FEASIBILITY STUDY
Hydro-Neat Company
I. Introduction
COVID-19 is now a pandemic and it continuously spreading worldwide. These emerging infectious diseases in humans presents a major challenge to the global health and the condition of the environment. Since the global pandemic started, the Earth is slowly healing since a lot of industries that uses fossil fuels, and emit harmful atmospheric gases decreases its activities and production. After few months, the companies recontinued their acts to make up to the lost of funds and economic damage caused by the pandemic crisis. Thus, resulting a higher risk to the condition of the environment. The rate of pollution returned in May 2020 for the economic boost that every country needed (Gardiner, n.d.).
A lot of people expected that the pandemic would end before the year 2021, but the nature of the COVID-19 mutated faster than expected due to the widespread transmission of the said virus. A few research groups have claimed to identify new strains of the coronavirus, called SARS CoV-2, that is infecting many people. Kari Debbink, a virologist at Bowi State University in Maryland, stated that it is just normal. The virus’ protein shell contains the RNA (SARS-CoV-2). Its nucleotides mutated that causes variation to the Coronavirus (News, n.d.)
Vaccines for the Coronavirus are made before the year 2020 ends, including the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech in Germany. This is a sign of improvement against the global pandemic and it boosts the hope of the people that the world would soon to return to its normal condition without the virus. The government officials and the citizens must be prepared after the pandemic ends to prevent it to happening again. Thus, a set of new strategies and products are needed to make the environment sustainable and away from any risks.
II. Executive Summary
An estimate of 14 billion pounds of garbage are being dumped into the ocean every year. It would be expensive to hire many workers to collect the wastes on the bodies of water and a risky endeavor to start with, since 8 million tons of plastic flows into the ocean each year (The Ocean Clean Up, 2017). Because of many alarming news concerned with the environmental degradation, the Hydro-Neat company created a machine that will help to reduce garbage water without applying much effort and needing millions of moneys.
The Hydro-Neat Company, founded in the year of 2020, is an organization owned by Ms. Ishiro, an Environmentalist based in the Philippines, that seek to reduce hydrological pollution while decreasing the environment’s risk to the exposure of the Coronavirus. The physical store of the company is located at KM 52 Makiling Heights, Brgy Pansol, Calamba, Laguna, a City that features an estimated of 97 resorts and 24 water parks. The company’s enterprise strategy against their competitors are the unique features of the V-SeClean. Its primary function is to collect a sample that will be used to detect the COVID-19 while cleaning the environment. Thus, the spread of the virus will be controlled, and a specific area would be easier to clean. It is convenient since it can be carried anywhere and has more load capacity than other pool cleaner machines. In addition, it is powered by dry cells and it does not contribute to the pollution since the equipment for the machine’s cover and other parts are from recycled materials. The organization’s strategy is to develop the V-SeClean (Vehicle – Secure – Clean) as a convenient and effective tool that reduces the trash on the pools, and later on, the Hydro-Neat company plans to develop the V SeClean to cover bigger bodies of water.
The enterprise delivery system starts from collecting raw materials such as the recycled plastic containers and other things to be processed by the workers of the company using tools and
equipment. The Hydro-Neat company will boost their marketing by advertising the product on scientific fellows and entrepreneurs by the use of posters and social media websites such as making a Facebook page and Instagram account that shows the features of the V-SeClean. By this, the V SeClean will widen its range, tapping many market segments from the different kinds of industries specially the environmental-concerned companies.
The target market of this company are the environmental entrepreneurs, resort owners, scientific fellows, and families with a pool in their homes. The organization plans to sell the V SeClean to the environmental entrepreneurs to add to their innovative creations and projects as their own machines and as a step up to their safety plan to avoid the spread of the virus. The V SeClean is a vehicle that is suitable to run in the surface of water and on land. It was specially made by the innovators to reduce the wastes on resort pools. The resort owners can save their money, no need for more workers for cleaning the pools by accumulated wastes. They do not need to buy nets and other trash-collecting materials because the V-SeClean will do the work for them. In addition, the employees’ exposure to the virus will be lessen because the machine itself will collect the sample such as the human saliva that is captured by the ultrafiltration cartridge inside the machine to detect if there is a sign of the virus in the area. The V-SeClean is recommendable to the scientific fellows such as the journalists, where they can create a research about the features or improvement of the machine.
The possible risk in the production of the V-SeClean by the company is the limited power duration of the machine. The product’s battery life is only 4 hours. But it can be counteracted by adding more batteries if the customer requested to upgrade the machine.
III. Company Description
The Hydro-Neat Company is an organization in the environmental industry that was created in the year of 2020. The name of the company is from the words, “Hydro” means water, and “Neat” that means clean or tidy. The company is founded by an innovator that created an invention that helps to reduce hydrological pollution while ensuring the safety of the pool users.
Since tons of garbage are being thrown in the ocean every year, it affects marine animals, nature, and the people around it. The technology in this generation is outspreading, but people could not keep up with reducing the negative impact in the environment caused by human actions. It would need a lot of resources and volunteers to clean up the polluted bodies of water that is covered by trash. To help in preserving the cleanliness of the environment, the company wants to use the power of technology in cleaning and collecting the wastes in a hydrological surface. A machine that will cause less than hiring workers, but still manage to be effective in trash collecting.
To lessen the spread of the virus, the machine is also capable of capturing a sample from a body fluid such as the saliva, to test if the pool is used by someone who is infected by the COVID 19 by using the ultrafiltration cartridge feature.
The Hydro-Neat company offers an innovative way of using a machine to collect garbage that is accumulated on the water’s surface. The company plans to offer more convenient machines in reducing the pollution the environment. The organization will create a larger model of the V SeClean to continue to eliminate wastes in the water and in detecting the Coronavirus, allowing more capacity of wastes to be captured and a safer environment. But for now, since the company is still new in its industry, the organization’s strategy is to develop the V-SeClean a convenient
and effective tool that aim to reduce the trashes on the pools, and later on, it may be develop in a bigger machine to clean rivers, lakes, and oceans.
1. The Company Logo
1.1. Logo Description
The logo represents the main product of the company. It shows the image of a boat because the vehicle or the product will be mainly focus on bodies of water. “Hydro” means water and “Neat” means clean. The steering wheel in the center of the logo is the Hydro Neat Team, because it is the steering wheel that navigates the V-SeClean. It is mainly used to clear the obstacle or waste on the water, the V-SeClean will provide the optimal environment for the user with satisfactory result. The V-SeClean that is made by the Hydro
– Neat Team will be a cleaning assistance that will ensure the cleanliness of bodies of water while ensuring its safety to the human population.
2. Vision
To be the leading company for innovations in the environmental industry as an organization that helps to conserve the environment against wastes, providing ecological balance in the planet.
3. Mission
We are dedicated in developing and improving the efficiency of our products to widen its range and functions that will help in the preserving the environmental cleanliness and protection from the virus in any bodies of water.
IV. Product Description
The V-SeClean aims to reduce trash on pools by collecting it in an innovative way and requiring only dry cells to power it. The machine is powered by three 9-Volt batteries. Once the V-SeClean is switched on, the batteries will send an electrical potential energy for the charges to flow on the circuit, powering the DC motors that will make the wheels spins forward or backwards. The machine’s direction of work can be managed by the use of the remote control that is connected via the transmitter inside the 5-gallon water container. The electrical circuit with the transmitter is linked to the rudders. By this, the operator of the vehicle can control the direction it will run on the surface of the water. It is equipped with Light-Emitting Diode or the LED inside the machine to help the owner locate the vehicle when it is dark. The LED bulbs would be visible inside the machine because the body is made from a recycled water gallon container that is translucent.
Inside the 5-gallon water container, there are three electric circuits in the machine. The main circuit has a switch, two DC motors, a receiver, and three 9-Volt batteries that is in series
connection to supply enough power to the circuit’s components. The secondary circuit has two 2.5-Volt batteries that is connected to the transmitter and a switch. Two LED bulbs, a switch, and a 2.5-Volt battery is the components of the tertiary circuit.
When the V-SeClean runs, the trashes that floats in the water surface will be collected between the rudders and it will be stored in a net under the machine. Thus, the vehicle will automatically decrease its speed when the collected garbage is heavy enough to be stored in the machine.
The V-SeClean is portable, that can be move anywhere. To make the machine durable and eco-friendly, the V-SeClean’s body is made from a 29 x 80 cm of a hard-recycled plastic or half a size of a 5-gallon water container. In addition, the rudders are also made from hard plastic. Inside the container is the two pieces of 10 x 10 cm plywood. This is where the circuits will be placed. It uses recycled materials to lessen the cost of the product and helps to conserve that nature. The machine only needs dry cells to propagate, it does not emit harmful gases and it does not need gasoline to work. It is effective in collecting trashes since it has a net under the machine to store a specific load of wastes.
To lessen the spread of the virus, the machine is also capable of capturing a sample from a body fluid such as the saliva, to test if the pool is used by someone who is infected by the COVID 19. The list below explains the processes and procedures that enable the V-SeClean to help reducing the risk of the people from the Coronavirus.
1. The pool owner must record personal data sheet from users or customers to use their information with consent, to know if where are they from. This will help the government agency to locate the infected people and ensure the safeness of the pool in the resort.
2. When it is operated on surface of the pool, the V-SeClean will collect many samples of the body fluid obtained by the help of the ultrafiltration cartridge that can collect specimens on the water.
3. Since the V-SeClean can also collect trash in both the land and the water’s surface, the collected trash in the resort such as the plastic utensils and bottles can be tested to know if it is infected by the virus. A set of CCTVs must be implemented to know and locate the owner of the collected testers.
This method will lessen the exposure of the employees to the risk of having the virus since the machine can collect the specimens by itself. The purpose of this invention is to ensure that the water in the pool and the area around it is safe for the customers and lessen their exposure to the virus. Most of the resort’s pool water is not clean nor changed every day. Thus, it possesses a higher risk of containing the virus from the users, specially from the asymptomatic people.
4. Once the specimens are gathered inside the machine, it is delivered to the nearest COVID 19 testing areas. This will notify the owner if the resort is safe for the other customers and help to lessen the spread of the virus since there are personal data from the recent customers to be able to locate and to further inspect them. Since most of the COVID-19 test results are held by a day or two, it is recommended to the pool owners to open their businesses every other day at least.
V. Technological Consideration
Several components of the infrastructure/product were relevant for the outcome to be efficient and achieve its highest performance. To be able to regulate and processed properly, some
technological devices were used to serve as the power source. The Hydro-Neat Company use a better technology for the improvement of the desired product. It begins with the power source which is the DC Motor that connects entirely with the system that operates right amount of current flow for all the dominant section to function. Research has been done to make sure that the team we are able to attain the highest quality of a product. As the company go on further, we can recognize possibilities that opens to new opportunities that we are able to develop the transmitter that connects to make the wireless connection, possible. Through that the improvised vehicle was less hassle to handle and very much easier to use than the cleaning pool nets. Through the influential of technology, the hydrological vehicle prototype clearly empowered with various types of cleaning materials for some bodies of water and on the land, being able to improve as future goes by.
• Digital capabilities to make our company more influential. Our team begin to recognize through the reach and capacity of the internet.
• Certified ultrafiltration cartridge system to collect the test specimens
• Printer, as we proceed and make our outcome more relevant, printed papers were able to visualize and conceptualize every detail of the team’s idea.
• Computers and other technology such as phones were used to conduct and make a research to be able to understand each process clearly and regain learnings. It also used to extend communication through the entire team that enables easy idea transparency.
• The Hydro-Neat Company were able to reach such technicians to currently approve our design and reconstruct if needed.
• Online marketing was considered to make our business to take the target of our goals and to probable customers.
• Relevant parts were furnished and attached by the soldering Iron to fully secure the interior parts.
• To effectively see the desired outcome, the team came up with the 3D Model with the AutoCAD software. Every part was shown and illustrated clearly.
• The power was supplied by the 2.5 AA batteries that will flow through the stranded wires to circulate all the things that needs to be powered such as the Led lights and DC Motor.
• Led Lights were the guiding tool for it will be a helpful way so the V-SeClean will be easy to see and its advantage was to be used at night.
• The steering rod were properly put into place which is in front of the V-SeClean to determine its destination which is controlled
• To generate and control the current flow, the team used electronic circuits such as the Resistor which reduce and adjust the level of current flows so right amount will be placed right through the required current of every powered materials.
• Stranded wires connect everything, from the battery to the switch and goes to the transmitter. It will be able to transfer current from the connected sources.
• Switch controls the on and off, it is where everything depends on even the power of the remote controller of the V-SeClean. It is helpful since you can manage and adjust the power.
VI. Competitive Advantages, Disadvantages and Risks
Advantages
• Remote controlled
• Eco-friendly – It uses recycled plastics
• East to use, portable and low cost
• Does not emit harmful gases
• The battery source is rechargeable
• Less risk exposure the employees and customers since the machine automatically collects the data specimens
• Dual purpose: Effective in collecting test specimens and trashes from both the land and water surfaces
• Children with the age of 5 above can use operate it if the ultrafiltration feature is turned off
Disadvantages and Risks
• It can be remotely controlled with the distance of less than 50 meters
• Four hours battery life
• The ultrafiltration cartridge is hard to clean
• Can only handle a maximum of 3 kilos of wastes/specimens
• The ultrafiltration feature of the machine is only applicable to the pool that contains fresh water, lake water, or any amount of water that has a low amount of chlorine. • The gathered test specimens are only valid for less than two days
• The transportation or shipment of the gathered test specimens needs a lot of consideration since it can alter the result if stored in bellow 20-degree Celsius or above 28-degree Celsius.
V1I. Market Place
The Hydro-Neat company is located at KM 52 Makiling Heights, Brgy Pansol, Calamba, Laguna. The product will give a good impression once it is release, not just cleaning their pools also giving them the satisfaction that they need as a pool owner. There are about 4, 874 cases of COVID-19 in Calamba, Laguna as of December 1, 2020 (Drop, 2020). Thus, the feature of the machine to collect test specimens to control the spread of the virus will be effective in the area.
The target market of the company are the resort owners in Laguna because it has an estimated of 97 resorts and 24 water parks. There are more than 88 resorts in Laguna that will be benefited in our product. Since many people visits resorts to spend time with their friends and family, the resort owners will need to find a strategy to keep their pools clean. There are 32 estimated families who have pools in their home. Those families are also the target market of the Hydro-Neat company. The V-SeClean is also offered to use as a tool by the environmentalist and government agencies concerned with conserving the environment to reduce pollution.
VIII. Market Strategy
1. Price
This table represents the cost of sales of the company, Hydroneat, in which represents the costs that was used for the product and for the labor of the workers/employees. The cost of sales
was divided to three parts which were the Raw Materials, Worker Salaries, and Utilities. The cost that was used for the raw materials that was used per product was P2, 873.75 in which the overall cost per month for the raw materials is P143,687.5 for 50 pieces of V-SeClean. The Worker Salaries was divided to each worker from the selling price per piece of the product, which is P700
in which workers can earn P16,800 per month. The Utilities that was used to make the product cost P424 a day and P10,176 a month. To get the monthly cost of sales for each divided parts, four weeks of time was used to get the monthly income to each part which was the cost of sales per day was multiplied by two hundred, equivalent to four weeks. P379.335 was reduced to the P6,185 of the price of the product due to the tax rate in the Philippines which was 1.32.
Cost of Sale in Philippine Peso
Raw Materials | 2873.75/pc |
Worker Salaries | 700.00 |
Utilities | 424.00/day |
Market Price for the V-SeClean | 6, 185 |
2. Place
The resorts industry of Pansol contributes significantly to the barangay’s economy and has been known as a tourist destination for its resorts. Since the product is V-SeClean that collects drift and/or trash in water, it would be suitable and fit to a place where water is located. Also, the number of people being infected with the virus increases rapidly in this area with over four thousand active cases as of the 1st of December 2020. Seeing that KM 52 Makiling Heights, Brgy Pansol, Calamba, Laguna is a popular place for resorts, swimming pools and spots for vacation, it
is a best choice of place to produce the product. Not only the location is filled with resorts, but it is also famous in market. A lot of people can be seen to prefer Brgy Pansol rather than other places that also have resorts.
3. Promotion
V-SeClean will be helpful for everyone especially it is an eco-friendly product. The company will be giving away posters and brochures for a start. These materials such as posters and brochures will be promoting the product to the consumers also there will be a 30% discount for those customers who will buy our product in the first opening once we release the product and for those online buyers there will be a discount code for them to use. Lastly, the product will be promoted using social media and sites that company have made that supports promotion of the product.
The map below shows the location of the Hydro-Neat Company using the Google map application.
The Image below shows the main web page made to promotes the V-SeClean machine.
4. Product
To make our company more competitive the innovators used an eco-friendly material and made the product more fun to use so that everyone will enjoy using it. For the product it is called a differentiated product because of its benefits and uses, it may be similar to other brands for a cleaning material, but the company would like to make it more different from the other brands by making it more affordable and fun to use and it also mitigate the spread of the virus by the stated processes on the product description. The materials used are water gallons, ultrafiltration cartridge, 24 volts DC Motor, batteries, net, steel sticks, plastic bottles, duct tape. Glue gun, glue sticks, switch, 1 meter of wire, scissors, cutter, and electrical tapes. These materials helped the innovators to finish the expected product.
5. People
The V-SeClean is invented for those people who owns a resort, a family who owns a pool and for those people who is surrounded by the water and specially if their location has a huge amount of COVID-19 infected citizens. The Hydro-Neat Company created this product to make life easier that is why the people who will handle this is also the people who is behind the project so that they can market the product based on their expectations. Lastly, there will be employees from different places that will help the company to build more product and the sales president will help the company to monitor everything that will comes out from the company also the company would like to have some partnership with the other company that can help this company grow bigger and will help the product to be known nationwide also international.
6. Physical Evidence
6.1. Packaging
The Hydro – Neat Company will ensure the packaging of the V – Trash Collector in a secured box that will be supported by a Styrofoam in every corner of the box. The V – Trash Collector will be wrapped by a bubble wrap that will protect the product from shaking or falling. And, outside the box there will be a picture of how the product would look like and all the needed details that the consumer must know.
6.2. Company’s Uniform
The organization’s uniform is a dark blue round neck T- shirt that has the company’s logo at the front (right side) and the name of the company at the upper back side of the T- shirt. The Hydro-Neat company’s uniform provides productivity and overall security of the workforce. it makes employees more aware and conscious of their actions
inside and outside of the workplace when they are wearing the company’s uniform.
6.3. Business Card
The organization’s 3.5 x 2 inches business card gives people, especially the potential clients, the contact information of the Hydro-Neat company. It shows the office’s telephone and cellphone contact numbers. It also displays the email, website, and the company’s address.
6.4. Poster
The organization’s 4.1 x 5.8 inches poster gives information to the people around the place about the Hydro-Neat Company and the V-SeClean. It shows the name of the company, the product, the company’s tagline, illustration of the product and it is benefit in purchasing.
V-SeClean
Nothing cleans better than
V-SeClean
Your cleaning hero
New Feature:
Ultrafiltration
Cartridge
7. Positioning
For the pool owners who wants an innovative and efficient way of cleaning pools, Hydro Neat Company provides an eco-friendly and effective product that is convenient in collecting trashes on the water’s surface. The V-SeClean is powered by rechargeable batteries and it is mostly made of recycled materials, so it does not cause pollution. It is controlled by a remote that has a maximum range of 50 meters from the machine and has a net underneath that can fit up to five kilos of 1.5 – 15-inch sized-garbage to conveniently capture the trashes on the water’s surface.
IX. Organizational and Staffing
HIBIKA ISHIRO CEO
1. Ability to learn from the past
2. Strong communication skills 3. Building relationships
4. Realistic optimism
5. Understanding
TODOROKI SHOTO
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
1. Communication Skills
2. Organization Skills
3. Team Players
4. Good Judgment
5. Tech Savvy
LEVI ACKERMAN
SALES PRESIDENT
1. Sales Leaders Empower
2. Sales Leadership Requires Vision
3. Leaders Rely on Data-Driven Decisions
YUKIHIRA SOMA
4.
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
1. Emotional intelligence
2. Empathy and social skills 3. Team-building skills
MONKEY D. LUFFY
MARKETING PRESIDENT
1. Decision-making skills
2. Interpersonal skills
3. Creativity to develop
promotional strategies
NICO ROBIN
HUMAN RESOURCES
DIRECTOR
4. Social Responsibility
5. Integrity
6. Formal Authority
LEE TAEYONG
CTO
1. An expert in existing
technologies
2. Leadership skills
3. Empathy
X. Schedule
YEAR: 2021-2022
XII. Conclusion and Recommendation
To lessen the duration of the pandemic and to completely eradicate it, the government officials and the citizens must be prepared after the pandemic ends. Thus, a set of new strategies and products are needed to make the environment sustainable and away from any risks.
The V-SeClean (Vehicle – Secure – Clean) is a machine made from recycled materials that aims to reduce trash on pools by collecting it in an innovative way and requiring only dry cells to power it. It can also propagate in land. The new feature of this device is its ultrafiltration cartridge that is suitable for this pandemic.
Based on the information discussed in this feasibility study, it is recommended that any of the following beneficiaries approve the online sales initiative to be able to mass produce the V SeClean.
• Environmentalists
• Pool/Resort owners
• Scientific journalists
• Mechanical and biological researchers
• Environmental-concerned agencies
The findings of this study proved that the production of V-SeClean has a high probability of success:
Technology
• Batteries are rechargeable and accessible
• The ultrafiltration cartridge is approved by the Science Department
• It is simple to operate, low maintenance, and low cost
• It is controlled by a wireless device and it automatically stop if any disturbance of hazard is detected
Environment
• It does not emit harmful gases
• It collects waste both in land and water surface
• The structure is made of recycled materials
Organizational
• Minimal increase to staffing is required
• The company has many online advertisement platforms
• The company already have their own facility. Thus, no additional investment for a facility is needed
References
14 B pounds of garbage are dumped into the Ocean. (n.d.). Retrieved from Trend Central: https://www.trendcentral.com/midway-island-ecosystem-garbage/
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Drop, D. D. (2020, December 1). COVID-19 Report for Calamba, Laguna. Retrieved from DOH: https://covid19stats.ph/stats/by-location/calamba-laguna
Gardiner, B. (n.d.). Why COVID-19 will end up harming the environment. Retrieved from National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/06/why-covid-19-will end-up-harming-the-environment/
Kaplan, M. (n.d.). Can coronavirus spread in water? Summer safety warnings during the reopening. Retrieved from NY post: https://nypost.com/2020/05/25/pools-oceans-and lakes-can-coronavirus-spread-in-water/
News, S. (n.d.). Is the coronavirus mutating? Yes. But here’s why you don’t need to panic. Retrieved from Science News: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-covid19- mutations-strains-variants
Sewage water as indicator for spreading of COVID-19. (n.d.). Retrieved from Dutch watersector: https://www.dutchwatersector.com/news/sewage-water-as-indicator-for-spreading-of covid-19
Testing method. (2020). Retrieved from CDC: Experimental research detects COVID-19 in Wolfville wastewater
Wastewater surveillance may be key to widespread COVID-19 detection. (n.d.). Retrieved from Smartcities: https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/wastewater-surveillance-may-be-key to-widespread-covid-19-detection/589426/