A case study on

Submitted by: Ashwanpreet Singh

16105070

Overview
Dyson is a U.K based electronic company. It specialize in designing
Household appliances such as Vacuum cleaners, hair dryers etc.
Dyson is a global company and it employs around 8500 people
worldwide. It is privately held company owned by its charismatic
founder Sir James Dyson. Dyson has clocked $3.5 billion in
revenue in FY 17 averaging a profit of $897 million. This case
study is aimed at analyzing how dyson managed to make
disruption in every product line it introduced.

History
Dyson was founded in 1987 but the technology behind it was
developed by an engineer and designer sir James dyson in as far
back as 1979. [1]James got the idea when he was helping his wife
in household Chores, his vacuum cleaner keeps losing suction,
That was his eureka moment then he
 decided to make a Vacuum cleaner which doesn’t lose suction, On
some early research James found that his Vacuum cleaner’s bag
“Manufacturing is keep getting clogged and hence obstructing air flow which leads
more than just to lose of suction power.[2] James began work on his master
putting parts piece and after developing 5,127 prototypes he finally found
together. It's coming success. He found that centrifugal separator were better at
up with ideas, separating fine dust particle. He implemented cyclone technology
testing principles in his prototype. And In 1984 James ventured out to give out
and perfecting the license of his invention but to his surprise no one was interested
engineering, as well in his invention, In fact companies like Hoover avoided him and
as final assembly.” other companies which do talked later backed out giving no valid
reason.[3][4] James dyson realized it was just there natural
― James Dyson
instinct to protect their $500 million vacuum bag business.
However in 1985 a Japanese company licensed james’s vacuum
cleaner and in 1986 a new version of it was up for sale in japan. In
early 90’s James decided to manufacture his machine himself but
very soon he found out that his bigger competitors has caught up
and they are manufacturing his machine without license. He
entered into legal battle with them and by 1991 it was settled.
However it was only in 1993 when Dyson ltd. Got its loan of
$1million, they were able to go into production. Soon retailers
were selling Dyson Vacuum cleaners. Word of mouth spread and
Dyson quickly got established in U.K After U.K Dyson entered the
U.S and other European countries and quickly become successful.
However, Dyson Took lesson from the licensees who rejected it
and never stopped innovating and venturing into new markets. In
2006 they launched their first hand dryer which removed the use
of paper towels and hence is better for environment. After that
they launched their air Bladeless fan and established themselves
as innovator and harbinger of future in electronics industry.

Figure 1:Dyson ball multi

floor 2 upright vacuum.
Vision 2020
According to dyson’s website they state their mission statement
as “As we look ahead, we’ll be investing more time and more
profit into future technology than ever before. We’ll also be
focusing on expanding into new markets”. By 2020, dyson looks
forward to have 4,000 more Dyson people and be hitting £4

Figure 2: Dyson DC01
Figure 3: working of cyclonic
Vacuum technology
billion in revenue. It’s all a part of a carefully mapped £2.5 billion
Expansion. It has remained Dyson’s ambition to solve the problem
of vehicle pollution for nearly 30 years. Now, when they finally
have the opportunity to bring all of their technologies together
into a single product. Rather than filtering emissions at the
exhaust pipe, today they have the ability to solve it at the source.
They have begun work on a battery electric vehicle, due to launch
in 2020.
Products And Technology
Dyson has diversified into many products in this case study we will
only focus on their introductory revolutionary products.
Dyson DC01
It is the first bagless cyclonic vacuum cleaner ever and it is the
first product to be launched by Dyson limited in 1993.It is an
upright Vacuum cleaner for cleaning carpets. This serves its goal
for UK. market. There were three tools with it for other
operations like upholstery, stairs, car cleaning etc. It was launched
at a market price of £200 within 18 months it become Best seller
in UK. The technology that dyson used in this product is [5]
cyclonic separator, it is used in industry to remove fine particles.
Dyson used the same technology and implemented it in such a
way that it removes the fine dust particle from vacuumed air
intake. Its rough working diagram is shown in fig. 3.
Dyson innovated Further and added several other features and
patented far more technologies. Lighter design, Powerful motors,
easy maneuvering etc. An overview of further development of
cyclonic vacuum technology is represented in fig. 4 [5].
Air blade Hand dryer
This instant hand dryer by dyson(fig. 5) claims to dry hand in 10
seconds and save hundreds of dollar in paper towel. It is energy
efficient. It is mostly used by commercial users such as Airports,
Museums or other public places which receives a lot of visitors.
This product has made a major impact on environment by
decreasing the use of paper towel and hence decreasing global
warming. Dyson here used its strengths on aerodynamics to enter
Figure 4: Dyson Airblade
hand dryer
Figure 6: Air Multiplier Fan
Figure 5: Development of cyclonic vacuum in Dyson over years.
a market left out by electronic industry, they played on their
strengths and used their existing technology to make this product.
Like power efficient motors etc. It is priced at $730 apiece.
Air Multiplier Fan
Though bladeless fans were first patented by Toshiba in 1986 they
were not made in a way suitable of practical use, using its
strength on aerodynamics dyson modified it and in 2009 launched
its own bladeless fan ‘Air multiplier’(fig. 6) which works on the
Bernoulli’s principle.[6] It create a locally low air pressure and
hence air moves from backward to occupy the space the process
is called inducement. Once air exits the ring it moves the air in
front of it producing an air flow. It exist as a more safe and
elegant option to the existing solutions. It is priced at $330.
Dyson launched a lot of other revolutionary products using the
same air multiplier technology for example Air purifier which
proved to be immense success in Asian markets. Using the same
technology dyson launched its Hair dryer which encapsulate its
motor in handle. Other products launched by dyson were
Contrarotator washing machine which they discontinued after a
year because it was unprofitable for company. They also launched
a fan heater but recalled it due to fire risk. In 2015 dyson
launched LED incorporated using heat pipe technology to extend
the life of product.

Inferences
1. Dyson ltd. extensively tackled new problem and keeps
researching on their existing products to maintain that
edge in market which makes customer buy their product
even at seemingly high prices.
2. Dyson ltd. constantly used their already invented
technology to enter new markets and disrupt them.
3. Dyson’s management seems not be afraid of product
failure. It is a very important value to be found in any
company.

References
[1]"How James Dyson Created a $3 Billion Vacuum
Empire", Fortune, 2018. [Online]. Available:
http://fortune.com/2017/09/09/james-dyson-vacuum/.
[Accessed: 09- Apr- 2018].
[2]J. Dyson, Against the odds. New York: Thomson, 2002.
[3]J. Dyson and R. Uhlig, James Dyson's history of great inventions.
London: Robinson, 2002.
[4]J. Dyson and R. Uhlig, Mammoth book of great inventions.
London: Robinson, 2004.
[5]"How vacuum cleaners work", Explain that Stuff, 2018.
[Online]. Available:
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/vacuumcleaner.html.
[Accessed: 10- Apr- 2018].
[6]Knowtheflo.com, 2018. [Online]. Available:
https://www.knowtheflo.com/dyson-air-multiplier-am07-
tower-fan-review/. [Accessed: 10- Apr- 2018].