Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Aug 13, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Aug 13, 2002 |
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Corporate
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IPR Electrolux to patent `washy talky' tech Our Bureau
Mr Ramesh Thondapi, Assistant General Manager (Marketing), Electrolux Kelvinator Ltd, demonstrating the `washy talky' washing machine at a press conference in Hyderabad on Monday.
HYDERABAD, Aug. 12 ELECTROLUX Kelvinator Ltd (EKL), part of the $14- billion Electrolux group, has applied for a patent for its latest "washy talky" technology. The technology works on an interactive voice response system, which guides the user of the washing machine through the complete wash process by voice instructions in English and Hindi. The brain of the machine, the fuzzy logic microcomputer, senses the weight of the wash load and decides the optimum wash programme, including the required water level and wash time, automatically. Mr Ramesh Thondapi, EKL's Assistant General Manager - Marketing, told newspersons here on Monday that the development of the new washing machine involved 14 months of research and development work by an Indian team. The Indian arm of the global white goods giant had not only designed and developed the product, but was also manufacturing it at its facility at Butibori in Maharashtra. Now, Mr Thondapi said, many countries, including Brazil and Sweden, were looking forward for the launch of the machines in their domestic markets. The 6 kg capacity machine, priced at Rs 16,000, was launched in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kochi recently. According to Mr Rahul Khanna, EKL's South Business Unit General Manager, the company has sold over 180 washy talkys in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the past three weeks. The company is also considering requests received from the consumers for provision of voice instructions in regional languages. Mr Khanna said that EKL was hopeful of posting a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore during the current year as against Rs 650 crore last year. The objective was to achieve 15 per cent market share by this year-end in washing machines and 30 per cent share in the refrigerator segment. It has targeted to sell 6,000 washy talkys by March next.
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