January 2011
REACHING OEM DESIGN ENGINEERS ACROSS CONSUMER AND COMMERCIAL MARKETS WORLDWIDE
Efficient HVAC Motor Control P.20
INSIDE 12 Plastics 20 Electronics 24 Coatings 28 Design Concepts & Trends
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CONTENTS JANUARY 2011 volume 59, no. 1
REACHING OEM DESIGN ENGINEERS ACROSS CONSUMER AND COMMERCIAL MARKETS WORLDWIDE
DEPARTMENTS 4 Editorial: A Time to Reevaluate 5 Shipments/Forecasts 6 News Watch 10 Design Mart’s
12
24
31 AHR Expo: Special Section 32 Association Report: ASHRAE
Image Courtesy of Johnson Controls Unitary Products
33 Advertiser’s Index
FEATURES PLASTICS 12 Through the use of plastic materials, designers are able to create innovative, intricately designed parts not possible with glass. 16 Replacing metal with plastics has many benefits, and, in many cases, fewer compromises than ever before.
20
appliance DESIGN ONLINE WEB EXTRAS WEB EXTRAS
Copolymer Meets Functional and Mechanical Challenges in Siemens Coffee Center For its EQ.7 fully automated coffee center, Siemens Electrogeräte GmbH used Hostaform polyacetal copolymer (POM) to provide the performance qualities required by various components in this high-end consumer appliance.
Treadmill and Fitness Equipment Co. Uses Innovative HMI System Star Trac wanted to engage customers with an embedded touch screen that offered a compelling graphical user interface and integrated HD video. Find Out What Music Means to the Customer Altec Lansing was looking for a way to communicate with customers and ultimately relaunched its product portfolio and brand.
ELECTRONICS 20 Manufacturers can reduce costs by integrating an entire dual-motor system with active PFC on a single microcontroller.
COATINGS & FINISHES 24 The ability to target metal removal and the methodology applied to focus the metal removal current, enables PEM as a production process.
DESIGN CONCEPTS & TRENDS 28 Stop the trends in product recalls and lawsuits. One of the key issues involved in the numbers of product recalls are defects in design.
BLOGS Kevin Henry's The Essential Kitchen AD's Remix Blog Paul's European Perspective
SOCIAL MEDIA
Connect with appliance DESIGN on:
COVER
www.applianceDESIGN.com 2 applianceDESIGN
January 2011
Manufacturers can reduce costs by choosing efficient HVAC motor solutions. Photo: Johnson Controls Unitary Products www.applianceDESIGN.com
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EDIToRIAL ®
www.applianceDESIGN.com
publishing staff Darrell Dal Pozzo Group Publisher
An Ideal Time to Reevaluate
T
he New Year is a great time to take a step back and evaluate the big picture. For companies, this can mean redefining or reaffirming who you are as a company: to your employees, your suppliers, and your customers. Every time you purchase a new manufacturing or testing instrument; hire new on-staff or consulting designers and engineers; design a new product; launch a new product; acquire or sell part of your business; or change your marketing strategy—your redefining or reaffirming who you are as a brand. Sometimes regulations and standards, buying patterns and technology improvements are a cause for change. One regulation that will affect many appliance manufacturers this year, are the new Energy Star Enhanced Testing and Verification procedures now in effect. With the EPA now mandating that Energy Star third-party certification will require manufacturers seeking use of the Energy Star label to submit products for third-party certification from EPA Recognized Certification Bodies, some manufacturers will be forced to change product launch timelines and business practices. And, while new U.S. Department of Energy home appliance efficiency standards will not take full effect until 2014, manufacturers must start implementing new components and technologies in their product designs now, in order to be able to meet those requirements. The DOE efficiency standards are a step
(630) 694-4342
[email protected] Maggie McFadden Shein Editor
(630) 694-4388
[email protected] Daryl Delano Economics Editor
(508) 746-7986
[email protected] Paul Roggema Kevin Henry New Media Contributors
forward for home appliance manufacturers and efficiency, environmental and consumer advocates. The new standards cover six categories of home appliances: refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers, clothes dryers, dishwashers and room air conditioners; and (at press time) a recommendation that Energy Star qualification criteria incorporate credit for Smart Grid capability and a package of targeted tax credits aimed at fostering the market for super-efficient appliances— remains to be seen if it will be included. Also expected this year, will be new product designs incorporating smart grid capability, and further industry talks on standardization. Once standards are agreed upon industry-wide, more companies will be able to ‘get in the smart grid game’ and design appliances to communicate with the grid. Although this surely will be a long, evolutionary process that we will be discussing for years to come, consumers, manufacturers and smart grid advocates will be looking to evaluate smart grid test cities and sites this year to gain insight into what the future may look like. Email your comments to me at sheinm@ bnpmedia.com. And, follow our daily industry news on Twitter @aplncdsgn.