Ace xl Semi Auto Twintub Washing Machine

Press Kit

Unique Properties

Iconic & Suggestive Directional design
Distinct lids for wash and drying.
Round wash area for better cloth movement.
Asymmetric boat shape & visible wheels for suggested mobility, flexiblity & ergonomics.
First in market unibody color scheme.
Tinted transparent lids with a chrome finish touchpoint give a hi-tech & premium feel.
Which makes it look large capacity & not bulky at the same time.
3d Lint filter with trifolded large filter area
Safe & Robust made by a rust free & shock proof 100% plastic body

Dimensions & Packaging

890mm x 510mm x 960mm

Tags

Mobility, Intutive, Tactile, Asymetric, Semiautomatic, Iconic, Directional

Production Technology

This design is a meeting point of accurate consumer insights being addressed by out of the box thinking.
High value for money is created innovative solutions & optimum material, manufacturing and technology application.
With the product belonging to an opening price point segment it is very cost sensitive both in terms of material process & assembly.
It demands frugally driven innovations, simple technology & robust application.
All the competing machines in the market are also plastic but their form as still what a metal construction would demand. This design pushes the properties of the material involved to its full potential - this design has utilised plastic moulding to achieve its unique form and functionality. Due it the large size of the injection molded body its tool design went under a lot of deliberation to optimise cycle time, flowmark reduction.
This design is the result of the pursuit of simplicity. A lot of time has been devoted to subtracting & simplifying. The form & details are fine tuned & optimised to complement and enhance the use of material and finishes for aesthetic refinement, cleanibality and robustness. This harmony between material, form & processes brings about the highest level for craftsmanship, user satisfaction & expression of quality. To achieve this a lot of preemption was dedicated to the materials and details, assembly, packaging, transport & installation.

Design Challenge

Cost sensitivity, conservative mindset of the consumer segment were the main constraints for this trailblazing vision. To make this vision a reality was a calculated risk for the business leaders, a formidable optimisation challenge to the engineering and manufacturing team and test of persistence for the design team.
These intangible challenges were overcome by the passion and commitment to this design vision and the consumer benefit by all stakeholders at Whirlpool.

Project Duration

The project started in Gurgaon in Q2 2016 and product was launched in October 2017. Design work was done at the India head office where the India design studio is situated. Location of production is at the Whirlpool plant in Pondicherry.

Operation Flow

It is a Semi Automatic twin tub washing machine. It has 2 tubs for washing and drying. The twin tub arrangement reduces costs and adds flexibility with 2 simpler & cheaper motors & an added advantage of washing & drying 2 loads of clothes at the same time.
It has a linear operation divided into 4 steps by 4 electro mechanical knobs which control wash intensity, wash time, drainage and filling of the washtub & to set time for the spin dry cycle.
It also has an inbuilt water selector mechanism at the connection port for the water supply pipe. It directs water to either the wash tub or the spin tub. For washing, the machine needs to be plugged in & powered ON, the water selector diverted to the washtub Once the water is filled half way and the water churning, detergent can be added. Clothes to be added after the detergent is fully dissolved in the water. The clothes need to be put into the round wash tub filled with water via its pipe connected to a tap or with a bucket.
Wash action intensity needs to be selected with the first knob and wash time selected with the second knob. Setting the time also starts the wash cycle. Depending on the time can be reduced to the wash cycle. Once the dirt from the clothes is dissolved in water it can be drained with the turn of the drain knob. For rinsing, the Wash tub needs to be refilled and the wash timer winded for a cycle without adding detergent to rinse the clothes. for drying, the rinsed clothes need to be transferred to the spin dry drum, mildly compacted, to fit in . The water needs to be diverted to spin drum via the water sellector mechanism. After closing the safety lid and therafter the main lid, the timer knob can be winded to determine the spin time. After the spin cycle clothes are 90% dry, rest of drying needs to be done on the clothes line. The entire process is open to customisation and adjustment on the go.
The wash process is very similar to a hand washing without the undesirable aspect of mundane labour.

Research

This product completely changes the way a semi automatic washer is used in the consumer home.
It is Iconic, unique & one of a kind not only in india but the world over.
It addresses the primary pain points of the consumer's lifestyle.
It has remained & become more relevant over time.
The Ace Xl is the culmination of many insights that are deeply attached to the core interest of washing clothes.
These insights range from consumers emotions, living conditions & finer nuances of the wash process.
Low level of disposable income creates High cost sensitivity in this segment.
This consumer is faced with scarcity of basic amenities like water and electrical supply.
This lifestyle creates needs from a huge spectrum of perspectives ranging form the type of clothing, dirt levels, larger laundry loades & tough conditions of use and storage.
This consumer segment lives in Dense, compact and organically grown housing where there acute space constraint which does not permit a fixed location to anything in the household.
In the case of a washing machine, constant need for mobility exists due to the lack of dedicated space for storage of the machine, water + power supply and operating space.

Its Asymmetric boat-like directional design with visible wheels connotes much needed easy mobility.
Distinct wash and spin dry lids is very intuitive to make te task at hand feel simpler.
The boat shape makes the wash tub almost round increase clothes movement and wash performance.
This intuitive and dedicated design makes it distinct amongst the other box shaped machines in the market.
It’s body is kept 100% plastic with minimum joints and crevices making it dust and dirt resistant, rust free and shockproof making it robust and easy to maintain.
The unibody colour scheme was created to be easy to clean & blend in the environment so as to not look out of place wherever it is placed.

The project began with looking into all aspects of daily life of this consumer segment.
A dedicated internal team created the methodology and closely guided the deployment by external research agencies.
Along with digging for practical insights of laundry activities, insights related to indirect factors such as lifestyle, habits and culture were also extensively observed and researched.
Conscious compassion and empathy for the consumer took the research to a new level to provide insights never expressed nor identified before.
Once this unique design solution was complete a pan-Nation user research and assessment survey was conducted to
Cover and validate the key insights and product offering in the huge spectrum of cultural and geographical diversity of india.
Full size prototypes and focus group discussions helped to clarify and consolidate the key insights.

This design has become the backbone of the semi automatic business of Whirlpool of India.
It has provided a strong foundation & core that a successful history & the future can be created based on it.

Inspiration

This is an opening price point product.
It’s consumer is a first time buyer, migrating from hand to Machine-wash.
For this consumer a washing machine is an investment that transforms their lives by eliminating mundane manual labour.
Design can be truly impactful in this segment.
Living condations for this consumer segment are not organised & streamligne, posing a daily chalange. ACE XL is designed for constant adaptation. Simplicity & Mobiltiy fill gaps in the flow of tasks to ease & improve functional aspect of daily life.

Image Credits

Renderings and Visulasation - Vishwaksen Shekhawat

Patents

Application No. 293465
Filed on 09.05.2017
File name - Washing Machine

Colors of Ace xl Semi Auto Twintub Washing Machine

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