Future Innovations In Shower Heads And Solutions For Aging Population By Deloitte

Key ideas behind the shower head’s evolution

Question 1

The key ideas that needed to come together for shower heads to arise include

1. Use of anti-corrosive material With the development of the first fully synthetic plastic in 1907 known as Bakelite, many applications of the material would emerge in the development of different items. The original design of the shower was designed from metal pipes that had been painted to look like bamboos. They were over 10 feet tall. A basin that was suspended above the pipes fed the water into a nozzle that would spout it out to form the earliest forms of shower heads (Et Industries, 2011). However, with the invention of plastics many years later and use of metal, the practical type of shower arose.
2. The desire to speed up the cleaning process- The shower was initially created for public uses in 1850 once indoor plumbing was invented and thus it was essential to come up with a strategy in which people could clean up faster in a time-efficient manner (Speakman, 2018).
3. Plumbing innovations – As already established, with the development of plumbing innovations in 1850, different ideas were explored on shower inventions. It was not until 1907 that the first catalog of the plumbing fixtures was established and the early modern showers created (Malcolm, 2016).
4. Common Hygiene requirements – By 1900, people had become quite observant of body hygiene and therefore a demand for a quick shower at any point of the day led to the invention of the shower head.

• I believe that these are the innovations that lead to the invention of showerheads because, with the invention of plumbing procedure, it was necessary to explore ways of improving the cleaning process. It was established that the use of showers would speed up the cleaning process and encourage more people to be conscious of their body hygiene. I believe that the product would have arisen regardless of the above innovations since people had already improved showers way ahead of these inventions.

Question 2

In the past ten years, there have been some developments that have emerged in relation to the use of the shower head. First, it was established that the initial design of the shower head was not as effective in water utilization. For that reason, the shower head was designed to ensure proper utilization of water resources. Second, the use of heating technology has been employed in shower heads to guarantee automatic hot showers which are convenient shower alternatives (Cox, 2016). Third, shower heads have been transformed from the initial fixed position of overhead and developed into more practical handheld designs for suiting specific needs. I believe that these are the key innovation within the last ten years because development in technology in the same period has resulted in the practicality of the innovations.

Question 3

The first key innovation that could occur in the next ten years associated with shower-heads is that the desired temperature of water in the shower head will be controlled manually rather than have standard temperatures of hot water. Currently, most shower heads allow water to be heated to a certain degree of heat that is convenient for some while uncomfortable for others (Byington et al., 2016). However, with time, I believe that shower heads could be designed for ensuring that water temperature is configured to a person’s specifications. Second, through the use of technology, it would be possible to establish the right amount of water to use per shower to avoid water wastage in ensuring sustainability (Okamoto, Sato, Shodai & Kamijo, 2015). This would be possible since technology could be used to track the sustainability and thus help in water preservation.

Question 4

In the distant years, say 50 to 100 years, I believe that shower heads would still exist, but they would definitely take up a new design. One of the practical ways that I envision shower heads looking is that they will have led lights that would not only serve as a beauty statement but also various functions such as showing the temperature of water using different colors for easy configuration. For example, cold water could be represented by a blue strip LED light while warm water could be green and hot water marked as red. In addition, due to the development of the Ingress Protection (IP) rating, small touch screens could be integrated into the shower heads for configuration of the amount of water to be used as well as the temperature desired. For that reason, I believe that shower heads would still be in existence and the above mentioned futuristic features are bound to be established in this period.

Recent shower head developments

Creative and Innovative Methods Used by Deloitte to make a difference for the Aging Population.

The combination of longer life expectancies with a lower fertility rate has led to the growth of the aging population. This populace is not as energetic and driven as compared to the young generation. Based on some rough estimates, the population of the elderly is bound to triple to about 3.2 billion globally between the year 2015 and 2050 (Deloitte, 2017).  Due to the growth of the old population, it has been a concern for governments as well as business as the workforce necessary in industries continues to shrink. In addition to this, consumer demographics are also changing due to the increase in the aging population as well as a rise in healthcare expenditures.

A company like Deloitte has identified some creative ways of handling this wicked problem. First, it has ensured that it has developed technology that could make working easy for people and established working programs for ensuring that people work as effectively as possible. Also, the company supports its employees after retirement and takes up more young individuals to ensure sustainability and continual operation of the organization. Another creative activity that Deloitte participates in is ensuring that they create flexible working plans that allow people to work to a certain age after which they can have a compensated retirement which assures that people are not tempted to continue working beyond their legal ages of retirement (Deloitte, 2017). Finally, the company has established programs that help the abandoned elderly population in the society. The program ensures that the elderly get the most basic of resources for their daily survival. These are some of the activities that the company is currently engaged in to help make a difference for the aging population.

Structure of the Organization Contributing to the Creative Endeavors

The structure of Deloitte can be broken down into two segments or points of views which include the geography and service line. The geography establishes the base of operation, and thus the organizations in different countries might operate in different manners due to policies that exist in those nations. The second aspect of the business structure is the service line which constitutes of consulting, audits, financial advisory as well as tax& legal affairs (Agarwal, Bersin, Lahiri, Schwartz & Volini, 2018). These factors also determine the market structure that the organization targets as different locations will have different market structures and interests. With the company having established branches in developed nations, it is likely that in these countries the aging population is higher as opposed to the developing world due to the living conditions (World Health Organization, 2015). For this reason, Deloitte is using creative ideas such as the support program for retired individuals to aid in the shift of the employment base from the older population and bring in the new task force for conducting specific duties. I believe that this company is creating a sustainable solution in trying to handle the wicked problem.  

References

Agarwal, D., Bersin, J., Lahiri, G., Schwartz, J., & Volini, E. (2018). The Longevity Dividend: Work in an Era of 100-year Lives. Retrieved September 26, 2018, from Deloitte.com: https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/focus/human-capital-trends/2018/advantages-implications-of-aging-workforce.html

Byington, B., Griffiths, B., Keck, M., Lechtenberg, C., Lechtenberg, L., & Pate, D. (2016). The Unequivocally Green Shower Head. The Design, 1-4. Retrieved from https://www.sme.org/uploadedFiles/Membership/Technical_Communities/Rapid_Technologies_and_Additive_Manufacturing/green_shower_head.pdf

Cox, A. (2016). Development of Components for a Heat Recycling Shower System. University of Skovde, 1-71. Retrieved from https://his.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1073653/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Deloitte. (2017, September). Preparing for the Rise of the Silver Economy. Retrieved September 26, 2018, from The Silver Economy: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/sg/Documents/public-sector/sea-ps-govlab-the-silver-economy.pdf

Et Industries. (2011, April 17). Shower Head History. Retrieved September 27, 2018, from et Industries: https://www.etindustries.com/shower-head-history

Malcolm, D. (2016, February 15). A Brief History of the Shower Head. Retrieved September 26, 2018, from highsierrashowerheads.com: https://www.highsierrashowerheads.com/high-efficiency-showerheads/a-brief-history-of-the-shower-head

Okamoto, M., Sato, M., Shodai, Y., & Kamijo, M. (2015). Identifying the Physical Properties of Showers that Influence User Satisfaction to Aid in Developing Water-Saving Showers. Open Access Journal, 1-9. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&edata-src=s&source=web&cd=13&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjxvL6OguDdAhXEyYUKHYWWA0QQFjAMegQIAxAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdpi.com%2F2073-4441%2F7%2F8%2F4054%2Fpdf&usg=AOvVaw3gOM6yZuPyCwPcLixw55Lw

Speakman. (2018). Shower and Bath. Speakman, 1, 1-64. Retrieved from https://speakman.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Speakman_ShowerBath-2018.pdf

World Health Organization. (2015). World Population Ageing. Report, 1-164. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/ageing/WPA2015_Report.pdf.