James Dyson wasn’t much of a student at an English boarding school. Yet he would become the founder of a $7 billion global manufacturing empire. Dyson gained fame as the inventor of a revolutionary vacuum cleaner that exploits the principle of the cyclone and never needs a replacement bag.
In Invention–A Life, he tells of the devastating experience of losing patent rights and being ousted from the company he had founded to manufacture his first notable invention- the “Ballbarrow”( a wheelbarrow that had a big red ball in the front instead of a wheel}. Although this venture ended in failure, the experience helped him succeeding in his bigger quest—the development of the vacuum cleaner.
Over a 4-year period, Dyson made 5,127 prototypes of the vacuum cleaner that would transform the way houses are cleaned. He risked all his resources, but out of many failures came success. His products—including vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, and fans and purifiers—are not only revolutionary technologies, but design classics– a legacy of his time studying at the Royal College of Art in the 1960s.
The first dual cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner (the model DC01) was sold initially through mail-order catalogs. It achieved bestseller status in spite of its unconventional features of being yellow; having an exposed, transparent and reusable plastic dust collection chamber in lieu of the traditional concealed disposable bag; and having a price tag several times that of a basic Hoover. After sales clerks and customers had the chance to witness Dyson’s machine pick up the dust conventional vacuum cleaners left behind, however, sales took off. His instincts were correct about how new features would triumph over traditional ones.
Dyson dramatically tells how his own company became one of the most inventive technology firms in the world, always looking to the future. He discusses the continuing obstacles—financial, political, regulatory, sociological, cultural—that frustrated his attempts to expand his manufacturing enterprises within the United Kingdom. This challenge drove him to move the bulk of his business to Singapore.
Dyson writes his success is due to “perseverance, taking risks and having a willingness to fail.” Inventors rarely have ‘eureka’ moments. Developing an idea and making it work takes time and patience. We fail every day. Failure is the best medicine—as long as you learn something.”
This is a great story to note when you teach Chapter 5, Design of Goods and Services.