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It's no surprise that
Flojet engineer Dave Phillips came up with an idea for a new product while
waiting in line at a sanitary dump station for recreational vehicle (RV)
users in Hope, Arkansas. He had a lot of time to think.
"The current RV waste disposal process is slow -- not to mention dirty and
smelly," Phillips says. "I just saw a better way."
Phillips' solution is now being marketed as the Flojet Portable RV Waste
Pump. Instead of hooking up a 3-inch diameter hose onto the holding tank
and then waiting for gravity to do the rest, the Flojet pump allows RVers
to flush their system through a smaller garden hose with one push of a button.
The portable pump is attached directly to a "bayonet" hose fitting on the
RV and two hoses run to the sanitary dump station. The pump flushes out
the "black water" and then cycles in clean water to rinse out the system.
When the job is done, the clean pump and hose are easily stored in the RV.
It's quicker, easier, cleaner and more compact than most current systems.
And even though it only hit the market in June 2003, it's already been heavily
customer-tested.
"The idea was submitted about one year ago and went into the Value-Based
Product Development stage-gate process," says Phillips. "At various stages
we collected internal and external voice-of-the-customer feedback, both
of which helped us create a product with strong market potential."
Projected sales of this new product are expected to exceed $2 million over
five years, and Camping World, the largest RV mass merchandiser in the U.S.,
was an early endorser of the technology. The RV market is an important and
growing revenue stream for Flojet, which also produces pumps for pleasure
boaters.
In July, Phillips had the opportunity to field test the Flojet Portable
RV Waste Pump. "I used the pump at an RV rally -- dumping three RVs with
no problems," says Phillips, who also heard positive feedback from other
end users.
It appears that Phillips idea, which took only nine months to move from
brainstorm to brand new product, is now on the verge of taking off.
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The Flojet Portable
RV Waste Pump development team includes (l. to r) Dave Phillips, Yvonne
Pham, Jerry Caldwell, Maria Rothschild and Jay Naval. (Not pictured: Joey
Rillo and Danny Moreno).
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