Masato Sakai,
Deputy General Manager, Design Center,
Research & Development Division,
Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd.
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Hitachi Koki's Design Center conceives designs for power tools, life-science instruments and all other products developed, manufactured and distributed by Hitachi Koki. The power tool industry itself is rather low key, but the Design Center constantly manages to produce unique new designs that are true to the basic spirit of product design-easy to use and customer-oriented. This has resulted not just in many hit products but also in our designs receiving international design awards. Here is a brief introduction of our work at the Design Center.
The basic policy of the Design Center is to create attractive products that reflect user opinion to the greatest extent possible. The products must instantly capture the minds of customers and they must be products customers want to get a hold of. That is why the Design Center is actively pursuing concepts such as "aggressive designs that are unique and innovative" and "enhanced user-friendliness based on ergonomic and universal-design principles."
As an example, I would like to introduce our Cordless Impact Driver series (Fig. 1).
Until several years ago, the body color of all professional power tools manufactured by our company was green. Function was the sole concern for power tools and the idea of adopting innovative designs was out of most people's consciousness. However, when designers themselves had the opportunity to visit construction sites and interview young construction workers, they made eye-opening discoveries. First, that power tools are very much regarded as an extension of the body and are required to have the operability of one's own limbs. And second, that users feel an attachment to their favorite tools much in the same way they feel attached to a favorite cell phone or pair of shoes. As a result of these discoveries, the Design Center proposed an aggressive design concept for the company's new range of power tools, with "powerful," "eye-catching," "aggressive" and "sense of speed" as keywords. Inspiration came from athletic shoes, sports cars and motorcycles-all of which, like power tools, are used as extensions of the body and are cherished by the user.
The aggressive design work materialized in the Cordless Impact Driver WH12DM, which was launched in 2000 (Fig. 2).
The WH12DM features a body color of magenta (at the time the color most chosen by young construction workers for their work clothes), and a unique curvaceous shape. Careful attention was given to the contours of the handle and distribution of the tool's weight to ensure a comfortable grip. A large area extending from the handle to the body was overlaid with a soft material to improve handling. It also features a pivoting belt hook, the first of its kind in the industry, which makes it easy to slip onto a belt and which can accommodate extra bits, facilitating work in high places (Fig. 3). These features brought the WH12DM high customer approval and it became an unprecedented hit among our company's products.
The WH12DM was succeeded by the WH12DM2, with enhanced function and design features including a pivoting belt hook with integrated work light for illuminating dark workspaces, and stickers for customizing the body of the WH12DM2, distributed over the Internet. This model helped to further strengthen the unique market position of our products (Figs. 4 and 5).
The WH12DMR was launched as an introductory model to promote the use of power tools among a broader range of customers. It was made available in three pearlescent metallic colors, another first in the industry (Fig. 6).
The newest in the series, the WH14DML, can be used with lightweight and high-energy lithium-ion batteries. It is available in four pearlescent metallic colors including the latest trend color, white (Fig. 7).
The concept of "aggressive design" is currently applied to all of our major power tool series, and the innovative and futuristic designs are creating stirs in markets worldwide (Fig. 8).
Our designs have won acclaim in internationally recognized design competitions. For three consecutive years from 2003 to 2005 we received Germany's iF Design Award, and in 2005 we won an Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) in the U.S (Figs. 9 and 10). In Japan we have won the largest number of Good Design Awards in the industry for seven consecutive years (Fig. 11). Starting from this year we are also exhibiting at Design Korea, whereby we hope to further establish our brand image (Fig. 12).
The Design Center also takes pride in its package designs, as evidenced by the stylish and functional stackable tool cases and cartons that make effective displays when stacked on the sales floors (Figs. 13 and 14).
The Design Center has also produced "Koki-chan," the industry's first ever promotional character based on the Cordless Impact Driver WH12DM2, as part of our efforts to make our products familiar to a broader range of customers (Fig. 15).
* Website of Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd.
http://www.hitachi-koki.com/
* Website of the Super Impact series
http://www.super-impact.com/ (in Japanese)
* Website of Hitachi Design
http://www.hitachi.co.jp/design/product/dmr_1.html (in Japanese)
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Fig.1.Impact driver featuring an exciting, innovative and aggressive design |
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[Left to right]Fig.2.Impact driver WH12DM, which revolutionized the concept of power tool design (right), and its more conventional counterpart (left)
Fig.3.The industry's first pivoting belt hook, created by our designers
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[Left to right]Fig.4.Impact driver WH12DM2.Evolved in design, it made news with its robotic appearance.Fig.5.Stickers for customizing the body.Distributing them over the Internet helped keep costs down.
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[Left to right]Fig.6.Impact driver WH12DMR, which again sent shock waves through the industry. The design was inspired by sports shoes.Fig.7.The latest series of impact drivers, WH14DML, which can be used with a lithium-ion battery |
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Fig.8.Power tools featuring aggressive designs that are causing sensations worldwide (renderings) |
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Fig.9.Winner of the world-renowned German iF Design Award in 2003, 2004 and 2005 |
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[Left to right]Fig.10.The industry's first winner of the prestigious U.S. Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) in 2005 Fig.11.Winner of the largest number of Good Design Awards in the industry, 2005 - 2006 |
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[Left to right]Fig.12. Cordless lanterns currently exhibited at Design Korea 2005
Fig.13.Stackable tool case |
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[Left to right]Fig.14.Cartons bearing images that form a continuous pattern when the cartons are stacked on the sales floor Fig.15."Koki-chan," the promotional character of the impact driver series, is popular among family members and children of impact driver users.
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