16-05-2013, 04:49 PM
Godrej ChotuKool
Godrej ChotuKool.ppt (Size: 2.48 MB / Downloads: 89)
About ChotuKool
As the brand name suggests, ChotuKool is a small cooling device that works almost like a refrigerator
The product has been recently developed by Godrej & Boyce Ltd
ChotuKool is currently being sold in villages of Maharashtra and Goa in India with some success
The company plans to make it available in other states before the festive season of 2011
Trends Affecting Refrigeration Industry
According to UN Commission on Sustainable Development, one third of all food in India is lost to spoilage
According to CEAMA, refrigerator penetration in India is only 18%
70% of India still lives in rural areas where electricity supply is limited and power cuts are frequent
No options available for BOP citizens
Space is a constraint in rural households
ChotuKool - Competitive Priorities
Technology Leadership:
ChotuKool could be the first refrigerator that works on a chip like the one used to keep laptops and computers cool, instead of a conventional compressor
It has the option to run on 12V DC, battery, inverter or even solar power instead of gridpower
Although the fridge may not be used to make ice, it could cool stuff to unto 20˚ Celsius below ambient temperature.
Market Segment & Opportunities
The market for ChotuKool was primarily rural India
In CK Prahlad’s words, ChotuKool was targeted towards fulfilling the needs of those at the “bottom of the pyramid”
Making the product attractive for urban India was not ruled out
The management at Godrej was confident of a huge success
Iterative Design & Continuous Integration
Godrej & Boyce’s strategy for inclusive growth was not to just offer its customer a product, but to include the rural consumer to co-create their own product along with its engineers
This helped the team come up with features that are a perfect fit for the rural customer
Working with the original prototypes and several others that had followed, rural customer collaborated with Godrej on every aspect of the product’s design. They helped plan the interior arrangements, made suggestions for the lid, and provided insights on color (eventually settling on candy red).
System-Level Design
Godrej was into the Refrigerator business over 3 decades thus Chotukool was an addition to its product line.
Since the project was aimed for villages it was required to keep it cost effective & simple. The part B.O.M (Bill of material) reflected only 20 parts against 200 parts in the conventional refrigerators, thus reducing the complexity and making it compact.
The fan for dispelling heat was similar to the ones used in the laptops for discharging heat (standardisation).
So every one of the ChotuKool's essential components sits in one of the lid's two detachable parts
Godrej abandoned the regular method of cooling by compressor found in every domestic fridge and even in the Eco-Design team's prototype and opted for a technique known as thermoelectric cooling (using the Chinese version of thermoelectric components which are less expensive).
Most part of the design work was conducted at its Research and development centre at Mumbai, while the manufacturing was done from its plant in Pune.