, Scientists and Technologists
(NAMMSAT) networks. Monitoring and evaluation of the material is carried out
by a national project advisory group.
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News
News coming out of Japan late in 2001 highlighted a bitter dispute between
the Sanyo corporation, makers of a new soap-free washing machine, and
the Japan Soap and Detergent Association (JSDA).
The new machine, which is now available on the Japanese domestic market,
does away with the need to use detergent by using ultrasonic wave filled
air bubbles and an "electrolysis system box". This contains activated
oxygen and hypochlorous acid to clean and disinfect the clothing as it
is being washed.
However, promotional material from the manufacturers promising specific
cost savings from using the new machine, has been challenged by the JSDA.
It argues that 1kg of laundry on the machine's "no detergent cycle" costs
9.6 yen (NZ$0.19), while using the "detergent cycle" costs only 6.3 yen
- including the cost of the detergent. The JDSA also claims that its testing
shows that the soap-free cycle causes clothes to lose their colour and
shape easily and that polyester fabrics that tend to stain are not cleaned
as well as with detergent use.
The washing machine company have countered these claims by stating that
its own tests show that fading and wearing of clothes on the non-detergent
cycle was within industry standards for all washing machines. They emphasise
that they do not claim that detergent isn't necessary and point to the
fact that the machine also has a detergent-using cycle. The new machine,
they contend, is based on the concept of giving the customer more choice
- not having to use detergent when it is felt that the clothes to be washed
are only lightly soiled.
Despite the controversy, the machine - which retails for around NZ$2500
- has been very successful in its first year on the Japanese domestic
market. An export model is not planned at this stage due to the influence
that differing levels of water hardness would have on the electrolysing
process.
Ideas for classroom use
Washing of clothes is one of the most basic of world-wide human needs.
It is a process which has a huge number of stakeholders and in which there
is a constant drive for commercial innovation in order to improve performance
and therefore market share.
This dispute illustrates the impact that new developments can have on
the balance of an existing market. Faced with the potential major threat
to their industry, the Japan Soap and Detergent Association have reacted
quickly in an attempt to discredit the claims made by the manufacturers
of the new machine. Economic efficiency and performance quality issues
have been highlighted in a bid to weaken consumer confidence.
Students could explore the stakeholder issues in greater detail and identify
the related key factors.
Other innovations which have met with similar stakeholder resistance
could be case studied.
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