The Journey of the WW9000 Crystal Blue Washer

Since its launch in 2014, the Samsung WW9000 Crystal Blue washing machine has gained extraordinary interest from around the world. Apart from the washer’s fundamentals, such as washing, rinsing and spin drying, the WW9000 has some of the latest features, such as Auto Optimal Wash, Auto Dispense, a Full Touch Screen and more. The WW9000 Crystal Blue comes with an elegantly designed blue door that is bigger than conventional washing machines with the same capacity. It is also more environmentally friendly and quieter. In particular, the Crystal Blue door has received favorable feedback and much attention in Europe where front-load washers are the standard. This is the story of how the WW900 Crystal Blue was developed for consumers.

Against All Odds

The Crystal Blue washer was created with a few key design elements. As the name suggests, the larger door is a big part of its design identity and for good reason. The door itself is 520mm and the mouth is 360mm. The metal hinge allows the door to open a full 170 degrees. While the door is larger, the washer is still compact and its elegant aesthetic fits into a modern household. It is also equipped with a simple and intuitive full color LCD touch screen, so there are no more knobs and dials.

Increasing the size of the washer door may sound fairly straightforward but it is actually a huge challenge. If the door is not designed well, laundry tends to get torn. That is why hundreds of new towels were sacrificed as engineers worked to perfect the internal structure of the washer. After at least 100 durability tests, each lasting more than 90 minutes, the perfect structure was found.

High performance and sleek exterior design were the key goals of the developers, who had to tackle many tough obstacles along the way. Maintaining the full width of the door, one of the original features of the product, caused potential issues of laundry not being properly contained in the drum, which would subsequently lead to rubber seal damage. The team resolved these two challenges by using a dual stainless structure.

In the end, the developers created a front-loading washer that set new standards. The drum was placed higher up than conventional models, hidden automatic detergent compartments were added and the jog dial was eliminated.

The Secret of Blue Light

“When I first saw the design of Crystal Blue Door washing machine, I was not sure if the production of such an advanced washing machine would be possible,” said Siho Jang, Senior Vice President and head of Global Production Technology Center, Consumer Electronics. “It meant that we had to use all the technologies that we were capable of into producing the washing machine. It was really challenging because many of the technologies had never been applied before.”

Jang added, “When it comes to the characteristics of the work of making home appliances, we have to make a special effort to ensure reliable quality because these products directly affect people’s day-to-day living. All of our sectors are engaging in activities for innovation to make sure that such work is done perfectly.”

ToC injection moulding machine for producing the Crystal Blue Door washing machine

The Crystal Blue Door has a distinctive color and size that set it apart from other products. The blue door was created using the Transparent Opaque Color (TOC) method. Production required two rounds of injection moulding, instead of just one. This process needs to be very carefully scrutinized and managed, because there are so many environmental factors to take into account, including temperature and humidity.

Taking a close look at the door of Crystal Blue Door washing machine shows that a clean, neat and immaculate design had been realized. To this end, Samsung installed a Clean Room for the manufacturing process. As a result, Samsung enhanced the quality of the process of gluing the cover glass and double injection moulding materials together. The exhaustive project necessitates that no error be caused by any inflow of micro dust. This process enables delicate parts to be glued together using a UV laser.

Hitting the European Market

The European home appliances market is considered rather conservative because consumers are highly loyal to domestic brands. In addition, Europe is home to many globally renowned appliance manufacturers.

Samsung engaged in differentiated marketing tactics to raise awareness about the product and publicize not only the product’s beautiful design, but also its excellent performance and practicality. Some of the unique marketing activities included featuring the WW9000 Crystal Blue at the Fashion Week Poland and screening its promotional video on the façade of a symbolic building.

At sales venues, new cushions were arranged in different sizes, to accentuate the washing machine’s unique door, which is larger than those from competitors. Consumers were able to try loading the cushions into the WW9000 Crystal Blue first hand.

The WW9000 Crystal Blue is not just about stylish design. From top to bottom, it is about the spirit of making something original and taking on new challenges. Breaking into the European home appliances market at first seemed like trying to scale the solid and high walls of a castle. Now, the WW9000 Crystal Blue is taking it by storm and taking over the hearts of consumers.