EDSGN 100 SECTION 5 TEAM 8ERIC SAVAGE

MIKE LORENZOKAI-HANG KWAN

DECEMBER 7 , 2009

Kenya Cookstove Design Project

Sponsored by Shell

Presentation Overview

Project Objective/Mission StatementProblem Definition – SustainabilityInitial Product GoalsBrainstorming / Initial EvaluationFinal Choices / EvaluationFinal Design Improvements & Cost AnalysisConclusion

Mission Statement

Problem Statement Many primitive cooking systems in Kenya produce harmful smoke as a byproduct,

causing health problems for many Kenyans. Goals

Design a cooking system that can be used in a business in Kenya to be sold to Kenyans. It will cook efficiently and reduce smoke output, and it will be very cheap as well. The product will be culturally acceptable, and easily operated and transported.

Stakeholders Shell (our sponsor), CYEC in Kenya (as they will implement the business), Kenyan

people (as they will be the end user of our product) Budget

The product must be very easy for the Kenyan people to buy. (<$10). Our budget for our design process therefore will have to be negligible.

Risks/Benefits Risks - Cooking system is rejected, harms other existing companies, upset CYEC’s

relationship with PSU Benefits – Help lots of people, make money, help them make money, increase

opportunities for future

Customer Needs Assesment

Average Kenyan family cooks three times a day, each meal requires 45-60 minutes of cook time. Some families (>50% urban, ~16% rural) use the Jiko, others still use wood fires.

Some cook outside when weather is acceptable, most use detached kitchen. Most buildings do not have many windows or ventilation sources.

Time spent looking for wood (fuel) depends on how wooded area is “In wooded areas, about 1 hour per day. In sparse areas, about 4 to 6 hours per day.” (FAQ page)

There is a charcoal industry in place, it is easy for a family to buy charcoal for fuel. (FAQ)

Average annual salary is 6,000 – 15,000 ksh ($92 - $230), which forces extreme restraint on product cost

The major problem we are trying to alleviate is Indoor Air Pollution (IAP), which is caused by primitive cooking systems indoors, and causes many health problems, particularly in children.

Sustainability

Our product must be sustainable socially, economically, and most importantly, environmentally.

Sustainability - Social

Most Kenyans have a tradition of cooking inside; it is a way of life, so our design must work around that rather than try to change their culture

Must be wary of what happened with Jiko in past years, manufacturers started cutting corners with materials to increase profits, so quality and durability decreased. Must either utilize more basic materials with better design or include constant re-training of manufacturers.

We will rely on controlled factory environment of CYEC and also our streamlined supply chain and production process to keep costs down while maintaining superior product to individual artisans.

We have to prove this is worth it in the short run, as they will probably not look ahead to the years down the road to see if it is worth it cost-wise, so our system must be cheap enough immediately and be immediately attractive to the consumer.

Has to benefit the families buying it as well as CYEC and the people that they hire to make it in Kenya.

Must be a product that can be easily marketed to the people to get it integrated into their society – the Jiko meets this criteria.

We are aware that “Food, and thus the Jiko, is what determines the family's social standing.” (FAQ page). So we know that there could be cultural jealousy of haves by have-nots. We have to turn that into need of our product rather than possible violence and stealing our product from others.

Women must be able to use it, as they cook more than men, so the product must be attractive to women.

Sustainabilty - Economic

Capital cost depends on material: Listed cheapest to most expensive-Aluminum ($0.90 / lb)-Zinc, Chromium ($1.00 / lb)-Tin ($7.00 / lb)-Cobalt ($20 / lb)

Operational cost depends on amount of fuel used and type of fuel (wood, charcoal)

Only products that would require repairs are initially cheaper (i.e. solar cooker), others do not require repairs, simply replace every 4-6 years (Jiko, Envirofit)

Jiko already has trained operators, so any other choice cannot require expensive training

No unexpected transport costs for materials to Kenya, once in Kenya transport will be simply carrying completed product to house

Some money will have to be invested in marketing campaign in Kenya to get people aware of the product

Need facility to assemble product (CYEC youth center)

Sustainability - Environmental

Final product must eliminate Indoor Air Pollution (IAP), as that is the main point of this project, to increase health and standard of living of Kenyans

2-month rainy season (July/August) Large man-power can be gathered; the product has to

be culturally acceptable so that Kenyans’ living can be improved without having much of an impact on their historical value.

Set up new base (factories and facilities) there in Kenya to reduce the long term cost

Little investment on advertisement – Kenyans already have heard of Jiko, it has been around for 20+ years, many already use it.

Initial Product Goals

Must not significantly increase cook time beyond one hour Cannot cost >$10 Must have simple, cheap materials and easily assembled to reduce cost and

make it easy to mass produce, as it has to be operated by women of the family and assembled by 16-18 year old teens. Jiko has been proven to be easily assembled by Kenyans.

No delivery wait period, must be easy for Kenyan to come to CYEC, purchase one, and just walk home with it

Absolute safety – cannot have excessive danger, so children can possibly use it without too much fear of danger. Also, smoke emissions must essentially be zero.

Durable materials - One problem with the Jiko is substandard materials being used now, so it must be trusted by community to become established product, which is what we are focusing on.

Our product cannot be too technically complex that it is rejected by the community, but must also have the power to replace their current cook system. We cannot intimidate them with technology, size, or usage complexity. Our product must become part of their culture. This reasoning is what led us to the Jiko.

Brainstorming

Vegetable Oil Stove: - Basically a small stove that burns vegetable oil to heat food. Too

small scale, expensive and doesn’t seem to be adequate for a family’s daily food and cooking needs.

Brainstorming

Gasifier Stove: -Complex design that involves taking the gases released from certain

woods when heated and using those gases to create heat. We had trouble understanding the design, which made us uneasy about the idea of trying to get the Kenyans to understand it, let alone build it. Too large and complex to be realistically adapted by Kenyans.

Redesign Envirofit to reduce cost: - We could only come up with minor tweaks to the Envirofit

design, nothing that would reduce the product’s cost enough to make it sustainable according to our standards. The cost of $30-$50 is simply not viable in our eyes. While it is a good design, it seemed too expensive for us. End result – no change in design.

Brainstorming

Methane Recapture/Anaerobic Digestion:- This idea has been used in large-scale energy production, basically using organic waste as fuels, and as it decomposes, use the methane that is emitted and use that as fuel to create heat. Good concept, hard to sell to individuals as small-scale cook system for a family unit to use in their home. If chosen, would require shared energy source, resulting in almost communal cooking, which is a very bad idea in Kenyan culture. End result: Not yet refined enough to use on an individual/family basis.

Solar Cooker:- This involves focusing the sun’s rays to a specific point and heating food that is placed there. It is very easy to build, and very cheap. Depending on how expensive we choose to make it (i.e. what materials/design we would choose), it could have a longer cooktime, which is not what we want. It can only be operated in bright sunny conditions, which is a major flaw. People do not only cook when it is sunny outside. End result: Good idea, but must also have some other cooking system

Solar Cooker

Brainstorming

Streamline Jiko process to Control Quality- The big problem with the Jiko is that after it was established in Africa, it began to be produced by individual artisans who started using lesser materials to increase profits, which compromised the integrity of the Jiko’s structure. The idea to retrain the artisans has some support among the cookstove industry in Africa, and also the artisans themselves. The Jiko is already established in Africa, more specifically Kenya, so this would require less cultural adjustment, if any. Just need to essentially restart system to the initial point when they were using higher quality materials. The idea of redesigning the Jiko was scrapped, as we believe the initial design is very good as is, and it is basically as cheap as it is going to get. The Jiko’s 20-some years in the market has resulted in competition refining the product.

Jiko

Final Evaluations

Initial (Unweighted) Matrix

Methane Recapture

Vegetable Oil Stove

Gasifier Stove Envirofit

Solar Cooker Jiko (Improved)

Cost 0 0 - - + +Culturally Acceptable - 0 0 + + +

Effective - - - + - +Environmental + 0 0 + + +

Adapted into Business Model - - - + + +

Total -2 -2 -3 3 3 5Rank T5 T5 6 T3 T3 1

Final Evaluations

Methane Recapture

Vegetable Oil Stove

Gasifier Stove Envirofit Solar Cooker Jiko (Improved)

Cost (x3) 0 0 -3 -3 3 3Culturally Acceptable (x1.5) -3 0 0 1.5 1.5 1.5

Effective (x2) -2 -2 -2 2 -2 2Environmental (x2) 2 0 0 2 2 2

Adapted into Business Model (x1.5) -1.5 -1.5 -1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5

Total -4.5 -3.5 -6.5 4 6 10Rank 5 4 6 3 2 1

Decision No No No NoContinue to Final

AnalysisContinue to Final

Analysis

Final (Weighted) Matrix

Final Evaluation

Solar Cooker: Technical Appropriateness and Viability – Solar cooker fulfills need of

cooking food, but perhaps takes longer than is acceptable Based on Customer/Market Needs/Resources – As only resource needed

is sun, that is the main flaw. It can only be used at certain times, and that does not fulfill all the customer’s needs

Based on Entrepreneurial Needs – It would be very easy to make solar cookers in mass production and distribute them, it would work well in the business model for CYEC

Based on Sustainability Needs – Economically, it is cheap enough to be sustainable. Environmentally, it is the cleanest option we have. Socially, it should be culturally acceptable.

Based on Educational Needs – It is not too complex that long-time training or education would be needed to help the people understand it and operate it.

Based on Cost – It has low manufacturing cost, and therefore a low selling cost, allowing the low-income Kenyan families to purchase it.

Final Evaluation

Streamlining Jiko: Technical Appropriateness and Viability – Fulfills need of cooking food for a family three

times a day, it has been proven to last 4-6 years if properly constructed. Technology is appropriate for the task at hand.

Based on Customer/Market Needs/Resources – Resource is charcoal, which requires families to buy it, but there is an infrastructure set up for that to make it easier on the families. Satisfies customer needs of replacing primitive cooking system.

Based on Entrepreneurial Needs – Jiko could be mass produced by CYEC-supervised workshop. It would be easily marketed and distributed to Kenyan families, as the Jiko has already been proven sustainable in Kenya. The only obstacle would be making sure the CYEC workshop continues to use high-quality materials and trying to maintain their hold over the local area so local manufacturers do not steal the design and use cheaper, lower quality materials.

Based on Sustainability Needs – It has been around since the 1980’s, and is used in over 50% of Kenyan urban households, so it has been proven sustainable in all three aspects.

Based on Educational Needs – The main educational need is the need to maintain the quality of materials used. Perhaps twice yearly or monthly checks on the CYEC warehouse to assure quality. The only other option to ensure quality is patenting the Jiko, which we could certainly not do, and has been looked into by other parties, and proven to be a bad idea. (http://www.hedon.info/CookingStovesForCommercialSustainableProductionAndDisseminationInAfrica)

Based on Cost – The cost has been driven down to about $3, so even if we use higher quality materials or thicker metal cladding, the price would remain under $10, our target goal for cost.

Engineering Analysis

Our main focus is keeping our Jiko a high-quality product while still financially competing with individual artisans using lesser materials (scrap metal).

To maintain a higher quality, we will use real aluminum, not the used scraps of metal artisans find lying around. Aluminum currently costs close to $1 a pound, but it has been cheaper in past months, as well as the earlier part of the decade.

This will not significantly increase our costs, but it will differentiate our product from the local artisans. We must focus on the community realizing that our product will benefit them in the long run by reducing the number of times they will have to go buy a new one because their inferior product broke.

Engineering Analysis (cont.)

We have the benefit of a factory-type environment. This means we can mass produce our product and disseminate them faster to the community. Our products will be uniform, and the consumer will know what to expect when buying from CYEC. We will have a credibility with the consumer the artisans do not have, this is a major part of what will drive our product’s success.

We can take advantage of our larger supply to charge less per unit than an artisan would if they used comparable materials. This allows us to keep our costs closer to the local makers.

Our higher quality product, as well as our factory-type production will lead to more credibility with the Kenyans, and in the end a successful business.

Cost Analysis

The choice to use aluminum makes the product more expensive than if we had just used scrap metal, but that is a necessity when it comes to quality.

We could have chosen copper or another more expensive metal with a better thermal conductivity, but then our product would not have competed with the local makers.

The balance between cost and quality we are trying to achieve made aluminum the most logical choice.

Conclusion

The Jiko has been around since the early 80’s and has been proven to be sustainable, and has been accepted in a large percent of Kenyan households, particularly in urban settings. We feel like we will spread it more into the rural settings.

The main problem that occurred with the Jiko is the production was given to individual artisans, so they started cutting costs by using inferior materials, which resulted in failure of the Jiko in a short period of time. The quality control problem has brought about several reactions. For example, the Bellerive Foundation, an NGO promoting institutional stoves, has decided to contract a formal sector workshop to manufacture all their stoves. This ‘formal workshop’ sounded to us a lot like the CYEC workshop that would be formed in their business to sell our cookstoves.

We feel confident in the Jiko’s technology, as long as the quality is kept up by the manufacturers. They will become the only source for the Jiko because our superior quality will eventually establish them as the authority for the Jiko cookstove.

Our decision relies on the CYEC’s factory environment and quality control to mass produce the Jiko. We will produce a superior product at a comparable price.