Nordic Open Innovation Challenge 2024

BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM

Freezers and fridges are an important part of Electrolux’s worldwide business.

As part of our standard process, we currently use a polymer foam (polyurethane) as insulation between the plastic and the metal parts of the doors. It is applied as a “liquid” on the plastic surface with an open mould and then the mould closes to allow for the chemical reaction to take place. In certain cases, since there is air inside the cavity of the door, an “air bubble” remains trapped in what we call “door bin support” – and the end result is that the support is not completely filled.

Electrolux is therefore looking for solutions to reduce potential air bubble formation during our door foaming process.

Currently, we experience bubble formation in some cases when foaming our doors. We believe that we can increase our product’s reliability and performance by reducing air bubble formation.

Solutions could include:

1. Changes to our existing door-foaming process.
2. Material innovations (E.g. new type of foam, or an entirely new material).
3. Any other innovation (E.g. utilisation of AI, or any other novel technology).

We have previously already looked at the following solutions:

• Piercing holes in the plastic – not acceptable for European Regulations regarding food contact materials

Solution providers are invited to propose any novel solutions, but we believe the likelihood for viable alternative solutions to foaming is low. We have looked extensively at alternatives to our existing foaming process but have not found any viable alternatives.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS / PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Technical Requirements:

1. Compliance with all European GMP and FCM regulations (good manufacturing practices and food contact material).
2. Tangible improvement of door bins supports’ filling
3. Account for sustainability aspects

Performance Requirements:

Electrolux is unable to provide specific performance criteria as these will be very solution-specific. Performance criteria will be generically evaluated by:

• Return on Investment (ROI) and ease of implementation
• Payback period
• Quality of improvements
  

COST TARGET

Cost targets will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

TIMEFRAME FOR DEVELOPMENT

The timeframe will depend on the maturity of the proposed solution. We forecast to need approximately 6-9 months for the pilot and will subsequently consider further commercial roll-out.

POTENTIAL MARKET / BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

If the solution is successful, Electrolux is willing to support a further roll-out across their available regions and sites where the solution is applicable according to the standards and needs.

RESOURCES

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

We are looking for SMEs and startups with solutions that can be implemented in a relatively short time frame (TRL of 5 and higher).

Intellectual Property (IP): For Background IP (BIP), both parties will retain their respective IPs bought into the project. In the event of new Foreground IP (FIP) creation, ownership will be determined on a case-by-case basis dependent on contributions of parties.

BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM

It is a standard part of Electrolux’s testing and quality assurance protocol to test our appliances during or after assembly. As part of this testing process, we conduct tests specifically looking at bubble formation, and the formation of cracks in both plastic components and foam. We currently use a statistics-based testing method where we take a certain sample of the appliances and cut open/out the component, part or material we like to test to observe the foam and/or crack formation. This process is time-consuming, destructive and labor-intensive.

Electrolux is interested in novel NDT solutions since we believe such solutions might help us to:

1. Decrease cost
2. Improve quality
3. Reduce time per inspection

Electrolux is therefore looking for solution providers to help us find solutions to develop novel non-destructive testing solutions and technologies to detect bubble and crack formation in plastic components and foam for our appliances.

Several ineffective testing methods we previously tried (and are currently uninterested in) includes:

1. X-Ray Technology: Although X-ray technology can see inside the component,it also has significant downsides, including: (1) cost of implementation, (2) significant upfront equipment cost, (3) time taken to perform a scan.
2. Thermal Cameras: We have tried heating appliances and components to see if we can observe bubbles and/or cracks through thermal cameras. This method was suboptimal since heating up components (especially plastic components) also leads to deformation.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS / PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Technical Requirements:

1. Solutions should be able to test a depth of 3 to 15 mm.
2. Solutions should be able to permeate through calcium and plastic materials.
3. Solutions should be able to detect bubble and crack diameters from 1mm and above
4. Solutions should be able to analyse and collate the location where cracks and bubbles form so we can analyse this afterwards
5. Ideally, solutions should include dashboards and KPIs so we can analyse and improve crack and bubble formation over time
6. Solutions should take less time than our current manual testing method. Any improvement that is significant is interesting and acceptable to us
7. Ideally, solutions should be installed within the assembly leading to a 100% test coverage. We understand this might not be feasible and are also willing to accept a statistics (sample-based) testing protocol outside of our assembly line
8. Solutions should be fully compliant with quality, ergonomy and safety standards

Performance Requirements:

Electrolux is not able to provide specific performance criteria as these will be very solution-specific. Performance criteria will be generically evaluated by:

• Return on Investment (ROI) and ease of implementation
• Payback period
• Quality of improvements
  

COST TARGET

Cost targets will be determined on a case-by-case basis dependent on the solution

TIMEFRAME FOR DEVELOPMENT

The timeframe will depend on the maturity of the proposed solution. We forecast to need approximately 6-9 months for the pilot and will subsequently consider further commercial roll-out.

POTENTIAL MARKET / BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

If the solution is successful, Electrolux is willing to support a further roll-out across their available regions and sites where the solution is applicable according to the standards and needs.

RESOURCES

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Electrolux is looking for SMEs and startups with solutions that can be implemented in a relatively short time frame (TRL of 5 and higher).

Intellectual Property (IP): For Background IP (BIP), both parties will retain their respective IPs bought into the project. In the event of new Foreground IP (FIP) creation, ownership will be determined on a case-by-case basis dependent on contributions of parties.

BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM

It is a standard part of Electrolux’s quality assurance protocol to test our appliances during assembly. Standards tests consider elements like safety, functionality, and durability, and are performed in ideal laboratory conditions. Currently, Electrolux ensures our appliances are tested in full accordance with European Union (EU) regulations and standards.

While our tests are fully compliant with all regulatory frameworks, in today’s world, many households will have an increasing amount of additional appliances and devices that are connected to the grid. Some examples would include Electric Vehicle (EV) Panels and heat pumps. Usually, these devices and appliances are connected to an inverter to convert energy from DC to AC. These inverters often affect the energy grid and the current, and it is not currently possible to test such real-life conditions and scenarios.

Electrolux is therefore looking for solution providers to help us find solutions to develop novel testing solutions and scenarios for the aforementioned real-life household scenario.

For Electrolux, the business case associated with this solution consists of three components:

1. A potential reduction in service interventions
2. A potential improvement in appliance reliability
3. A potential impact on sales (since the product will perform better)

We are open for solution providers to propose any innovative solution.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS / PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Technical Requirements:

1. Our current test protocol takes about 1 minute per appliance. In an ideal scenario, we would like to find a solution / test protocol that can be done in parallel within a similar time frame so that assembly is not affected.
2. We are willing to accept an additional testing time of up to 30 seconds (maximum), but would prefer to stay within the 1 minute total testing time.
3. The system should be able to check the variance output of different inverters. Together with solution providers, Electrolux can define a testing protocol that captures the most common household situations with a certain degree of confidence.
4. We would like to look at solutions that cause minimal disruptions to our existing assembly process.
5. If it is not possible to design a solution that can be fully integrated into our existing testing process, we are also open to looking at a stand-alone testing protocol in the lab. In such scenarios, tests would be done based on a statistical check.
6. The current standards we use are EN 30, EN 60335, EMC standard IEC 61000

Performance Requirements:

Electrolux is not able to provide specific performance criteria as these will be very solution-specific. Performance criteria will be generically evaluated by:

• Return on Investment (ROI) and ease of implementation
• Payback period
• Quality of improvements

COST TARGET

Cost targets will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

TIMEFRAME FOR DEVELOPMENT

The timeframe will depend on the maturity of the proposed solution. We forecast to need approximately 6-9 months for the pilot and will subsequently consider further commercial roll-out.

POTENTIAL MARKET / BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

If the solution is successful, Electrolux is willing to support a further roll-out across other locations with implementations in EU, APAC, LA and NA regions and 8 production sites.

RESOURCES

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

We are looking for SMEs and startups with solutions that can be implemented in a relatively short time frame (TRL of 5 and higher).

Intellectual Property (IP): For Background IP (BIP), both parties will retain their respective IPs bought into the project. In the event of new Foreground IP (FIP) creation, ownership will be determined on a case-by-case basis before the collaboration starts and dependent on contributions of parties, and based on the pre-existing BIPs.

BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS / PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Technical Requirements:

• The solution should have the following basic features:
  1. The ability to upload a 2D floor plan in the system.
  2. The ability to instantly project the floorplan in 3D into an in-store LED Cave.
  3. The ability to customize layout and play around with various appliances, furniture and other SKU’s including customization of variables such as colour and composition.
  4. The ability to physically print out the visualization once the customer is satisfied.
• The solution should be able to integrate with our warehouse management system, including all our SKU’s.
• The solution should be able to integrate with our ERP system (Microsoft Business Central).

• We target the solution to enable an increase in our conversion rate. Currently our conversion rate stands at approximately 60%.
• We target for the solution to increase new homeowners group buy turnout by 3X.
• We are looking for a potential ROI within 2 years after implementation of the solution.

COST TARGET

Cost targets will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

TIMEFRAME FOR DEVELOPMENT

Phase 1: POC development: Q1 2025.

Phase 2: Commercial roll-out: to be determined on a case-by-case basis, target implementation by Q1 2026.

POTENTIAL MARKET / BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Gain City is looking to support a further pilot implementation in our store in Tampines. If successful, a second roll-out is possible in other megastores we operate.

We are looking to gain exclusive rights to utilize the solution for Singapore and are happy to support further roll-out to 2 other stores in Singapore.

RESOURCES

• Up to S$15,000 to support the pilot development.
• Proposals will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis depending on the quality and feasibility of the proposed solutions.

• Mentorship and support for solution development.
• Access to relevant datasets, and pilot site(s).

• Up to S$10,000 grant support from EnterpriseSG.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

We are looking for SMEs and startups with solutions that can be implemented in a relatively short time frame (TRL of 5 and higher).

For Background IP (BIP), both parties will retain their respective IPs brought into the project. In the event of new Foreground IP (FIP) creation, potential ownership will be determined on a case-by-case basis dependent on the contributions of each party.

BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM

HomesToLife is a home furnishing brand selling a range of furniture from sofas to dining tables. We are looking for an end-to-end 3D visualisation system to speed up the furniture customisation process, thus shortening sales cycles and increasing conversion.

Customers make purchasing decisions based on different factors, including price, furniture aesthetics, and (primarily) space constraints. This causes delays in their purchasing decision

Our goal is to facilitate customers’ decision-making process to increase the number of conversions when the customers receive their quotations. Our current rate from closing to quotation is about 80%, meaning 20% of our customers do not make a purchasing decision after receiving a quotation. We would like to increase this conversion percentage by implementing an end-to-end 3D visualisation system. We believe significant efficiency gains can be achieved by allowing customers to understand how the particular piece of furniture they are interested in fits into their floor plan.

We are therefore looking for an end-to-end system that can be used both in-store and online, where customers would upload their floor plans and a generative AI system automatically configures the furniture inside their homes.

Our current customer journey can be expressed as follows:

1. Customers visit and determine if they like a particular furniture. They will be able to see different variations in our retail store.
2. Sales team will note down a customer’s preferences on variables including size and colour.
3. A quotation will be provided including price, customisation and a visualisation of the layout and floor plan (through a regular picture).
4. The quotation will be provided immediately, or alternatively it will be shared later via WhatsApp or email

• Instagram stickers of our furniture paired with pictures taken by customers to show what integration might look like.
• home 3D solutions. We opted against implementing such solutions as they often rely on existing floor plan templates rather than allowing for direct visualisation of the customer’s floor plan.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS / PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Technical Requirements:

• The solution should be able to integrate with our Sage CRM system to automatically populate the floor plan based on the quotation and specific piece of furniture the customer has selected.
• The solution needs to be integrated into the HomesToLife website as a login member-only feature (accessible after logging in).
• The solution should be deployable via laptop.
• The solution should include a login and account function.
• The solution should enable customers to upload floor plans or photos of their homes.
• The solution should be fully integrated with the HomesToLife database of furniture (CAD-drawings can be made available).
• The solution should automatically configure possible layouts using generative AI, giving customers 3 different options for what the furniture would like inside their homes.
• The solution should also allow for manual configuration too so that our sales team can edit the configuration if needed.
• The solution should be integrated with our quotation system so automatic quotations can be provided.
• We are open for integrations with open-source LLMs for image generation, prompting and questioning.
• We are looking for integration with an AI assistant that can guide the customers by providing feedback (on material and style choices, discounts etc.) throughout the process.

• The solution should enable an increase to the overall number of quotations by about 20%.
• The solution should increase our conversion rates by at least 10% (from 80% currently, to 90%).

COST TARGET

Cost targets will be determined on a case-by-case basis. 

TIMEFRAME FOR DEVELOPMENT

Phase 1: POC development: Q1 2025

Phase 2: Commercial roll-out: to be determined on a case-by-case basis, target implementation by Q21 2025.

POTENTIAL MARKET / BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

If the solution is successful, HomesToLife is willing to support a further roll-out across other stores. We have existing premises in China (300 stores) India (18 stores), Singapore (6 stores) as well as Taiwan, Philippines, Korea and Japan (4 stores).

Additionally, we are open for solution providers to deploy their solution in other non-competing market segments.

RESOURCES

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

We are looking for SMEs and startups with solutions that can be implemented in a relatively short time frame (TRL of 5 and higher).

For Background IP (BIP), both parties will retain their respective IPs brought into the project. In the event of new Foreground IP (FIP) creation, HomesToLife is agreeable to FIP being retained by the solution provider.

BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM

Rémy Cointreau operates many Global Travel Retail (GTR) stores, notably in places like airports. In these competitive retail environments where many brands are represented, meeting retailers’ expectations for brand exposure, including brand space, visibility and presentation can be very challenging. Many brands are displayed on standard wall bays, gondola fixtures, endcaps or generic shelves with routine Point of Sales Materials (POSM). Moreover, each Retail Service Associate has limited time (on average only 3 minutes) to engage with customers, making it difficult to engage customers to ultimately increase customer conversion.

To address this, we are seeking innovative solutions to create novel retail experiences to enhance customer engagement and drive sales. We believe an immersive brand experience can be created through elements such as tasting, education and/or discovery of products without the presence of a Service Associate.

Many brands have tried different approaches, including scented notes, digital screens, self-discovery touch screens, QR codes for information, digital cocktail recipes. Whilst these tools are digital and sustainable, they lack real attraction and immersion.

Rémy Cointreau welcomes all solutions for new product interactions and enhanced customer experiences. The solution must be pragmatic and consider space and time constraints, as travellers have limited time to engage.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS / PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Technical Requirements:

• The solution should have the following basic features:
  1. The solution needs to fit into the gondola and wall bays to be used during activations.
  2. The solution needs to fit the following indicative dimensions (in case it is a physical piece):
     • Height: 320 mm
     • Width: 275 mm
     • Base length: 400 mm
• The solution cannot have a short expiry date (at least three months).
• The solution must be sustainable (sustainability is a key strategic focus of the group).
• The solution must be accessible to customers (without support from sales representatives).
• The solution must follow the standard approval requirements of airport retailers.
• The solution should integrate with different pre-existing loyalty programmes (these programmes are brand-specific)

Performance Requirements:

• We target the solution to increase our conversion rate (current average rate at 30%).
• We target the solution to increase the number of items purchased.
• We target the solution to monitor the engagement (e.g. how many customers are engaging with the activation).
  

COST TARGET

Cost targets will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

TIMEFRAME FOR DEVELOPMENT

Phase 1: POC development: Q1 2025.

Phase 2: Commercial roll-out: to be determined on a case-by-case basis, target implementation by Q2 2025.

POTENTIAL MARKET / BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

If the solution is implemented successfully, Rémy Cointreau is willing to explore further roll-out and development in up to 30 stores and 50 activations. Additionally, we are looking to use the solution exclusively for the first year after implementation.

RESOURCES

• Up to S$30,000 to support the pilot development.
• Proposals will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis depending on the quality and feasibility of the proposed solutions.
• Disbursement of incentives will only be upon achievement of agreed-upon milestones.

• Mentorship and support for solution development.
• Access to relevant datasets, and pilot site(s).

• Up to S$20,000 grant support from EnterpriseSG.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

We are looking for SMEs and startups with solutions that can be implemented in a relatively short time frame (TRL of 5 and higher). For Background IP (BIP), both parties will retain their respective IPs brought into the project. In the event of new Foreground IP (FIP) creation, Rémy Cointreau is agreeable to FIP being retained by the solution provider.