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Be Disruptive to be Successful

Keeping an eye further afield

We all understand the impact of James Dyson's idea for a bagless vacuum cleaner on the vacuum market and the origin of the design. His use of industrial air filtration techniques is well documented, while the consequence of that shift from conventional vacuum design is a lesson in disruptive technology: a technology completely reinventing a product, and in doing so, turning the market on its head.

Innovations such as this come from creative thinking and the ability to redefine how something works by utilising elements from a more diverse technology source. Sanyo is currently at the forefront of detergentless washing machines. Its AQUA machine is a drum type washer/dryer that uses limited water with ozone bubbled through it to clean clothes. The company realised that ozone, long used industrially to kill bacteria through oxidisation, has the power to eliminate odours and break down dirt in clothes, while also saving water and eliminating the use of conventional detergents. AQUA contains and reuses the water and ozone multiple times making it environmentally friendly on multiple levels.

Just imagine what is the next step for ozone use in the home, a cistern-contained toilet cleaner or even carpet and fabric cleaning devices that utilise its unique properties?