Redesign of an industrial air treatment product.

DEGREE PROJECT IN DESIGN AND PRODUCT REALISATION, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2019

Redesign of an industrial air

treatment product

BRITTNEY NICOLE ARTHUR CABRERA

KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Redesign of an industrial air treatment

product

Brittney Nicole Arthur Cabrera

Master of Science Thesis TRITA-ITM-EX 2019:289 KTH Industrial Engineering and Management

Machine Design SE-100 44 STOCKHOLM

Examensarbete TRITA-ITM-EX 2019:289

Omkonstruktion av en industriell luftbehandlingsprodukt

Brittney Nicole Arthur Cabrera

Godkänt 2019-06-20 Examinator Claes Tisell Handledare Stefan Ståhlgren Uppdragsgivare Ozonetech Kontaktperson Francesco Montecchio

Sammanfattning

Ozonetech är ett svenskt företag som utvecklar och marknadsför system och lösningar baserade på egen ozongenereringsteknik. Denna teknik används för att rena, desinficera och deodorisera luft och vatten, vilket ger fördelar för livsmedelsindustrin, fastigheter, kommersiella kök samt detaljhandel.

Genom detta projekt sattes en av sina lösningar för den kommersiella köksindustrin, RENA Kitchen, i fokus och betraktades för en redesignprocess. Målet var att förbättra visuellt och ur synvinkel av installation och användarupplevelse några aspekter som definierades av dess ursprungliga design.

För att göra detta upprättades två olika redesignsbanor eller tillvägagångssätt, vilket ledde till två redesignlösningar. Det första tillvägagångssättet innebar undersökningen av kabinlösningar på hylla som finns tillgängliga på marknaden där RENA Kitchen skulle kunna införlivas. Det andra tillvägagångssättet var en lämplig produktutformning, som följde 3 serier av divergerande och konvergenta steg där nya produktkoncept utforskades tillsammans med estetiska mönster.

Följande kapitel samlar in information om hela redesignprojektet, inklusive bakgrundsforskningen av huvudsakligen produkten och företaget; En studie av nya möjliga produktkoncept och förbättringar av originalet. En studie av tillgängliga designlösningar på marknaden som resulterade i lösningen utan hylla. och slutligen, en lämplig produkt omdesignar utvecklingen i linje med företagets behov och önskemål och andra relevanta personer, som användare och installatörer, vilket leder till den omdesignade lösningen. Under alla faser var det kontinuerligt flöde av möten med företaget, korta samtal med användare och installatörer, observationer på plats och produktinteraktion.

Båda resultaten är användbara lösningar för företaget beroende på deras korta eller långsiktiga planer, eftersom de föreslagna lösningarna har försökt att vara så i linje som möjligt ur estetisk synvinkel med vad företaget önskade och vad som passade bättre till miljön och dess interaktioner. Även om en djupgående utvärdering som presenteras i slutet visar att den omdesignade lösningen ger bättre resultat och effektivare uppnår det designmålet som fastställdes i början.

Ytterligare arbete måste göras för att etablera den nya designen på marknaden, men den utgör en utgångspunkt för företaget. Både resultaten och processen som följs kan initiera en kedjereaktion som gynnar förändringar i andra nuvarande produkter i företaget.

Master of Science Thesis TRITA-ITM-EX 2019:289

Redesign of an industrial air treatment product

Brittney Nicole Arthur Cabrera

Approved 2019-06-20 Examiner Claes Tisell Supervisor Stefan Ståhlgren Commissioner Ozonetech Contact person Francesco Montecchio

Abstract

Ozonetech is a Swedish company that develops and markets systems and solutions based on their own ozone generating technology. This technology is used to purify, disinfect and deodorize air and water, providing benefits for the food processing industry, real estate, commercial kitchens, as well as retail.

Through this project, one of their solutions for the commercial kitchen industry, the RENA Kitchen, was put in the spotlight and considered for a redesign process. The objective was to improve visually and from the point of view of installation and user experience some aspects that were defined by its original design.

In order to do this, two different redesign paths or approaches were established, leading to two redesign solutions. The first approach involved the study of off-the-shelf cabinet solutions available in the market into which the RENA Kitchen could be incorporated. The second approach was a suitable product redesign, following 3 series of divergent and convergent stages in which new product concepts were explored, together with aesthetic designs.

The following chapters gather information of the entire redesign project, including the background research of mainly the product and company; a study of new possible product concepts and improvements to the original one; a study of available design solutions on the market that resulted in the off-the-shelf solution; and finally, a suitable product redesign development in line with the needs and desires of the company and other relevant people, such as users and installers, which lead to the redesigned solution. During all the stages, there was a continuous flow of meetings with the company, short talks with users and installers, on-site observations, and product interaction. Both of the outcomes are useful solutions for the company, depending on their short or long-term plans, as the solutions proposed have attempted to be as in line as possible from the aesthetic point of view with what the company wanted and what was more suited to the environment and its interactions. Although an in-depth evaluation presented at the end makes it apparent that the redesigned solution offers better outcomes and achieves more effectively the design goal set at the beginning.

Further work needs to be done in order to establish the new design on the market, but it constitutes a starting point for the company. Both the results and the process followed can initiate a chain- reaction favoring changes to other current products of the company.

FOREWORD

I would like to thank both universities, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, for their agreement that allowed me to carry out my master’s degree Thesis abroad in such a prestigious and dedicated university as KTH. I have received great support from the Department of Machine Design, and more specifically, from my supervisor Stefan, to whom I am grateful for his guidance and patience during the whole project. Regarding UPM, I would like to thank Isabel and Ricardo from the International Office for making the Erasmus process easier and always offering useful information and good communication.

Of course, I would also like to thank Ozonetech for offering me this project and for ultimately giving me the chance and support to carry out all of the steps required. I was able to open myself up in the company and find a small space where creativity could flow. My supervisor Francesco had a big role in the project and was constantly present for any doubts or agreements that were to be made. I was encouraged to ask questions and take direct action regarding aspects of the product, which allowed me to achieve the results.

This personal project of carrying out my Thesis in another country would not have been possible without the unconditional support of my parents, who have always listened and helped me in the way they could from the distance. Thank you.

Brittney Nicole Arthur Cabrera Stockholm, April 2019

NOMENCLATURE

Abbreviations

HMI Human Machine Interface UV Ultraviolet

3D Three- Dimensional CAD Computer Aided Design

Table of Content

1.5 Methods and Tools ... 2

1.6 Scope and Limitations ... 4

2. BACKGROUND RESEARCH...5

2.1 Commercial Kitchens ... 5

2.2.1 Extract ducts... 5

2.2.2 Ozone Air Treatment ... 6

2.2 Product... 6

2.2.1 System... 6

2.2.2 Product Concept and Design... 9

2.2.3 Environment... 9

2.2.4 Installation and Maintenance ... 10

2.3 Company ... 10

2.3.1 Brand... 10

2.3.2 Desires ... 11

2.4 Research Conclusions ... 11

2.4.1 Installer and User experience ... 11

2.4.2 Insights ... 12

2.4.3 Product Requirements ... 13

2.4.4 Redesign Questions... 13

3. IMPLEMENTATION ...15

3.1. Redesign Answers ... 15

3.2 First Redesign Approach... 17

3.2.1 Supplier Research ... 17

3.2.2 Development ... 20

3.3 Second Redesign Approach ... 21

3.3.1 Product Concept... 21

3.3.2 Aesthetic Design ... 23

3.3.3 Concept Evaluation and Selection ... 26

4. RESULTS – FINAL DESIGNS...31 4.1 First Redesign ... 31 4.2 Second Redesign ... 32 4.3 Evaluation ... 36 5. DISCUSSION...41 6. CONCLUSIONS...44 7. REFERENCES ...45 8. FIGURES ...46 9. APPENDIX...47

Appendix A- Kitchen Ventilation Systems ...47

Appendix B- Ozonetech Brand Evaluation …...49

Appendix C- Sub-product Improvements... ...51

Appendix D- Mood Boards …...53

Appendix E- Form Exploration …. ...55

Appendix F- Design Platform ….. ...57

Appendix G- Customization Options.. …...75

Appendix H- Product Redesign Concepts …...75

Appendix I- Aesthetic Concepts……...77

Appendix J- Aesthetic Concept Evaluation ……...79

Appendix K- Other AURA Design Specifications …. ...81

1

1. INTRODUCTION

Products may be designed “from scratch” when an opportunity is identified in a certain market, or redesigned when a product that is already in the market is subjected to a series of modifications. There are many reasons for redesigning products (Smith, Smith and Shen, 2012). In general, the redesign of products and services is carried out by companies that want to position or maintain themselves in a certain market. Sometimes it is necessary due to several possible factors: a current design presents functionality problems; it may have certain aspects that make it not sell very well; or there may be a change in customer requirements, causing a company to lose money. In other cases, there is no actual problem, but a company decides to take on a redesign in order to increase the value of their product or service.

1.1. Ozonetech

Ozonetech is an award-winning, green-tech company that has offered products for air and water treatment through the use of ozone since 1993. They are a rapidly growing global company with facilities in six continents, while they still maintain development and manufacturing in Sweden. Ozonetech provides solutions for the food processing industry, real estate, commercial kitchens, and retail, amongst others.

1.2. RENA Kitchen

The RENA Kitchen is the product with which they have entered the commercial kitchen air treatment market. It is a system typically formed by three sub-products (see Figure 1)- the ONYX, ozone plate and cooling unit- that work together to produce ozone to treat air these spaces. The whole product is installed in the kitchen and, as depicted in Figure 1, it carries out the following process: the ONYX takes air from the kitchen and produces pure oxygen, which is transported to the ozone plate and injected in the ozone generator to produce ozone. The resulting ozone is then transported and injected into the kitchen air extract duct(s). Here the ozone interacts with the fat and odor molecules, reducing or eliminating them completely, and solving the problems that are derived from them and described further on. The system contains another sub-product that is optional, the cooling unit. Its function is to maintain an ambient temperature in the ozone generator while ozone is produced.

1.3. Problem description

At the beginning of the project, Ozonetech pointed out that the RENA Kitchen presented an overall appearance with which they were not happy. This was a result of the current design, and it also caused certain problems with the installation of the system and user experience of the product. They expressed these concerns in more detail as follows:

• Design: the product has been “designed by engineers, for engineers”, which has been the driver towards a very industrial appearance that does not fit well in the commercial kitchen environment.

• Installation: the installation of the product is very long and tedious. The entire product is made up of many components that are mostly installed directly on site (kitchen) in an individual manner. As suggested by them, it would be preferable to have it installed in an easier way, more as an entire product.

• User experience: the users, that is, the kitchen staff, do not understand the product and are afraid of interacting with it due to its complex look. A way to improve the user experience was defined as eliminating as much as possible all the visible RENA Kitchen components and maybe introducing an HMI, that is, a touchscreen.

1.4. Purpose

Ozonetech has a highly functional product, but on a design level it falls behind. The lack of a more developed product design affects the overall appearance of the product, its installation process, and user interaction, as described in the previous section.

The purpose of the project was to suggest an updated design for this industrial product that could solve as much as possible these aspects and constitute an improved version of the original design.

1.5. Methods & tools

The way of achieving a new design was done through two different redesign approaches. In this context, the term “approach” is defined as the way in which a solution to a problem is considered (eNotes.com, 2019).

At the beginning of the project it was decided that two different approaches were going to be adopted toward the redesign: a first approach, that consisted of studying a redesign solution based on products that already existed on the market; and a second approach, that consisted of offering a solution based on an actual product development. The reason for this was that the company initially wanted to explore the possibility of reaching a quick redesign solution that solved mainly the installation problems, and for this reason the first approach was ideated. Nevertheless, the focus of the project was the second redesign process.

Since two different approaches were going to be followed, two methods were thought of and used:

• 1st _{approach: no specific theoretical method was followed, but instead it was decided}

together with the company how to carry out this approach. The method that was developed is shown in Figure 2.

3

Final Design

Development

Supplier Research

Figure 2. Method followed in the first redesign approach This method is described further in section 3.2.

• 2nd _{approach: the overall methodology followed was the Metodología de Innovación}

Centrada en las Personas. In short, Metodología DBZ-MU. This methodology is based on “Design Thinking” to develop projects through 6 different stages, shown in Figure 3

Figure 3. Method followed in the second redesign approach

The stages are, from left to right, strategic search, exploration, ideation, development, implementation and launch. Each stage consists on an initial divergent semi-stage, followed by a convergent semi-stage. As described in Figure 4, the solutions are generated in the divergent part, whereas those which are the most adequate are selected in the convergent part.

Figure 4. Divergent and convergent stages of the second redesign method

Before these approaches were implemented, an initial background research was carried out, followed by defining some common aspects that had to be cleared to allow for the two approaches to begin. These aspects are described in more detail in section 3.

Finally, several tools were used throughout the project, and can be classified in the following way: • Information gathering: literature, interviews, observation

• Design thinking tools: mood boards, sliders, insight-gathering questions • Ideation tools: brainstorming, sketching

• Concept evaluation and selection: evaluation matrixes • Product 3D Modelling: Solid Edge ST10

• Product testing: fast prototyping,

• Product presentation: KeyShot, InDesign

1.6. Scope and limitations

The scope of the project was to propose two redesigns for one of Ozonetechs’ products, the RENA Kitchen. Two important boundaries were set at the beginning: first, that the product was not to be modified at a functional level; and second, that the three sub-products were not to be dismounted and taken apart in order to form one integrated product.

The project therefore had two main work areas- the first redesign, and the second redesign- and some aspects within them were not included in the scope of the project. These aspects should be further investigated if future development of one redesign or the other is chosen.

In both cases the final product will stay at a conceptual level, not reaching a functional prototype closest to a product, and the manufacturing methods will be investigated but a production scheme will not be developed. Since also in both cases an HMI would probably be included, what should be displayed in the screen would not be studied.

5

2. BACKGROUND RESEARCH

Background research had to be carried out in order to set a knowledge base upon which the project could build up. Some questions were determined before the research began in order to help focus the research:

• How does the product work?

• Why is the product the way it is? How is it installed? How is it perceived? • What does the company need/want?

These questions were answered mainly by literature reading, studying the product (both physically and through company theory), conversations with the company, and doing web searches, and helped establish the solid information base for the redesign.

The outcome of the research was a series of insights that lead to the identification of product specifications (DBZ, 2014). These had to be considered in the new design in order to satisfy the needs of the company/installers/users.

2.1.

Commercial Kitchens

This section provides information of the product that the RENA Kitchen treats, and explains the basic technology behind the RENA Kitchen.

2.1.1. Extract ducts

A typical kitchen ventilation system includes one or multiple hoods, most commonly called extract ducts, and one or multiple exhaust fans, see Figure 5 (Sobieski, 2019). The extract ducts provide areas where odors and grease can be extracted from the kitchen area, and they are normally installed over appliances that produce high levels of heats, such as stoves. Exhaust fans provide the airflow needed to keep the ventilated air moving, and they are usually installed on the roof or wall. More information is provided in Appendix A.

A common problem in restaurants is the presence of grease in the kitchens and extract ducts. Grease tends to accumulate on the surface of kitchen exhaust ducts and ventilation units, and creates several problems: it can be a fire hazard, since it is a fuel that can ignite during cooking; it generates bad odors if not cleaned properly and creates sweeping and cleaning costs; and it does not allow for heat recovery since a prerequisite for effective heat recovery is to have clean extract ducts and air handling units (Ozonetech, 2019). Having and maintaining proper restaurant ventilation can help employees and customers with benefits such as improved indoor air quality, cooling of ambient air, reduction of odors, removal of grease, reduced costs, etc. The RENA Kitchen is a system that is connected to the extract ducts in order to reduce the problems associated with grease through the use of ozone.

2.1.2. Ozone Air Treatment

There are several technologies, methods and products for treating air in extract ducts. Most of them are based on UV light (ultraviolet) because these lamps and systems can easily be purchased as a compliment to the extract duct, but there are also solutions based on ozone. The possibility of treating this air with ozone began not long ago but has become very important, positioning itself as a treatment that offers better results than UV, but at higher initial investment costs (Delozone.com, 2019).

To produce ozone, you need energy and oxygen. Energy comes from electricity, while the oxygen can be obtained from the ambient air or extracted from an oxygen generator (Ozonetech, 2019). The process to produce ozone is depicted in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Process of ozone generation. Lightning bolt symbolizes electricity.

By using ozone and oxidation, it is possible to efficiently reduce or completely remove fat, odors, contaminants and many other organic and inorganic substances with no, or very few, by- products. In the case of grease and cooking odors, they are reduced with ozone and neutralized into water, carbon dioxide and a small amount of dust that can be easily transported through the ventilation system without adhering to the extract and exhaust ducts (Ozonetech, 2019).

2.2. Product

This section gives essential information regarding the RENA Kitchen. Information gathering was done through the study of drawings, datasheets, hands-on investigation, and observation.

2.2.1.

System

The RENA Kitchen is system made up of three sub-products: the ozone plate, the ONYX (or oxygen generator), and the cooling unit. It is a complex product that requires different installation steps, and afterwards a series of maintenance steps. It is important to show the different sub-product

7

parts in order to understand the results of the redesign and some of the improvements that were made regarding these sub-products and the installation/maintenance steps (detailed further on).

The ozone plate consists of a mounting plate to which components are attached, see Figure 7.

Figure 7. Ozone plate module

It is important to mention that the ozone generator is the component in which the ozone is generated, and the control box is a PLC, a programmable logic controller, which controls all the processes that the system carries out. It contains visual indicators for the installers and is enclosed in a see-through plastic box.

Ozonetech has developed two possible configurations for the plate in order to provide modularity to the customers, although between 70-80% of the purchases are of the horizontal configuration. Both options are shown in Figure 8.

The ONYX is an oxygen generator, which means that it produces dry, pure oxygen from the ambient air. This sub-product is located near the ozone plate and connected to it by means of a Teflon tube. Its different parts are shown in Figure 9.

• The ONYX has its air access point in the back, and is protected by a filter, but also has one on its side.

• The ONYX produces a lot of heat, which is expelled through an outlet in the bottom called the muffler. • The pure generated oxygen

exits the ONYX through a Teflon tube in the front that connects to the ozone plate. • The whole product is meant to

be positioned on the ground, and for this reason it has wheels and a cover for the wheels.

Figure 9. ONYX (oxygen generator) module

The cooling unit is an optional sub-product that is offered for cases when cooling water is not available. Cooling water is necessary to keep an ambient temperature in the ozone generator. The module consists of a stainless-steel enclosure that contains an isolated tank for the liquid coolant. The parts that are important to the redesign (because they can affect it) are detailed in Figure 10.

9

2.2.2. Product Concept and Design

As told by Ozonetech, the current product concept they had was developed as the result of a need. Due to a large upcoming project that they were going to be involved in it would be necessary to assemble the product in a fast and easy way. For this reason, the product was designed to consist on a mounting plate that would be fixed to the wall and to which components could be attached to and connections to other sub-products made. For simplicity reasons, but also to offer modularity to adapt to changing environments, the other sub-products would be set in an individual manner by fixing to the wall too. The set-up of the system can be seen more clearly in Figure 12.

Regarding its design, the choice of materials, colors, etc. of the current design was mainly determined by the function of the product and ease of production, although there was also some intent to use a material which was similar to stainless steel, as it is the most common in kitchens. Apart from that, the only other design intent they had was the logo, present on all sub-products, and the hero sign, present in the ozone plate.

2.2.3. Environment

As mentioned, the RENA Kitchen functions in a commercial kitchen. Various visits to restaurants and cafés were carried out with the objective of observing the overall environment, including the products that would typically surround the RENA Kitchen, how they are treated, etc. It was found that in kitchen environments there is a lot of movement and stress, together with a clear lack of space, which leads to an attempt to use all free space available. For cleaning, all the products are typically sprayed with water, and afterwards scrubbed, and the floors are also cleaned in this manner, see Figure 11.

Figure 11. Kitchen environment

Restaurants with the actual product installed in it were visited, and the staff was asked about their opinion of it. In Figure 12 we see the product in its environment, and in section 2.4.1 the user experience conclusions are presented.

2.2.4. Installation and Maintenance

The installation of the product is carried out both in-house (Ozonetech’s warehouse) and on-site (commercial kitchen) (Ozonetech, 2019). A part of the installation is carried out first in-house. It is related to the ozone plate and most of its components are mounted to it. Afterwards, the rest of installation steps are carried out on-site. Some important installation steps are the following:

• Mounting of ozone plate to the wall, and mounting of ozone generator to the plate • Mounting of ONYX to the wall

• Mounting of cooling unit (optional)

Finally, the connection of the ONYX and cooling unit to the ozone plate is carried out. All these steps typically require two people, and the overall process can take an entire day in the best cases, but normally requires more than one day.

When it comes to maintenance, the RENA Kitchen requires certain maintenance steps after installation. The most typical ones are:

Ozone plate

- See lights in ozone plate

- Change Teflon tubes that enter/exit the ozone plate

- Check ozone distributor, see 2.2.1.

ONYX

- Change filter in back: access and take out filter

- Change side filter: un- screw the side and wiggle out the cover - Change Teflon tube

exiting front

Cooling unit

- Access to top to change pump and add liquid

2.3. Company

This section gathers information regarding the Ozonetech brand and another important sub- brand of the company in which the RENA Kitchen finds itself. The desires and needs of the company are also presented, based on their initial requests.

2.3.1. Design and Brand

Their main brand, Ozonetech, has been evaluated with regard to its competitors through a cross- diagram, and is presented in Appendix B.

Their brand identity is mainly communicated through a graphical profile they have, which specifies the logo, color palette, and font. This profile is applied consistently to both digital and physical products, and in the case of products, it is done in the form of colored logo sticker impressions. The following elements are the base of their current design platform, which does not exist as such:

11 - Stainless steel

- Tubes and pipes - Many

components

Figure 13. Other Ozonetech products

Although their main brand is Ozonetech, they are interested in working on and strengthening other sub-brands, amongst them the RENA Kitchen Solutions. This would be the segment containing the RENA Kitchen product, and Ozonetech is working on strengthening this sub-brand, but nevertheless has only been doing this from a graphical point of view, that is, by logo creation, but have not moved forward with applying these logos to their products.

2.3.2. Desires

The initial request made by Ozonetech was to redesign their product in order to make it “stand out”, while at the same time make it more user and installer friendly.

The stand-out concept was researched more in depth through meetings and the use of tools such as sliders, abstract insight questions and mood boards. It was found that from a visual point of view, the company was looking for a product that:

• Gave the feeling of being robust, well-packaged, premium, and sustainable, in which design had been considered

• Made the end-user understand the product better and not be afraid of it • Was kitchen-integrated

Regarding the user and installer friendliness, a request they made was to hide all the components as much as possible from the user. They also specified that they would like to have an HMI, to increase on one hand the user friendliness by offering some sort of displayed information that would increase understanding, and on the other hand give the installer a quick overview of the state of the product when maintenance operations were to be done.

2.4. Research conclusions

All the information from the background research was analyzed with the purpose of gaining insights that would help define a series of product requirements. After the insights and product requirement were defined, a series of questions were formulated, constituting a starting point for the redesign.

2.4.1. Installer and User Experience

The installers offered their point of view during installation observations. Overall, their opinion regarding the installation process was:

• Not simple: installations are not an easy task. The product is not “plug and play”, and some important things must be measured by hand or eye, which introduces some uncertainty.

• Discomfort: “Space is a problem for moving around”, “Surrounding people and stuff make the process longer”

• Uncertainty: installations depend on many factors. “We don´t know how fast we can do an installation”

• Stressful: sometimes the time for an installation is calculated to be one, but the reality is that these external factors and the complexity of the product make it difficult to determine exactly the time needed. “With a couple of days more we could do better job” As defined in section 1.3, the end-users of the product were the kitchen staff. In general, they do not have knowledge about ozone treatment, and when asked what their perception of the RENA Kitchen was, their response was that it was a complicated product. They did not know what it did and in one case compared it to a motor of a car.

2.4.2. Insights

Insights are important information findings that in some cases are not obvious and that help us focus the design solution that is to be proposed (DBZ, 2014). A series of insights were discovered from user/installer interviews, product/installation observations, and some requests from the company:

• The RENA Kitchen is a complex system made up of three sub-products. One of them, the ozone plate, is made up of many components which are all visible to the end-user. This visibility introduces confusion and a feeling of insecurity and not wanting to interact with the product.

• In kitchen environments in which there is a lot of movement and reduced space. Cleaning is done in a harsh manner, and products in this space are characterized for being made mainly of stainless steel, not having many curves, easy to clean, robust and shiny. The staff also must be considered a part of the environment.

• Because of this limited space, a wall-mounted solution that could adapt to the kitchen environment would be preferred over a floor-standing solution.

• There are many installation steps required to set up the system. Most of them cannot be changed nor modified because they are very dependent on the installation site and not so much on the product design, but other steps could be affected and improved through the redesign. Amongst these are included measuring the exact position on the wall and mounting of the three sub-products, plus the connections to one of them, the ozone plate.

• After installation there are certain maintenance operations that take place. Easy access to the product is required.

• Ozonetech showed interest in strengthening one of their sub-brands but had only been doing this from a graphical point of view. Another way of adding strength to a brand is by giving a uniform appearance to all its physical products (DevriX, 2019).

• The underlying desires and needs of the company were spotted. What they needed was an improvement of the installation process, what they wanted was to make the product “stand out”.

13

2.4.3. Product requirements

The product requirement specifications were defined based on the background research and conclusions, and were approved by the company. These should be incorporated or considered in the new RENA Kitchen design in order to satisfy all or most of the people that were affected by the current design (DBZ, 2014). The requirements were:

Configuration:

• Horizontal plate (it makes up 70-80% of the sales with this configuration) • Wall-mounted (preferred)

Size and weight: Smallest and most compact as possible For user-friendliness:

• Hide all or most of the components of the ozone plate • Have a touchscreen

For installer-friendliness:

• Easy installation (maximize connections in-house) • Easy access for maintenance

Aesthetics: must present an image of robustness, reliability, compactness, sustainability,

understandable, and good packaging

Materials: must incorporate stainless steel End-user: kitchen staff

Environment: kitchen. Product will be exposed to dirt, splashed water and possible grease. Impact on environment: product must blend in with the surrounding products

Product constraints:

• Hide components as much as possible • Space behind ONYX for air flow • Allow air entry and exit in cooling unit • Side door/access for ONYX

• Access cooling unit from top and side • Maintain or improve IP-class

Qualities: modular, customizable Transport: standard pallets

2.4.4. Redesign Questions

The previous research conclusions, and specifically the product requirements, made the following questions arise:

• Can improvements be made regarding space occupancy to any of the sub-products? • How can we achieve a “stand-out” that also represents Ozonetech?

These questions, once answered, would solve aspects common to both redesign approaches and would allow to move forwards with them. The answer to these questions is presented in the following chapter.

3. IMPLEMENTATION

3.1. Redesign Answers

The following section presents the answers found to the questions formulated in the previous section. When indicated, a more detailed description of the different parts can be found in Appendixes C, D, E and F.

How can the new product be?

Ozonetech had indicated that the two of the sub-products, ONYX and cooling unit, should not be taken apart to form one single integrated product together with the ozone plate. Nevertheless, they did propose the study of different alternatives to the ozone plate.

Some brainstorming sessions using rapid sketching were carried out to study mounting plate alternatives. Different geometries to which the components of the plate could be attached were explored, and finally it was decided together with the company that the new product concept would be:

The ozone plate concept will be maintained for simplicity reasons, and it will be introduced in an enclosure/cabinet, possibly with the other sub-products (to be studied).

Once this was done, different possible configurations for the three sub-products had to be investigated. In the first redesign approach, the configuration possibilities would be limited by the standard cabinet, whereas in the second approach the enclosure options would be larger. This study is presented in section 3.3.1.

Can improvements be made regarding space occupancy to any of the sub-products?

Once it was known that the three sub-products would be maintained this question was formulated. The solution was affirmative, and could be achieved through modifications to the following sub-products:

• Mounting plate: this sub-product had two possible configurations with different dimensions, therefore the objective of compacting was to generate a mounting plate that combined both dimensions and in turn was more compact, as shown in Figure 14.

Figure 14. Theorical compact dimensions, confirmed after prototyping

Compacting was done by eliminating nonessential parts and rearranging the remaining ones, and a quick prototype was elaborated to test these dimensions. More Information regarding the eliminated/rearranged parts and prototype can be found in Appendix C.

• ONYX: it was possible to make this sub-product occupy less space by eliminating the bottom wheels and their plastic cover, see Figure 15. The muffler (outlet through which the produced heat is expelled) was extended by means of a tube and positioned on the right side to avoid heat accumulation inside the enclosure.

Figure 15. Modifications to ONYX

How can we achieve a “stand-out” look that also represents Ozonetech?

• “Stand-out” look

In section 2.3.2 a “stand-out” look was defined as one which gave the feeling of being robust, well-packaged, kitchen-integrated, premium and sustainable, in which design had been considered. It would also require making the user understand the product better and not be afraid of it.

In order to translate these written concepts into physical, visual models from which the company could choose from and help continue refining this “stand-out” look, some shape exploration was carried out. Three initial concepts were developed based on mood boards containing images and quotes taken from the meetings (Canva.com,

2019). These three concepts were developed with the intention of gaining deeper insights into which physical attributes corresponded more with the written attributes that were desired. Appendix D and E contains the mood boards and concepts.

The shape exploration shed valuable information, amongst other aspects, the insight that for the company this look would be achieved when there was a combination of curvy and straight geometrical shapes in one same body; when the product looked very different in comparison to other products that had similar functions; and when customization could be applied.

• Ozonetech look

In order to combine a “stand-out” look with one which also represented Ozonetech, it was necessary to also work on the look they wanted to achieve with their products. Put in other words, it was necessary to work on their physical product branding (The Branding Journal, 2019).

As mentioned in section 2.3.1, the elements that constituted the base of their current design platform were mainly stainless steel, tubes and pipes, and in general the presence of many components. Although Ozonetech indicated that these elements fit well in industrial environments, they agreed that they did not fit well in kitchen

17

For this reason, a design platform was defined for the RENA Kitchen Solutions segment. The document containing the full design platform can be found in Appendix G.

This design platform included design elements such as shape, materials and texture, colors, etc. that should be included in redesigns or future designs of products in this segment. Since all the RENA Kitchen Solutions products would generate ozone, a focus was put on transmitting the concept of “ozone generation” and a “green eco-product” to help give a cleaner, more focused, and well-designed image to the company, and to this segment. These elements were decided on based on the background research and the previous “stand-out” look study.

Together with the design guidelines, the desired product expression was defined. It is defined through a series of contradicting qualities (soft/robust, available/exclusive…) that are evaluated by means of a scale shown in Figure 16. The scale helps defines which contradicting quality is desired by showing a tilt towards one or the other, or if instead a balance between both of is better. The final tilt of the balance for each quality was done based on insights shed through meetings with the company. The product expression reached applied only to the RENA Kitchen product, and not to any other product of the company.

Figure 16. Product expression weighing scale

3.2. First Redesign Approach

Once the previous redesign answers were found, the first approach began, followed by the second one.

The first approach involved the study of off-the-shelf cabinet solutions available in the market into which the sub-products could be incorporated.

In principle, this initial, more simple solution would solve the installation problem, and possibly the user interaction, but since these standard cabinets do not allow many customization options, the design goal would possibly only be achieved to a certain extent.

3.2.1. Supplier research

This approach required the study of cabinet, mounting plate and customization options. In more detail, what had to be studied was:

• Cabinets: how to organize the sub-products inside them and the dimensions that would allow for all (or almost all) of the sub-products to be included.

• Mounting plates: finding appropriate dimensions, like those specified in the previous section.

• Customization: analyzing the options offered that could give the cabinet the “stand-out” look desired by the company.

This study was carried out through a supplier web search, 3D model cabinet downloading, and experimentation regarding dimensions and customization.

Both floor-standing and wall-mounted cabinets, see Figure 17, could be a solution to the redesign. As specified in the product requirements, a wall- mounted configuration was preferred (see section 2.4.3), but during the supplier research it was found that on the market there were no cabinets of this type big enough to contain the three RENA Kitchen sub-products. For this reason, if the wall-mounted option were chosen two cabinets would be needed (one big and one small), and if the floor-standing option were chosen only one cabinet would be needed.

Figure 17. Examples of floor-standing and wall mounted standard cabinets

Two manufacturers were chosen to study these options more in depth, Schneider and Eldon. Both offered a wide range of cabinet dimensions, but in the case of the wall-mounted option it was found that the small cabinet would need customized dimensions. The dimensions shown in Table 1 were found based on the new compact mounting plate dimensions and the less-bulky ONYX described in the previous section.

Table 1. Required cabinet dimensions

Schneider Eldon

Nº cabinets Dimensions [mm]

HxWxD

Floor-standing 1 1800x1000x500 1600x1000x500

Wall-mounted 2

Big cabinet (Plate + ONYX) Small cabinet (cooling unit)

1000x1200x400 800x600x500 (customized) 1200x1200x400 800x600x500 (customized)

Although the wall-mounted option would need customized dimensions, and this would most likely suppose an increase in cost, the study kept going regardless of this.

The next step was to analyze the mounting plates, see Figure 18. A mounting plate has the function of making the installation process easier, since the products can be assembled on the plate previously and then introduced in the cabinet. All suppliers offer mounting plates in different dimensions together with the cabinets.

In general, the standard mounting plate purchased with a cabinet occupies the entire height of it, and given the appropriate accessories, can be attached at a desired depth. The suppliers also offer the option of making holes in the plate where needed in order to attach components onto it. These should be specified through drawings.

Figure 18. Example of a standard mounting plate

Since the mounting plate takes away a certain amount of usable space in the cabinet, for the floor-standing option two smaller mounting plates would have to be used instead in order to make the ONYX and cooling unit fit in the bottom part of the enclosure. Instead, the wall- mounting option would only need one mounting plate since the width of the cabinet was bigger than in the floor-standing option, see Table 1. These result findings are expressed in Table 2.

Table 2. Required number of mounting plates Nº mounting plates

Floor-standing 2 small ones

Wall-mounted 1 big one

The final step was to analyze the possibility of branding these products. This was consulted with the manufacturing companies, and the following options were selected and presented to Ozonetech, see Appendix G for all the customization options offered:

Figure 19. Possible customization options for standard cabinets

Of these options, the company preferred the last two, and considering this and some other options they wanted (for example light illuminating the brand name), the merging of the products was carried out.

3.2.2. Development

Although the wall-mounted option was preferred, the fact that this option made it necessary to request customized dimensions made the preference of the company tilt toward the floor- standing option. Therefore, the redesign solution continued with only this option.

A cabinet supplier was chosen after analyzing the options of both of them, Schneider, due to it being easier to obtain information. Afterwards, the appropriate 3D files were downloaded and the merging of both products was carried out using Solid Edge ST10. An overview of the development process is shown in Figure 20.

Figure 20. 3D floor-standing cabinet model with some RENA Kitchen components inserted

Finally, the renderings were done in KeyShot, and manufacturing and cost estimation was investigated through the supplier’s web. As they were standard enclosures, most of the information could be checked online, except for the cost with customization options, which had to be requested.

3.3. Second Redesign Approach

The second approach was a suitable product redesign following 3 series of divergent and convergent stages, according to the Metodología DBZ-MU. The aim of this approach was to solve all the problems presented by the current product design, while adding more value to the result when compared to first approach.

3.3.1. Product concept

New product design concepts were explored through fast sketching, keeping in mind that the three sub-products would be maintained. Since one product requirement was to maintain the modularity of the current design, see section 2.4, the idea of having a new product based on modules appeared. In this context, module meant enclosure. This narrowed down the concepts to three, shown in Figure 21. The other product concept sketches can be found in Appendix H.

CONCEPT 1 CONCEPT 2 CONCEPT 3

Figure 21. Three module concepts

Nª modules

3 One for each sub- product

2

One for the ozone plate/ONYX, and another for the cooling unit

1

All the sub-products inside (similar concept to cabinet) Set-up Wall-mounted or

floor-standing (stackable)

Wall-mounted, with the option of floor-standing (only the cooling)

Floor-standing

Other Access points on all sides for modulatity

Access points on all sides for modulatity

-

In order to evaluate these concepts and select one, the following aspects were defined as important together with the company:

Table 3. Determining qualities for the selection Modularity

Ease of installation

Overall improvement of the current product Low cost to manufacture

By discussing the issue, modularity was weighed as a heavier factor over ease of installation due to the very different environments which the product would encounter. In this regard, Concept 3 was found to be too similar to the first approach redesign solution, taking up much more floor space than the other concepts, not being as modular as the rest, and also not allowing to explore so much a different solution. This narrowed down the selection to Concepts 1 and 2. After another discussion this time also with the installers, it was decided that Concept 2 would be taken as the product redesign concept for the following reasons:

- It is a modular product

- Concept 1 was too similar to the original product, and would not reduce the installation steps - Two of the sub-products which are always purchased together due to their symbiosis would be placed together, making the product more marketable

- If the dimensions of the main module containing both sub-products could be similar to those of the existing horizontal ozone plate, see section 2.2.1, it would constitute an improved product

22

3.3.2. Aesthetic Design

Five aesthetic concepts were developed by applying the design guidelines to the selected module concept with the intention of reaching the desired product expression. These are presented in Figure 22. Names were taken from wind-related gods in order to add an additional feeling of a clean-air product, and also to simplify the selection process that would be carried out by the company. Additionally, the description underneath each concept was done with the intention of adding the intent of the design in a verbal way. The sketches developed during the process can be found in Appendix I.

Figure 22. Five aesthetic design concepts

VENTI.

A simple enclosure that gathers all the front features (HMI) and company branding elements in a white strip. This concept has the clearest expression of wind and air given by a curved line that is typically associated with gas or liquid flows.

NJORD.

The most robust concept. The product features and branding elements are positioned in the middle in order to offer a sense of symmetry to the product. Plastic stands out from the enclosure, adding more volume to the product, and contributing to the robust feeling.

ILMA.

Together with Egoi, this concept tries to stick closely to the leaf-shaped expression. While being one of the simplest concepts as to the overall shape of the enclosures, it incorporates a green oval detail that adds an extra environmental feeling to it.

EGOI.

A combination of curvy and straight lines, with more emphasis on the curves, gives this concept certain character, and breaks with the classic concept of enclosure design. The oval shape in thefront of the enclosures has the intention of transmitting an eco-friendly product. In addition, the use of more metal material also adds robustness to the overall product.

AURA.

In the same way as EGOI, this concept breaks with the classic idea of enclosure design thanks to the curved top and greater use of plastic than metal. The combination of the two aspects attempts to obtain a feeling of being an industrial product, as well as kitchen-integrated product. The three lines are intended to represent the chemical formula of ozone (O3), and there is a high presence of green environmental elements.

3.3.3. Concept Evaluation and Selection

The selection of the concepts was done using a Weighted Evaluation Matrix, Table 4. This method was used to select objectively the aesthetic concept that would replace the current RENA Kitchen design.

The Weighted Evaluation Matrix was used to select the optimal solution in a quantitative way. The method consisted on evaluating different aspects of the design in a weighted manner. A series of important aspects that should be reached through the design were decided in meetings with the company (column 1), where the importance of these aspects was also rated on a scale from 0-10 by them (column 2) and more weight (score) was given to the critical aspects than to the desirable ones.

Given the different aesthetic concepts, the company rated from 0-10 the extent to which they fulfilled the aspects (column 3), and finally to obtain the score of the concept the rating was multiplied by the aspect weight, resulting in column 4. The sum of all the scores of column 4 gave the overall score of the concept.

Table 4. Weighted Evaluation Matrix

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4

Aspect Aspect weight (from 0-10) Concept rating (from 0-10) Score (Column 2 x Column 3) Communicates function to the user Customizable Detailed Strengthens the brand Low cost to manufacture ∑ (Total Score of Concept)

The AURA concept the one which obtained the highest ranking; therefore, this concept was chosen to proceed towards the final design. The full results of the evaluation process can be found in Appendix J.

3.3.4. Final Concept Development

The final concept that was selected was AURA. After selection, a visual depiction of some of AURA design’s specifications was made, shown in Figure 23.

Figure 23. Visual depiction of some of AURA's design specifications. Main enclosure depicted on the left, and the cooling unit enclosure on the right.

The AURA is made up of two enclosures: one main enclosure containing the ozone plate and ONYX, and one secondary, optional enclosure for when the cooling unit were purchased. In the following page some of the design specifications are detailed further.

The main enclosure is formed by a metallic body with both front and side screw-on plastic covers. The idea behind them being easily screwed on and off is in order to facilitate installation and maintenance operations.

• The front cover contains the branding elements and has a cut-out for the touchscreen. • The side cover allows installers to access the ONYX, which is to be positioned on the

right side of the enclosure in order to carry out typical maintenance operations. This cover also includes a cutout for the muffler exit, and fins that allow air entry into the enclosure and subsequently air supply to the ONYX (which is necessary).

The cooling unit enclosure is formed by a metallic body and a front screw-on plastic cover with the same design as the main enclosure, to maintain a homogeneous design throughout the system. The body of the enclosure contains the cooling unit and has cutouts for air entry (back) and air exit (sides).

• Design specifications

After basic design specifications regarding the covers of the enclosures were detailed, some of the technical specifications were detailed. Additional specifications can be found Appendix K.

o Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth):

The initial dimensions for the AURA were established based on the dimensions of the three sub-products to be, for the main enclosure, 750 x 1200 x 370 mm, and for the cool unit enclosure, 800 x 400 x 400 mm. Also, after iterating various radial dimensions for the curved top, the final radius was set at 200 mm.

o Modularity:

To allow the entry and exit of tubes and chords from one enclosure to another, series of holes and rims of 8.5 mm in diameter were going to be made on the enclosure’s and cover’s sides as shown in Figure 24.

Figure 24. Entry and exit holes on the enclosures’ side and bottom o Mounting:

After consulting with the installers, it was discovered that the mounting of the enclosures had to be done using a wall bracket with specific types of holes that would allow for an appropriate straight mounting. Due to the heavy weight of all the components, the enclosure and cooling unit are positioned and attached to these specially designed wall brackets. The bolts used are M8X12, and the washers are M8. o Touchscreen:

The AURA can offer a touchscreen. It is an important addition to the product that will allow for simplified and understandable communication between the control box and the end-user. A Beijer Electronics X2 base 10 model was chosen to satisfy these communication demands, having the following dimensions:

Figure 25. HMI dimensions (left) and set-up in enclosure (right)

Beijer Electronics was chosen because it offered 3D files that could be tested with the redesign model. Further studies should be carried out to choose an appropriate supplier.

• Modelling

The CAD models were done in Solid Edge ST10 using the Solid Modeling function, Surfacing, and the XpressRoute option for tube creation.

• Prototypes

In order to verify the CAD model dimensions and functionalities, intermediate prototypes were created of the main enclosure and secondary enclosure, which lead to an iterative process that resulted in modifications to the final 3D model.

A prototype of the main enclosure was quickly developed with cardboard to test the dimensions with both the compact mounting plate prototype (previously elaborated) and the modified ONYX inside of it. Figure 26 contains images of the prototype.

Figure 26. Simple main enclosure prototype

Conclusions: the width of the enclosure should be bigger in order to give more space behind the

ONYX for air flow and movement during maintenance.

A more solid prototype in wood was finally made for both enclosures, although the main intention was to verify the dimensions, access points, and installation/maintenance operations of the cooling unit enclosure. Figure 27 contains images of the prototype. By using a laser cutting technique, 4 boards were cut to make the basic product structure with the appropriate access points on the sides. To make it strong enough, nails and brackets were used to connect the pieces. See Appendix L for the prototype production document that was elaborated.

Figure 27. More developed prototype of cooling unit enclosure

Conclusions: after finishing the prototype and verifying the dimensions and access points of the

enclosure with the cooling unit inside, some important information was discovered. The cooling unit was actually an enclosure itself that had been designed by Ozonetech to contain the cooling components. It was possible to modify this enclosure directly, instead of making an “enclosure for an enclosure” as had just been done.

• Modifications

With the previous information, some important changes to the 3D model had to be made. The cooling unit enclosure design that had been done was going to be transferred to the already existing Ozonetech enclosure. In addition, by talking to one of the installers it was found that the proposed orientation of the cooling unit was incorrect. Initially, the front of this sub-product was positioned facing the wall to allow the product to take up the least amount of space possible as this would avoid the space needed behind for air entry, but this was not correct since the installers had to be able to see and access the front for reasons as important as:

- Seeing the temperature indicator display - Accessing the on/off button

With these new indications, the entire sub-product design had to be re-thought of. Since it made no sense to have “an enclosure for an enclosure”, the most plausible solution was to make small modifications to the Ozonetech enclosure in order to improve its appearance, and add some sort of design element that could maintain a homogeneous look when combined with the AURA main enclosure. Figure 28 depicts the slight changes made to the Ozonetech cooling unit enclosure. Before, the side of the enclosure was formed by two sheets of metal (left image of Figure 28), but the new enclosure would be formed by only one long sheet of metal. It was checked with the company that this would not introduce problems for maintenance operation, and the changes were made in the 3D model.

Figure 28. Modifications of Ozonetech's cooling unit enclosure

In order to maintain a consistent design together with the main enclosure, a type of “cover” was designed considering the needs of the installers indicated above. The designed cover is shown in the following section.

4. RESULTS – FINAL DESIGNS

The result of this project has been the development of two redesign solutions, reached by two different approaches. Both can become the foundation product of the RENA Kitchen Solutions segment, and constitute a suitable change for the current RENA Kitchen.

4.1. First Redesign

This solution consists of one metallic cabinet that can contain the three sub-products that form the RENA Kitchen. Two small standard mounting plates are included and have specific holes to attach the components of the ozone plate. The dimensions of the cabinet are big enough to be able to position both the cooling unit and ONYX together, although if this is the case then the ONYX must be rotated. The door contains Ozonetech’s logo and is illuminated by a light. It also may incorporate an HMI if desired. On the sides of the cabinet there are four cut-outs that allow air entry and one of them has the form of the letter ``o´´ of Ozonetech. Figure 29 shows rendering of the final design.

Figure 29. Renderings of the first approach final redesign solution

The materials of which the cabinets are composed are galvanized steel for the mounting plate and sheet steel for the body and door. The body is made from a single piece of sheet metal with a welded rear panel, and the mounting plate from a single folded metal sheet.

The cost of the cabinets, including specified customization options, has a list price in the range of several thousand SEK.

4.2. Second Redesign

AURA is the second redesign solution to the RENA Kitchen.

Figure 30. Renderings of the second approach final redesign solution

This product consists of an enclosure for two of the most commonly purchased RENA Kitchen sub-products, and a cover for the optional remaining sub-product. Both elements are wall- mounted by means of a specially designed wall bracket, see Figure 31.

Figure 31. Final product exploded view

The enclosure contains the ozone plate and the ONYX. It has a front screw-on cover in which the brand is positioned by means of a sticker, but most importantly, a touchscreen to offer information to users and installers. The enclosure also has a side screw-on access door that allows for easy maintenance operations to the ONYX. Since the mounting plate is always purchased together with the ONYX, the AURA merges these two essential modules in one same enclosure.

Figure 32. AURA enclosure cover

The cover offers additional protection to the cooling unit, but most importantly, it provides a consistent design to the entire product.

Figure 33. Cooling unit and its cover 33

Both the enclosure and the cooling unit thanks to its cover can be organized in multiple ways, since they both have entry and exit points for tubes and chords on almost all of their sides. This has been designed to allow for modularity and adaptability to the spaces in which the product will be placed.

Figure 34. Product detail: entry and exit points and buttons

Additionally, when some of the side entrance and exit points are not in use, special “buttons” have been designed. These are small plastic plug-shaped parts that may be positioned in these access points in order to close them and avoid unnecessary problems such as fluid entry, etc. All the points have the same diameter, and the buttons as well. This eliminates the unnecessary time wasted during assembly if they were to be of different sizes.

The choice of a curved-top enclosure was made to achieve the balance between soft and robust, smooth and rough, and give less of an industrial look that the company wanted. Also, this design avoids the accumulation of dust and other products that could possibly damage the RENA Kitchen. On the other hand, the contrast of plastic and metallic materials also contributes to this balance mentioned. The plastic gives a warmer feeling than metal, thereby achieving a more integrated product. The choice of white plastic was made because it fits well into the kitchen environment, in which the main colors present are black, white and grey/silver, among others.

By covering the components and introducing a new feature, which is a touchscreen, the AURA will manage to provide a secure and in-control feeling to the customer and end-user, facilitate their interaction with the product, and most importantly, allow them as well as the installers to have easy access to information. The feeling of not understanding disappears, and all that is left is to enjoy the very functional solution offered by this product.

The dimensions of the AURA product are interesting to look at because, compared to the original RENA Kitchen, AURA uses the space that was taken up before by one sub-product to now incorporate another sub-product. Put in other words, the space that was before taken up only by the ozone plate (in horizontal configuration) now contains two sub-products, the ozone plate and ONYX. Also, these two are always purchased together, therefore AURA constitutes a smart packaging solution. In the case of the cooling unit, the dimensions are not affected by adding a cover to it, staying the same than in the original RENA Kitchen.

When it comes to the installation of the product, notable improvements are made in the following ways:

• The main enclosure is mainly set-up in-house

• In comparison to the original brackets that were used, the new designed ones allow installers to fix them in an upward position since their simple L shape allows fixation starting from the top

• Once the wall brackets are fixed, just two products are positioned on them instead of three that had to be done before (when cooling unit was also purchased), eliminating time spent. This is because two of the sub-products are contained in the same enclosure. • The cooling unit can still be positioned practically anywhere around the main enclosure,

and the organization of chords and tubes is made easier thanks to the holes on the sides of both the main enclosure and cooling unit cover

The production of the AURA would involve different techniques and materials, mainly metal bending and welding, and plastic shaping. These fabrication solutions have not yet been verified with a manufacturer, but they follow the production lines of typical enclosures:

• Enclosure: folded and seam welded sheets

• Mounting plate: sides from 800 mm and above are strengthened by folded edges • Plastic: compression molding

Regarding the cost of the design, it must be considered that, amongst others, it achieves the following:

• Reduces the number of parts on the mounting plate • Reduces the material of the mounting plate

• Reduces the number of installers needed and time spent

Taking this into account, initially the price could be thought to be less than that of the off-the shelf solution. However, keeping in mind that this design has a special shape, and includes an additional material (plastic), the cost is estimated to be higher than the off-the-shelf cabinet solution, but not much more.