Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-20-2018

Disciplines

Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering | Industrial Technology

Course Number and Title

TSM 416: Technology Capstone

Department

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Major

Industrial Technology (Joy, Posegate, Mum)

Instructors

Joseph R. Vanstrom and Jacek A. Koziel

Problem Statement

KupRite is a startup business as of now. The KupRite idea was formed by Heather Blauer about 15 years ago. In the summer of 2016, while camping, she decided to share her idea with Kyle Steele who is now her partner with the aim of turning the KupRite concept into a business opportunity. “This led them to Scott Swenson, a consultant with the SBDC who introduced them to amazing resources”, said Kyle and Heather. One of the resources provided was BeraTek Industries which they utilized for their initial design and the prototype.

Sometimes when light cups, Tupperware, and toddler sippy cups are loaded on the top rack of a dishwasher, they flip and get filled with dirty water, hence leaving them unclean. This is the problem these two entrepreneurs are aiming to resolve with the KupRite product. They wanted us to improve their initial design, recommend better materials, identify potential suppliers and component producers, design for manufacturing (DFM) plan for small-scale production, and plan for scaling up that production.

In an attempt of determining the KupRite market size, there are roughly 93.45 million dishwashers used domestically. Blauer and Steele conducted a personal communication survey that shows 75% of US households are having this flip dish problem (Blauer). See appendixes (#1). They plan on penetrating 1% of the total user market which will result in sales of 690k units. As for competitors, they have Boon Span Dishwasher Net and Band It Dishwasher Loop currently in operation in the market. But once it is all said and done, the KupRite product will be leagues above the competition because it will deliver style, elegance, convenience, and flexibility while also incorporating user-friendly features.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31274/tsm416-180814-23

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