Quality Improvement of Control Panels for Home Appliances

Client: Company S, Screen Printing
During a visit to a U.S.
home appliance retailer, Assista noticed issues on the control panels of washing machines and dryers displayed in-store that were not typically seen on products from major Japanese appliance manufacturers: peeling paint on the edges (corners) and misaligned designs on parts with 3D shapes, such as logos and switches.

Assista conducted thorough observation and analysis of the quality of the control panels from Whirlpool’s competitors in the market (retailers like Best Buy and Sears) and proposed improvements. Worked with S to create prototype panels and visited major US white goods manufacturers.

At the time, the US appliance manufacturer did not consider peeling edge printing or design misalignment on existing products to be major issues. However, upon seeing that Company S’s panels showed absolutely no peeling or misalignment, with the 3D design cleanly bonded, the quality manager said in shock, “This made us aware of problems we hadn't even noticed before” and highly praised the technical capabilities of S. As a result, S's products were adopted for mass production in washing machines, dryers, and microwave ovens. The key to success was “observation.”