DCT Closet

Faculty : Faculty of chemical engineering

Program : Bachelor of engineering (hons.) chemical
Program Code : EH220
Course : Technology entrepreneurship
Course Code : ENT 600
Semester : 7
Name of product : DCT Closet
Name : Muhammad Afiq bin Johari (2016537573)

Submitted to:

SIR HARDIE EMRIE BIN ROSLY

Submission Date:
22nd MAY 2020

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TABLE OF CONTENT

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
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2. INTRODUCTION 4-6
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3. NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
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3.1 Definition 7
3.2 Classification on NPD 7-10
3.3 New Product Development Process
3.3.1 Research And Development 10-14
3.3.2 Product Design/ Features 14-15
3.3.3 Concept Testing 16
4. CONCLUSION 16
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5. APPENDICES 17-20
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6. REFERENCES 20
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1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The name of the innovation is ‘DCT Closet’ and DCT is stands for Dreams Come True. The
idea of this innovation is the closet that cleans, irons, and deodorizes your clothes before the
next wear by saving your time and energy. The target market for this invention is people
that live in the urban area with . It is kind of burdensome to the cleaners to scoop out the
solid rubbish. Nowadays, there are many invention that been made by an inventor. However,
most machines cannot operate automatically. So that is why the machine we built is
automatically to pick up the solid rubbish out of the drain. The machine is a mechanism of a
lift, escalator, and bicycle gear. According to Wikipedia, an escalator is a type of vertical
transportation in the form of a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying
people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of
individually linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain
horizontal. Instead transporting people, we improvised the function to transport the solid
trash. “Nathan Ames, a patent solicitor from Saugus, Massachusetts, is credited with
patenting the first escalator in 1859, despite the fact that no working model of his design was
ever built. His invention, the revolving stairs, is largely speculative and the patent
specifications indicate that he had no preference for materials or potential use (he noted that
steps could be upholstered or made of wood, and suggested that the units might benefit the
infirm within a household use), though the mechanization was suggested to run either by
manual or hydraulic power.” (Ames, N. "Revolving Stairs," U. S. Patent 25076. August 9,
1859. Available: http://uspto.gov). So in other words, we apply this mechanism in order to
transport the solid rubbish.

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2.0 INTRODUCTION

The issues of clogged and dirty drain are not a new phenomenon in our beloved country
Malaysia. Hence, we see or hear in the news and the newspaper about this issue almost
everyday. This phenomenal issue usually occurs at any places. Most of it occurs at urban area
such as stalls, residential area, and streets. Thus the results of it will create an unpleasant
sight and smell. According to the New Straits Time Online (15th May 2016), “Every year,
Malaysia is plagued by one of two natural phenomena which is haze and floods. Flooding is
caused by copious amounts of rain falling on low-lying land. But, more often than not, floods
can be caused by poor drainage systems or, worse yet, the indiscriminate act of people
throwing rubbish into drains.” Besides, drain clogging can lead to breeding of Aedes that can
cause dengue. As we know, Malaysia has all time high dengue cases that lead to death. Yet
this is an issue that should be taken very seriously by Malaysian people. If not taken, who
will? Do not put any high hopes for the government to taken in. As an independent Malaysian
that full with integrity, we should take responsible in order to save our mother earth. The
machine we built is for that purposes, to clean the drain. Most of the rubbish in the drain is
quite difficult to clean with the solids and liquids and also a combination. We can clean the
liquid, sludge, etc. with some chemicals detergent and cleaners, but what about the solid one?
In order to clean the liquid rubbish, we must first to clean and pick up the solid one first. So
that is why the machine we built can do both either self-regulated or automatically pick-up
the solid waste from the drain. By having this innovation, we expected that there will be no
wastes from household in the drainage system thus make the world a better place.

In order to get the data statistic about this DP Pro application, survey had been made
by giving questionnaire to the selected target. From that survey, it recorded many data that
showing the opportunity for DP Pro. Based on the figure 2.1, it is recorded that the majority
of respondent is female with 63% while for the male is 37%. This survey is targeted to the
citizen in Malaysia especially in urban area with age range of 20 years old to 50 years old.

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 Figure 2.1: Gender of respondents

Figure 2.2: Age group of respondents

Based on figure 2.2, it is recorded that age group of respondents shows 63% with
age range of 20 to 30 years old and 21.9% with age range of 50 years old and above.
Meanwhile, for the remaining age range of 40 to 50 years old and 30 to 40 years old are in a
small scale which are 11% and 4%, respectively. In a range of 20 to 30 years old people are
trying to start a career which they usually busy with their work and do not have enough
time to clean their drain at home. Meanwhile, in a range of 50 years old and above, they are
getting older and cannot afford to clean their drain by themselves. In addition, for age range
of 40 to 50 years old and 30 to 40 years old, people are usually living with their own family
and have children which means they have more manpower in order to clean the at drain
their home.

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 Figure 2.3: Place respondents’ staying

Based on figure 2.3, the percentage of respondents staying in urban area is more
higher compared to rural area which 67.1% are staying in rural area and 32.9% are staying in
urban area. As we know, clogged and dirty drains are often happen in urban area. This is
because some people are still throwing rubbish in drain recklessly without think about the
effect of it. Rationally, increasing in number of people would increase the number of waste
too. This is why flash flood is frequently occurs in urban area during heavy rain.

According to the method that had been done in order to collect the data, there are few
limitations which the numbers of respondent are not enough which lead to less opinion from
public. Besides, the questions are left unanswered that can cause the received data were not
enough. Hence, this can make the NPD process is harder in order to satisfy people needs.
Apart from that, there are few limitations of the product which is the machine cannot lift
heavy waste because it can damage the bicycle gear. The machine cannot be place in the
drain as water will damage the motor to run the machine.

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3.0 NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

3.1 Definition

Product is something that been created by an inventor to satisfy people needs. New
Product Development is process of bringing a new product to the marketplace. DP Pro is
meant a machine that good in cleaning waste in drain by pick-up or collect the waste.  DP Pro
is name from Drain Pick-up Professional which means the machine is good in collecting and
cleaning waste in drain. Our product engages in this process due to changes in consumer
preferences, increasing competition and advances in technology or to capitalise on a new
opportunity. DP Pro can be conclude in one of the improvement and revision to existing
product line which this product are made better to improve in terms of feature or function to
give advantages to the users.

3.2 Classification of NPD

Nowadays, there are so many product developments to clean the drainage system. For
instance, there is a product called “The Interceptor” designed by The Ocean Cleanup that
used to clean and collect waste at Klang River in Malaysia. Thus, DP Pro is not a new
product. DP Pro is an improvement of existing drain pick-up tool for household use. There
are three-stage technological life cycles which are the new invention period known as the
embryonic stage, the technology improvement period, also known as the growth stage and the
mature technology period or maturity stage as shown in figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2: The S-curve of Technological Progress

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In new invention period, this product has slow initial growth as the experimentation and

initial problems are worked out of the system. The product are not involved at this the

stage as the product is not completely a new product. Meanwhile, in technology

improvement period or growth stage, this product is an improvement from existing

product in market in order to clean the drain especially at residential area. In stage three

which is mature technology period or maturity stage, the technology used in this

product is based on research. An escalator is a type of vertical transportation in the

form of a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between

floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked

steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.

Instead transporting people, we improvised the function to transport the solid trash.

“Nathan Ames, a patent solicitor from Saugus, Massachusetts, is credited with

patenting the first escalator in 1859, despite the fact that no working model of his

design was ever built. His invention, the revolving stairs, is largely speculative and the

patent specifications indicate that he had no preference for materials or potential use (he

noted that steps could be upholstered or made of wood, and suggested that the units

might benefit the infirm within a household use), though the mechanization was

suggested to run either by manual or hydraulic power.” (Ames, N. "Revolving Stairs,"

U. S. Patent 25076. August 9, 1859. Available: http://uspto.gov). So in other words, we

apply this mechanism in order to transport the solid rubbish. It is quite possible to build

an escalator using proper materials, knowledge and our imagination. Based on this

project -“An inventor named Eric built a slinky escalator from Walmart.” (The slinky

machine: a slinky escalator at http://woodgears.ca/toys/slinky.html, 2015) which is why

we think it is possible to built a very own escalator.

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The escalator also uses the bicycle gear mechanism. According to Wikipedia, a bicycle

chain is a roller chain that transfers power from the pedals to the drive-wheel of a

bicycle, thus propelling it. Most bicycle chains are made from plain carbon or alloy

steel, but some are nickel-plated to prevent rust, or simply for aesthetics. The chains on

the bicycle are strong enough to support the weight of the trash that is carried on. In

order to use the chains, we must use the sprocket. According to Yang, Y. Yeo, J

&Priya, S. (2012), bicycles are known to be rich source of kinetic energy, some of

which is available for harvesting energy.

“A sprocket or sprocket-wheel is a profiled wheel with teeth, cogs, or even sprockets

that mesh with a chain, track or other perforated or indented material. The name

'sprocket' applies generally to any wheel upon which radial projections engage a chain

passing over it. It is distinguished from a gear in that sprockets are never meshed

together directly, and differs from a pulley in that sprockets have teeth and pulleys are

smooth.” ("Sprocket - Definition". Merriam-Webster).Also according to Kamada, K

(2009), a bicycle sprocket assembly has two or more sprockets in which chain is shifted

between adjacent pairs of the sprockets.

We use the mechanism on this machine because we want to do it manually, so instead

using motors to turning the escalator, we applied the bicycle gearing mechanism and

pedal to moving the escalator. “The gear system on a bicycle provides an easily visible

example of the relationship between torque and angular acceleration” (College Physics,

Volume 10 by Raymond Serway, Jerry Faughn, Chris Vuille, 2008).

The lift is also applied into this automatic drain-cleaner. According to Wikipedia an

elevator or lift is a type of vertical transportation that moves people or goods between

floors (levels, decks) of a building, vessel, or other structure. Elevators are generally

powered by electric motors that either drive traction cables or counterweight systems

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 like a hoist, or pump hydraulic fluid to raise a cylindrical piston like a jack. In

agriculture and manufacturing, an elevator is any type of conveyor device used to lift

materials in a continuous stream into bins or silos. But instead using pulley, we just use

the bicycle gear to move the chains. We just use the lift concept to lift up the trash.

“Modern elevators are the crucial element that makes it practical to live and work

dozens of stories above ground. The concept of an elevator is incredibly simple -- it's

just a compartment attached to a lifting system. Tie a piece of rope to a box, and you've

got a basic elevator.” (Harris, Tom,2002). The life span for our product is estimated to

be at least 5 years as the material used are antirusting.

3.3 New Product Development Process

New Product Development (NPD) process consists of the activities that carried out by
businesses in developing new products. The activities are series of formation gathering and
evaluation stages. By these activities, new product decisions on the part of the business can
be improved by reducing the level of risk and eliminate the factor that can lead to product
failure. Developing the NPD involve the following activities;

Research &
Development

Product
Design

Concept
Testing

Build
Prototype

Figure 3.3: The stages of New Product Development.

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3.3.1 Research and Development

Idea Generation

The generation of idea was from the observation that has been made. The problems that occur
in the environment make us think on how to solve the problem and came up with a solution.
There are so many rubbish in the river and ocean and because of this, the ocean are polluted
and full with waste from human that cause the marine life facing extinction. As a result, the
straw plastic consumption is decreasing. Honestly, drinking water using paper straw that been
commercialize nowadays are so troublesome because the straw will absorb the water and
make it less functional. Besides, flash flood is frequently happen at my resident area
whenever heavy rain in long period. This can cause a big problem to a car driver because they
normally afraid their car might be submerged in the flood thus lead to traffic congestion that
usually occur in cities. Other than that, increasing Dengue cases in Malaysia that cause by a
clogging drain is one of the factors in idea generation. To solve these problems, we came up
with DP Pro since most people cannot afford as they do not have enough time or energy to
clean the drain at their home regularly.

Idea Screening

Based on the idea generation, we have decided to develop DP Pro by following features;

I. Easy to operate
Instead of using traditional way which people need to scoop the rubbish by
themselves that use more energy, we designed DP Pro to collect the rubbish and all
we need to do is just take out the rubbish from the collector compartment in the DP
Pro.

II. Save Energy Consumption

We planned to make the machine work in both either automatic or self-regulate. Thus,
if the customer cannot afford to clean the drain, they can turn it to automatic mode
and if they want to save the electric consumption, they can operate it manually.
Besides, instead of using DC motor to run the machine, we replace it with AC motor.
This is because DC motor need battery as energy supply and the energy consumption
will be high. Thus the battery needs to be change frequently. We also planned to

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 attach limit switch to the machine so that the motor do not need to operate even
though there is no rubbish.

Market Survey

In order to investigate the marketability of our product development, a set of questionnaire

were distributed through Google forms. First section is about background information of
respondents. For the second section is to analyse the opinion from the respondents regarding
to this drain pick-up tool named as DP Pro.

Figure 3.3.1.1: Respondents clean their drain in a year.

From figure 3.3.1.1, it shows the percentage of respondents clean the drain at their home in a
year. Approximately, 39.7% of respondents clean the drain once a month, 21.9% of
respondents clean the drain once a week and 16.4% clean it once a year. However, the
percentage of respondents that never clean their drain is quite higher which is 21.9%.
Therefore, we would like to develop a drain pick-up tool called DP Pro, a machine that
collect waste in the drain automatically and can be generate manually too hence saving time
and energy. From figure 3.3.1.2 shows that 52.1 % of respondents think they need this
product, 42.5 % felt neutral about the needs of this product and only a few think that they do
not need this product.

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 Figure 3.3.1.2: Needs of the product

Figure 3.3.1.3: feature that the respondent wants

Figure 3.3.1.3 shows some feature that respondents wants from the product. DP Pro is a
simple machine tha easy to use for any level of age. Beside the material that used for the
compartment are a good material which is mild steel to prevent form rusting and can be use
for a longer time. The machine also easy to carry incase the customer want to place it
different place.

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 Figure 3.3.1.4: Estimate cost from the respondents

The figure above shows the cost of DP Pro that respondent willing to spend. About 41.9% of
respondents want the price of the DP Pro below RM50. Meanwhile, 37.8 % of respondents
expecting the price of DP Pro is around RM50 to Rm100. The remaining 12.2% and 8.1% of
respondents willing to pay for the product as much RM100 to RM150 and around RM150
and above, respectively. DP Pro is suitable for people that live in urban area which they
usually busy with work that do not have enough time or old people because they don’t have
enough energy and strenght that cannot afford to clean the drain at their home.

3.3.2 Product Design/ Features

DP Pro is a machine that made from mild steel that use the concept of escalotor using
bicycle belt to collect the rubbish. Each compartment of the machine is differing in
size. For the compartment that collects the waste are 35cm wide and 118cm long to
place in the drain. Spring with 15cm long is attached to this part. Meanwhile for the
compartment that stores the waste material are 60cm wide and 60cm height. Inside
this compartment a net with 60cm wide and 30cm long are placed. The gear shaft
radius is 5cm and the collectors itself are differ in size. The motor type use in this
machine is AC motor that connected with limit switch and electric supply. The
bicycle belt then will be attached to four pair of sprockets on both sides. Later, the
sprockets itself will be attached to two side of shafts whereas on of the side of the
shafts will be attached with the handle that will be used to move the collector from
bottom to top. Both of the shafts were weld to the metal that is approximately 30° of
steepness.

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Figure 3.3.2 : DP Pro design

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3.3.3 Concept Testing

DP Pro will paced outside of the drain. The collector compartment will place inside
the drain to collect the rubbish. For manually used, the user just neet to rotate the handle that
attach to the shaft. Then the rubbish will be collect by the collector and moving up to the
compartment which store the waste material. Meanwhile, for automatic used, the collecter
have load with the waste material, then the spring will compresses and the limit switch will
close thus give signal to the AC motor to rotate the gear shaft. Then the waste material wil be
collect and moving up to the store compartment. DP Pro are easily to use in order to collect
the rubbish inside the drain as it can be operate manually or automatically. Different size of
the collector is to withstand the streght of the machine when it collect heavy rubbish. The
limit switch is used in order to save the energy which if there is no rubbish, the spring will
not compress and the limit switch will remain open and prevent the electric supply transfer
into the motor. The net that place inside the storage compartment can make the user take out
and remove the rubbish easily .

4.0 Conclusion

In conclusion, DP Pro has potential to develop into innovative product as there is no

product is similar to this design of product especially for houshold use. This product make the
life of a person easier. By having this product we can save our time and energy to clean up
the drain at our home. Moreover, most of the respondent are interest to buy this product as
the feature of this product are diffenrent compared to other tool to clean the drain.

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5.0 APPENDICES

Sample of questionnaire

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6.0 References

1. Automatic Drainage Cleaning System at

http://www.slideshare.net/newagents1/automatic-drainage-cleaning-system
2. Escalator. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia from
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Escalator&oldid=734050284
3. Escalator. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia from
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Escalator&oldid=734050284

4. Whitt, Frank R.; David G. Wilson (1982). Bicycling Science (Second ed.).
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. pp. 277–300.

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