2 minute read
Customer-Centric
Our company’s commitment to innovative, customer-centric and efficient products throughout our history has enabled us to become a global leader in delivering water heating and treatment technologies. As a leader in water technologies, the energy efficiency and water conservation improvements of our products have a substantial positive impact on our planet. “Innovation Has a Name” is our motto, and our commitment to innovation results in products that are highly efficient and meet the needs of our customers.
Our innovation process starts by listening to the voice of our customers to understand their needs and pain points so we can identify solutions. By starting with the local consumers’ input, we don’t take a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
WATER TREATMENT
In 2020, we continued our ongoing efforts to better understand the market needs for water treatment products in the United States, by commissioning research to build on the findings of an in-depth consumer insights study conducted in 2017. The 2017 study highlighted that, even if a consumer is aware of the risks of the presence of unhealthy contaminants in their water, such as lead, polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) and Chromium 6, they are confused about how to select a proper water treatment product. With these insights, we created selection tools to educate consumers and simplify the purchase process. The 2020 research gauged consumer knowledge and concerns about the quality of their drinking water, with the ultimate goal of uncovering insights that will help people find water treatment solutions they can trust.
We have conducted similar user forums and insight studies in China, India and Canada to ensure we are providing people with products that meet the needs of their markets. Furthermore, our China team visits more than 900 customers every year, including more than 400 water purifier customers, to better understand their needs and how to improve our products.
Water Treatment Survey findings:
• Trust in municipal drinking water quality is on the decline
• 1 in 3 U.S. adults chose lead as their top water contaminant concern
• Awareness around PFAS is on the rise
• Most people think it’s important for water filters to have third-party certifications, but the vast majority are not familiar with the leading organizations that test and certify these devices
WATER HEATING
The very high efficiencies of commercial heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) for water and space heating loads lead not only to substantial utility cost savings for customers, but also to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Thanks to long-standing and ongoing customer engagement efforts in our water heating business, we understand there is a current lack of effective commercial heat pump water heater (HPWH) sizing tools in the multifamily and commercial sectors. Current industry sizing uses assumptions based on estimated peak water usage with large safety factors and can greatly oversize systems.
