Case study: “Handpresso”

Handpresso had gone from strength to strength since its creation in November 2006. Its pioneering handheld espresso machine had been successfully brought to market, with steady sales year on year. The auto espresso machine that had later been developed had generated much interest, leading to a partnership with a major Italian coffee roaster. This in turn had resulted in agreements with two large auto manufacturers. By the end of 2013 the small French company had even begun negotiations with an electrical goods manufacturer with regards to a potential partnership. As a small player in a huge global market this was probably the best way to grow. However, Handpresso was equally aware that taking this route might have a direct impact on its own branded offerings.

Nielsen Innovation

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

Leonardo da Vinci

This was the ethos which the founder of Handpresso, Henrik Nielsen, espoused throughout his life designing innovative products.

Henrik Nielsen

Henrik Nielsen moved to France from his native Denmark in 1990, with his wife Catherine and one-year-old daughter, to take up a position as Project Manager at Moulinex Krups European Research Centre, later moving to the role of Manager of Future Products. Henrik was more than qualified for this position. He held a PhD in Systematic New Product Search from the Technical University of Denmark, a DEA in ‘Conception de Produits Nouveaux’ from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers in Paris, a DESS in Business Administration (French MBA) from the University of Caen, France, and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from DIA in Denmark.

During his time at Moulinex Krups, Henrik gained valuable experience working on diverse innovative product design projects, including automatic coffee machines, robotic vacuum cleaners and air purifiers. He moved to Fontainebleau (south of Paris) in 1997 to take up the position of R&D and Product Coordination Manager for Cycleurope, Europe’s leading bicycle company, with brands including Gitane, Bianchi and Peugeot. By 2000, however, Henrik was growing weary of the politics involved in large organisations’ R&D departments and decided to start his own consulting firm: Nielsen Innovation.

Nielsen Innovation was set up as an international innovation management company that specialized in “new-to-the-world” products. It created “innovations for end-users – products and services for real people with high impacts on strategy, marketing, design and technology,”1 and was typically involved at the early stage of product or service innovation projects (Exhibit 1), as Henrik explained:

“We take part in the team from the very beginning until the feasibility has been proven and the innovation has been implemented and brought to market.”

1 www.nielsen-innovation.com

Copyright © INSEAD 1

This document is authorized for use only in Berna Beyhan’s MGMT 415 course at Sabanci University, from February 2018 to August 2018.

Among the innovative products that Nielsen Innovation had developed were the patented Wi- Flow technology for a vacuum cleaner that increased cleaning efficiency whilst reducing the power required substantially, and Reelight, a battery-free bicycle light that a former colleague from Henrik’s consulting days had invented. Wi-Flow was licensed and Reelight was brought to market by its inventor.

Handpresso

In 2005, Henrik announced to the Nielsen Innovation team that the next self-financing product design project he wished to work on was the design of a hand-held espresso machine. It would be a “single serve” device targeted at a new market space: people “on the go” – campers, small households, travellers and such like.

Since Henrik’s time at Moulinex/Krups, he had been convinced that there had to be a simpler and easier way of engineering espresso machines (Exhibits 2 and 3), which were complex due to the water heating and pressure required. Henrik was convinced there was a market for a new product.

Trainees within Nielsen Innovation initially worked on the handheld espresso machine project to keep costs low. They were managed by designer Patrick Chateau and engineer David Petitdemange. There was no formal market or consumer research carried out. Henrik preferred to invest in design and tooling.

After studying the coffee-making process and existing appliances, the team concluded that there were two main requirements for good espresso (apart from the quality of the coffee itself): the correct amount of pressure and the right water temperature (90-92°C). It was decided early on that the machine would not include an internal water-heating device, as it was a complex process, but would rely on preheated water from a kettle or a thermos-flask.

The team knew from competitors and their own research that 16 bars was the optimal pressure requirement. Although most existing coffee-making devices used water pumping, after unsuccessful tests the Nielsen team opted for an air compressor instead. The water pumping mechanism did not maintain the temperature of the water at the 90-95°C required to deliver a perfect cup of espresso. Testing air pressure proved more challenging than anticipated. As there were no compressors on the market that could be adapted to deliver the necessary pressure, they designed one in-house using components manufactured outside which were then assembled in the Nielsen Innovation office. Many different compressors were tried (including one for inflating tyres that happened to be lying around the office at the time).

Copyright © INSEAD 2

This document is authorized for use only in Berna Beyhan’s MGMT 415 course at Sabanci University, from February 2018 to August 2018.

Meanwhile, the team built prototypes for all the other components that were then assembled with the air compressor, thus creating the first functional prototype. The name ‘Handpresso’ was chosen for the novel hand-held coffee-making device. Henrik explained:

“It was at this point that Patrick suggested using a hand pump. However, our prototype was still based on an electrical component using rechargeable batteries or similar systems. The solution was so simple and the legislation regulations that related to electrical appliances were not applicable.”

What they developed was a machine that used a hand pump mechanism that enabled the crucial 16 bars to be achieved. The first functional prototype included an infusion chamber and a coffee pod space. While building the infusion chamber component, they realized that the water output (volume) needed to be exactly 45ml (the volume of an espresso), taking into consideration the water absorbed by the pod in the process – in this case 10ml. The result was a chamber volume of 55ml.