1.Client - Teal Patents Ltd

2. Product Description - TEALwash - Teal’s first plastics based hand wash product for use on commercial vehicles to meet staff health and welfare issues. It comprises a moulded water container with electrical heater, control circuit and fold away bowl. Available in 12 and 24 volt versions, the product is also being developed for laboratory, toilet, factory and workshop use in 110 and 230 volt versions.

3. Critical Issue - At the prototype stage, the company realised that manufacturing costs were too high, that the flat plate heater element was going to present sourcing and assembly problems and that internal cleaning of the unit was going to be difficult.

4. What we did - We ran a series of concept generation and evaluation workshops to help the company develop a more competitive and easier to assemble concept. This was undertaken free of charge under the Innovation-Direct scheme.

5. Outcome - A new concept with less parts, using a traditional element design, that is easier to assemble and with a lower manufacturing cost was proposed. This was then fully developed with the support of a Teaching Company Scheme in collaboration with the University of Warwick. The new product was launched with considerable interest at the Commercial Vehicle show in March 2003.

6. More information - Contact Brian Miles at Innovation-Direct on 024 76 572 505

June 2003