Sustainable design at Methven

Methven has created an iconic brand based on high quality, well-designed tapware with sustainability as one of its core values.

The enhanced environmental performance of Methven’s shower and tapware products has opened new markets and investment opportunities for the company.

Methven is being recognised internationally for its high quality design and sustainability practices. The company puts water and energy efficiency considerations at the forefront throughout the product development process.

Based in Auckland with a customer-care service in Dunedin, Methven employs about 500 staff across its New Zealand, Australia and UK operations. Methven’s designers are responsible for all new product development. They consider environmental impacts during the initial design stages, enabling the company to develop new products that provide unique sustainable solutions. While the company does redesign existing products, it recognises that new products with more exploratory design are the more desirable option for connecting innovation and global competitiveness.

“Considering environmental issues from the outset offers a much better long-term solution than simply modifying existing products.”
Kent Sneddon, Head of Design at Methven

Methven’s commitment to design is shown through its innovative approaches to product development. An example of this is its unique “wet lab”. This is a shower facility that allows consumers and company product developers to test the effectiveness of a new product from a very human perspective.

Sustainable design has become a powerful sales driver for Methven in overseas markets. In the year ending March 2007, offshore sales accounted for 43 per cent of the company’s operating revenue. In Australia, where water conservation is at the forefront of consumers’ concerns, shower and tapware sales rose 54 per cent to $23.7 million in 2007.

Methven’s commitment to sustainable design demonstrates that environmental considerations are not just a business compliance issue. Methven is an example of a New Zealand manufacturer tapping into the significant and growing opportunities for innovative products that deliver quality to the customer at the same time benefiting the environment. This strategy has proved a success with investors, employees and, most importantly, consumers.

Satin Jet – leading the way in sustainable shower design

One of the challenges of designing water-efficient showerware is maximising performance. The Methven Satin Jet shower technology has been recognised for specific, innovative technical features that provide water efficiency with excellent performance.

The Satin Jet uses micro-collisions of water to give a soft intensity of water similar to rainfall. This method means that a low-pressure shower delivers a showering experience similar to that of a high-pressure system. The main features of the Satin Jet are:

Water efficiency – the Satin Jet shower system uses up to 40 per cent less water than conventional high-pressure showers ie about 9 litres of water per minute, compared to between 12–25 litres of water per minute for conventional high-pressure showers
Energy efficiency – the Satin Jet saves energy by reducing the amount of water that has to be heated for a shower. A reduction in hot water use creates a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions
Performance – the absence of moving parts in Satin Jet showerheads also results in improved performance and extended product life.

The success of the Satin Jet design has opened up new markets for Methven which has signed license agreements to make and sell the shower technology in Italy, France, Greece, Turkey and Russia. The product is also proving extremely successful in water-conscious markets like Australia.

Methven is also extending the Satin Jet system to its full shower range. The success of the system reinforces the view that environmentally improved products need not suffer from inferior functional performance or problematic aesthetics.

Methven understands that good design, environmental innovation and consumer desirability can work in harmony.

“The key thing about Methven is the technology it has developed and that it has concentrated purely on shower and tapware. Its energy and water conservation is a really critical aspect of the ability to grow the business offshore.”
– Murray Gribben, AMP Capital Investors

Leadership

Methven has been established in New Zealand for more than 120 years. The company’s business model has been refined over the years. Business efficiencies, such as improved production processes and increases in technology have helped to reduce costs. However, Methven realised future growth had to come from expanding its markets. The only way to grow overseas markets was to have something unique and different, and the company determined that design had a critical role to play in achieving ultimate success.

At the start of the 1990s the company had just two people working in design, now there are 25 people in the design team, led by Kent Sneddon. Their focus is on new products and on delivering design-driven and fully resolved showerware that demonstrates the company’s expertise in marrying function, efficiency and sensory experience.

The Methven management team is committed to a company future based on strong product design. This design-led philosophy starts at the very top of the company. Rick Fala, Chief Executive of Methven, is a champion of good design and can be credited with leading the company away from contract manufacturing to this quality design-led approach. Rick refocused the company on quality tapware after it had diversified into contract manufacturing – making anything from golf club heads to yacht components.

“We have an informal policy that everyone is allowed to make a mistake or they are not pushing the boundaries.”
Rick Fala, CEO

Manufacturing efficiency

Methven’s move towards sustainability includes a commitment to reducing the environmental impacts of its manufacturing operations. To achieve this Methven has embraced lean manufacturing at its Auckland plant. This is a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste through continuous improvement. Lean manufacturing at Methven has created manufacturing processes that avoid waste and use energy and resources efficiently.

An example of lean manufacturing at Methven is its use of product family cells (or areas) to organise the factory layout. This is important for a company like Methven that has in excess of 700 products in its range. By keeping the entire manufacture of a product contained within a “cell”, the efficiency of manufacture is improved – machine set-ups are fast, through-put is maximised and multiple short-run products can flow efficiently through one cell.

Methven has also got smart in the design of its manufacturing machinery. Machines are designed to have multiple operations within a single machine. Where previously two or three machines would be required, now a single machine does the job by employing multiple tools. A machine that can lathe, drill, tap and thread enables a component to be manufactured in an energy-efficient way and with maximum flexibility to allow for design changes. These efficiency gains result in reduced operation and maintenance costs, improving the financial as well as environmental bottom line.

Methven also employs the principles of Kanban which is a technique for maintaining an orderly flow of materials to ensure efficiency and prevent waste during manufacturing. Kanban means Methven does not over-manufacture products resulting in surplus, but is still able to respond rapidly to customer needs.

Methven and the community

Methven connects directly with its customers by running focus groups and workshops that represent key demographics. Consumers are asked to talk about their expectations of shower performance. They are then involved in testing and providing feedback on the developing products in Methven’s wetlab facility.

Methven is committed to sharing its knowledge with design educators and students. The company is involved in the Design Led Futures programme conducted by Professor Simon Fraser at Victoria University, Wellington. Design Led Futures explores the significance of product sustainability and water conservation, helping to build sustainable design capacity. For more information, visit www.designledfutures.com.

Methven has had design students from Victoria University on internships. The company is also actively involved with the Design Institute of New Zealand (DINZ) sponsoring workshops and the BeST Design Awards.