Samsonite No sweat Bagpack Concept- Internship Report

PRODUCT DESIGN Innovative Backpack

NIFT BAD401II : INTERNSHIP PRESENTATION By

Vikas Kumar Singh BD/15/389

Accessory Design Department (2015-2019)

Internship work carried out at

Samsonite South Asia Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY BANGALORE May - July 2018

SUMMER INTERNSHIP 2018

Summer Internship

VIKAS KUMAR SINGH Accessory Design NIFT Bengaluru

MENTOR CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Project Work entitled Product design/ Innovative Backpacks and submitted by Vikas Kumar Singh having Roll No. BD/15/389 has completed the Internship Presentation satisfactory, embodies the bona fide work done by him/her under my supervision.

______________________ Signature of the Faculty Mentor Name Mrs. Shipra Roy Designation:_Assistant Professor Place : Bengaluru

Date :

Acknowl

edgment

I am thankful to Mrs. Bankhuri Aggrawal (Head Marketing and Design Manager) for providing me an opportunity to do my internship at Samsonite South Asia, Mumbai.

I am thankful to my industry mentor Mr. Pradeep Chauhan (Designer) for guiding me and helping me out to do some out of the box project. His continuous guidance and mentor ship helped me every time i stuck to any point, apart from project experience I have learned some life lessons from him.

Thankful to Mr. Shaukat Ali from Samsonite Nashik factory by helping me out for the prototype development in the last days of internship, his speed of work and precision of is remarkable.

I am also thankful to Mr. Girinath Gopinath for being in touch with me while I was in Mumbai, his motivations to learn from each day keeps me going forward everyday.

Table Of Contents

Introduction Synopsis (I) About Samsonite (ii) Objective (iii) Product Range (iv) Samsonite Corporate office (v) Nashik Factory (vi) Project (vii) User profile (vii) Prototype Development (viii) Experience (ix) Retrospection (vii) Bibliography

Introduc

tion

Samsonite International S.A. is an American luggage manufacturer and retailer, with products ranging from large suitcases to small toiletries bags and briefcases. It was founded in Denver. The company’s registered office is in Luxembourg and it is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Samsonite Group is one of the world’s largest and most r ecognized designers and distributors in the luggage industry.

History : The Samsonite brand was born in 1910 when founder Jesse Shwayder began producing luggage for turn-of-the-century travelers – a small and affluent group who appreciated the Company’s unique, durable and finely crafted products. As travel evolved into a mainstream activity, Samsonite’s product mix evolved with it, growing to encompass a diverse range of items for a host of travel needs. Along the way, Samsonite continued to anticipate and fulfill the changing requirements of travelers by introducing a string of “firsts”, including the first matching luggage sets, the first lightweight luggage and the first wheeled suitcases, to name just a few.

Samsonite’s ability to perceive and adapt to the changing needs of travelers has made the brand a leading authority for people on the move, throughout the years. From the roaring twenties, the Depression era, WWII, the rise of the jet age, the exciting sixties and beyond, Samsonite has continued to transform the travel industry through its rich brand history.

Today, the global travel industry continues to grow, and Samsonite continues to lead through the continuous introduction of innovative technologies, materials and design concepts, which we market through some of the most recognized brand names in the world. And while each of our brands is specifically focused on its own clearly defined customer group, every product we create continues to embody the same values on which Samsonite was founded – high quality, fine craftsmanship, exceptional reliability and enduring style.

Business Strategy • Introducing a stream of innovative and contemporary products into the market; • Strengthening support behind our brand and product marketing and advertising; • Expanding our retail distribution platform; • Pursuing expansion opportunities in high-growth geographic markets; • Exploiting new business opportunities; • Continuing to improve operating efficiencies and cash flow generation.

Synopsis

A brand on the move

Samsonite has acquired many brands since it has started. Till now it has nine sub brands that are manufacturing and selling their products. Samsonite products are ranging from large suitcases to small toiletries bags and briefcases. It has also started footwear and small corporate gifting items like wallets, belts, folders etc.

Brands acquired by Samsonite

Product Range : Samsonite has Major six categories of product BACKPACKS : The Samsonite backpack collection comes in a range of styles that incorporates sophistication and usability. The durability and original design appeals to customers.

The designs for the backpacks are innovative and suited for all occasions, allowing to move seamlessly from casual to formal settings. Backpacks are both functional and stylish, featuring contoured straps with extra padding for comfort.

Tech-friendly features and modern design provide easy organization for all your things, together with the legendary Samsonite durability.

LUGGAGE : Samsonite has been manufacturing iconic soft luggage and hard luggage bags for over 100 years, earning an esteemed reputation in over 130 countries. Each piece of Samsonite luggage is manufactured with the highest standards of innovation and quality for which the brand is known.

Samsonite luggage combines durability, functionality and style for travelers all over the world. Samsonite hard luggage bags are made from carefully engineered, high quality plastic in PC (polycarbonate) or PP (polypropylene), to ensure a casing that is both lightweight and durable. Premium Samsonite hardside luggage is crafted using the revolutionary patented CURV technology, to create the lightest yet strongest hardside suitcases. Hard checkin luggage from Samsonite is sturdy, yet simple in construction, providing luggage that is functional to use and easy to manoeuvre.

DUFFLES : Duffle bags have always been an essential overnight item, the ever-present partner of weekend trips or getaways. With duffle bags, you can pack spontaneously-- simply stuff your clothes in the bag, sling it over your shoulder, and get going. Traditionally, Duffle bags have always been carried over the shoulder, however as overnight stays became longer and more frequent, duffle bags became bulkier. As with the evolution of all luggage, Samsonite has continued to innovate in its designs for duffle bags, keeping in mind the needs of its modern, on-the-go clientele.

BUSINESS BAGS: Samsonite has a wide range of basic briefcases and laptop briefcases.A briefcase is an accessory that never goes out of style. The picture of a successful business person or professional is incomplete without a briefcase by their side- the quintessential business bag.

Briefcases are synonymous with a sophisticated and professional look. A stylish briefcase is not only an elegant accessory, but is a functional necessity to the on-the-move executive. The functionality of briefcases change with the preferences of the user. Briefcases are no longer just used to carry important papers and files, but are also equipped to carry laptops and other smart devices that are an integral part of a professionals work life today.

WALLETS & BELTS : Samsonite leather belts are redefining the rules of fashion and functionality. All the belts from Samsonite are genuine leather belts, combining style and durability, with a warranty of 3 months. Wallets are a very personal accessory, but also form a marked impression about the user, giving cues about their personality and style. Wallets are not limited only to men these days, and leading travel accessory companies like Samsonite offer a wide range of both women’s wallets and men’s wallets. The wallet is such an accessory that there are no rules or specifications on what a women’s wallet or men’s wallet should look like – it is the personal choice of the user.

TRAVEL ACCESSORIES : Samsonite proffers you a variety of travel accessories to ease your travel woes and make your life effortless, one of them being the card holder.

With too many cards to accommodate in a wallet, the credit card holder facilitates easy portability of all your cards. Credit card holders, apart from being functional to use, need to complement the rest of your professional accessories. As with wallets, credit card holders are transforming into accessories that are customised in style, design and aesthetics to appeal to both men and women. Credit card holders for men come in supple leather and rich appealing styles

Samsonite Mumbai Corporate Office The Corporate office in Mumbai and Manufacturing unit in Nashik helps Samsonite to keep hold in sales and operation throughout South Asia market. The upper level of corporate office and design office is in Singapore. The design team at Mumbai office designs backpack, hard luggage and soft luggage and some times hand bags and small travel items for American Tourist, Samsonite and Kamiliant.

The corporate office also manages the online and offlines sales over the country and in the region of South Asia.

Design Team : The design team in office consist of two designers and one head designer.

Mrs. Bankhuri Aggrawal head design team, Mr. Pradeep Chauhan, designer, Miss. Antra Agrawal.

Mass communication and advertising, Store design, sales, marketing, human resource, legal team are also in same office About land & building: 7200 sq. ft carpet area with approx. 100 workstation.

Inside office

Towards Design room

Akruti Star Building in Mumbai

Location: The Samsonite office is located at 402 Akruti Star, opp. Akruti Center Point, MIDC, Andheri E, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400093

Location on map: GP Building aslo know as Akruti star

The window display of the upcoming designs while going from office entrance front

Reception area in front while entering

Display of special edition trolly trunk

Waiting area

Inside the office

Other side waiting area

Organization structure- Corporate Office Mumbai

This was my Location in the company’s structure

Samsonite Nashik Factory

Slogan chart, everywhere in factory

Prototype development room

Reception area Nashik Factory

Inside the factory

Continue..

Organization structure- NASHIK FACTORY

Project

TITLE : INNOVATIVE PRODUCT BRIEF : To design an innovative product for daily commuters.

Introduction Samsonite as a luggage brand and it manufacture travel luggage and travel accessories. So the project brief was given to me was also on the same line.

Brief

Design an innovative product for daily commuter.

AGE GROUP : 18-25 GENDER : Unisex

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Process, Planning For executing the brief given, I was advised by my mentor to use Double Diamond design process, which has four steeps of execution that include Discover, Define, Develop and Deliver.

Discover

Ideate

Validate

Implement

Deliver

Figure 16

Double Diamond Design Process : This process is an iterative process for execution of something which is all new. Where process starts from extensive research and defining the brief every time with more focused and clear approach. This is basically defined in four stages of Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver. Where discover covers the start of the project. We try to look at the world in a fresh way, notice new things and gather insights. Define is the second steps where we try to make sense of all the possibilities identified in the Discover phase and make a clear creative brief that frames the fundamental design challenge. In the third process i.e. Develop where solutions or concepts are created, prototyped, tested and iterated and the last process i.e. Deliver where the resulting project (a product, service or environment, for example) is finalized, produced and launched.

Fig 17 Modes Of Daily commuters

Fig 17 Modes Of Daily commuters (City Wise)

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/data/india-walks-to-work-census/article784521.ece

So I started from market visits and research to observing people at metro, bus, auto rickshaw etc.

Before that i also have collected some data from government websites about daily commuters refer Figure 17,18 Which shows number of daily commuters in India are more by foot comparatively by bus, train, metro etc. and the figures also changes from one city to other. Taking that into account there lies a big market where a luggage brand can put something new into line up, which would help commuters to ease their hectic commute.

Research : Market Visit and Places Observation Objective : To observe minute detail, price range, customer.

Went to observe bag packs brands selling in these malls, observed customer behavior and talked to sales person available there.

Brand visited : Super-dry, Samsonite, American Tourist, Wildcraft, VIP, Skybags, Victronix, Decathlon

Fig. 18 R. City Mall

Fig. 19. Phoenix Market City

Fig. 20. Infinity mall

19 JUNE 2018. people were seen having laptop bags and daypack more frequently. Girls carrying more of rexin fashionable bags with big buckles and accessories. Bagpacks from skybags were like floating here and there.

Those bags comes in printed graphics with wide range of colour combination. Only few colours were highlighting otherwise most of them were in Grey, dark Grey with some colur highlights. The sizes were 45 to 50 inches.

Accessories that people were carrying with some bagspacks were bottle opener, bright emojis, soft toys.

Also those group of people who were professional were carrying slim bags, light weight. The bags from NIKE were minimal to design, long in silhouette.

Colours observed: Orange + Grey, Red+Dark Grey, Purple + Grey, Red + Grey, Black+Orange, Yellow + Sky blue.

Reflecting stripes

Wildcraft with colourful graphics

Unique pullers

Detailings

Marvels graphics on bags

Inner rubber shock absorber

Observation of people at a random food court at a mall in Mumbai for 3.5 hours at Tuesday.

Time period for observation : 3.5 hrs, (03:00 pm to 06.30 pm)

Observations at bus stand, local train, metro, railway station, inside bus, on bike etc

Mumbai metro

Crowd at bus stops in Mumbai

Local train railway station

Rush hour in local trains

People putting bags on bike tank

Commute on road

Problems observation 01. Sweat on the back 02. Backpacks interfere with helmets 03. Wet umbrella-no place to keep in the bag 04. Organize more stuffs 05. Quick access to dew stuffs- frequently 06. Bags on lap 07. Water inside rain cover 08. Bags slides while riding bike 09. Puller for puller 10. Security- tension of theft of stuffs 11. Laptop compartment not compact.

12. Stuck in the crowd because of bags People having multiple problems while commuting in whatever mode of commute. So these are only the few observations for every age group of people, after these observations and some interrogation with people we will have a defined a more filtered problem of commute.

Online survey- Goggle forms On the basis on brainstorming on commute, we have framed some questionnaires to be asked Online and got some results.

Sample size 30 from that the response was 70 percent from male and 30 percent was female, more of them were students.

Re-brief Design an innovative backpack for a daily commuter Profession: Student or Working Age : 18 to 25

Personal Diaries

Now since we know our target consumer and had redefined the brief, we are now going deep into their life and daily routine and will see their habits, needs and how that commute, what they do while commuting.

So for doing this task and achieving our objectives, in Double Diamond process its called personal Diaries where we will give our consumer a diary for a day or a couple of day, in which he/ she will keep noting down their task and routine whatever they are doing , try are also asked to take pictures from their phone and give it to us.

Sample size - 30

User Profiles

User Profiles So after different types of research from on-line survey to personal interview and personal diary, we have enough data to encapsulate into a firm consumer profile.

Our target consumer was 18 years to 25 years old that will include students as well as working professional also everyone has having different types of mode of commute. That is why we have to categorize our consumer into four types. So in following figures we can see the four profiles.

Consumer Demographics

Age Group: 18-25 years Gender: Unisex

Profession: Student and Working professional

Location: IInd-Tier cities and Metropolitans

Lifestyle: Started new job(freshers),Living in rented or shared flats, Independent,own a bike/

motorbike. Commute by walk, bike, cab, local train, metro, bus. Prefer to be stylish-fashionable,

struggling to manage time.

Problems Identified So after observing user diaries and making user profiles, we have now some set of problems identified that each user has while they commute, so by targeting on those pain areas we could have some concepts to solve them. So following are the list of problems identified and some concepts from that further filtered and relevant problems have been taken ahead.

PROBLEMS

TYPES

SOLUTIONS

1. Sweating on the back Ergonomics •Put a turbo fan or something that will encourage ventilation.

2.Stuck In the crowd Design/Structure •Bring the bag in front or change the structure.

3.Ease to access 4.Popping of the bag from back

Design/Time

•Bring the bag/parts in front

Design

•Weight distribution & Belt

5.On the go in entertainment

Need

•Provide something interactive

6.Getting right thing from bag

Design/Time

•Provide good number of sections

7.Problem of theft Security •Something that will lock the puller 8.Wet clothes in bag-smell in the bag Design/material •Liquid absorber(replaceable) 9.To sit anywhere while walk Need •Rain-cover can be use as a padded sheet 10.Topple of bag while keeping it on surface Need/ Design • Support to structure or change the silhouette, take most stable shape 11.Air on face Need/Desire •Some fan on the straps towards the face 12.Work to party

Time/Fashion

•Combination of official and party

13. Girls have problem with hair while carrying a backpack Design •Give some space for hairs on back of bag

Concepts and Ideation In the following pages there would be presentation of first level of concepts then after that some filtered problems is taken to next level of detailing and ideation.

1. Sweat on the back People while walking on the road, riding motorbike, cycling got their back full of sweat and that makes them feel uncomfortable. So after digging out the reason for the sweat on the back we got to know that the ventilation or the movement of air is not there between backpack and back of the body.

So before solving the problem we have to know all about the back of a human body.

So this what happens by carrying backpacks, so there are available Solutions in the market but they all are not full functional and effective so they are not so popular and feasible. Like

Available solutions

Human Back Anatomy: The human back is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck and the shoulders. So it has scapula which is a flat bone lying on the wall that provides an attachment for three groups of scapula include the muscles of the rotator cluff. These muscles attach to the surface of the scapula and are responsible for the internal and the internal and external rotation of the shoulder joint, along with humeral.

Since the scapula is on both side- which is raised few inches from the surface of back-so there comes a gap between them- So this can be used as advantage for making the air to flow and hence will increase the ventilation and let the sweat to evaporate.

Trunk or Torso: The torso or trunk is an anatomical term for the central part or core of many animal bodies (including humans) from which extend the neck and limbs.

Lumbar: The lumbar is curved and bend inside which again makes an opportunity for using the gap and making the air flow.

Solution : We will try to provide mechanism in our concepts to maximize the gap between back and back so that there will be a space for vent of air to flow, the trapped air will flow and takes the heat and moister sweat with it keeping the back dry.

Fig. 18 . No gap between back and bag.

In the above picture we can see most of the backpacks got stick to the back leaving no space in between bag and backpack. For increasing this gap we have some concepts.

Concept 01: Attaching a light weight wire frame in the bag.

Fig. 19. Wired structured mesh to attach to bag

Fig. 20. Side view

Concept 02: Attaching a small high speed DC motor fans in between the back and backpack, powered by battery to increase the air flow.

Fig. 21. The flow of air from lower part to upper.

Fig. 23. The side view of a blower fan bag, flow of air

Fig. 22. Blower screwed to the back of bag

Concept 03: Attaching a high raised cushioning. The air stripes provided at the back of the bag are very important. The types of design we are using and also the type of materials we are using that all gives its own way of efficiency. So there are few ideation of making less touching part to body and raising the cushions to 1.5 inch to 2 inches. Also the types of form given on the cushioning is mainly four, they all allow soft touch and more area to pressure ratio. So that reducing the touch point on the body should not increase the pressure on the back

Fig. 24. Different types of air stripes cushions on the back of the bag to increase the air flow.

2. Stuck in the crowd: Bags got stuck due to shape of bags. If a person is moving forward-in crowd- his body get the space and move but the curve near lower abdomen makes bag got stuck in crowd.

Fig. 24. The red area shows the part of a usual bag because of that people got stuck in the crowd sometimes.

Fig. 25. Standard measures of the concept bag dferived from the calculation

Concept: The silhouette of bags are usually cuboid in shape. So, it got stuck in crowd. So, if we can change in the shape from cuboid to pyramid, it will reduce much of drag. So taking the average of back measurement (for men).

Calculations: Waist= (28+48)/2 = 36/2= 9.00 inches

Shoulder=(16+20)/2 = 18.00 inches Length= (23+30)/2 = 26.50 inches

Ideation: The silhouette of bags should be less wider from bottom while maintaining the balance of the backpack.

So the sketches below shows the actual ideation of new silhouette.

Conceptualized flat shape.

Since the back of a human body is also in this shape, so it would perfectly fit and will avoid most of the obstacle coming from front. The Pyramidal shape will reduce the side forces coming over the bag, and hence will reduce the chances of sticking in the crowd due to shape of bag.

Orthographic view of concept bag

3.Ease to access People commuting via bus, bike, train. Goes to lots of places like station,metro station, office, college etc. So while commuting there are few list of items that people use frequently and its a frustrating and time consuming to take out that item and put back for every now and then.

A good organizer : Sometime if we put our hands inside the bag for something than we got entangles with the wires inside it (data cables and laptop chargers).

List of items Shape Laptop 13inch - 17inch Flat, thin, cuboid Laptop charger Cuboid USB cable Phone charger USB hub Hard Drive Others Items Most accessible items Scissors Pen Medications Phone Napkins Earphones Tablet Keys DSLR Cards Clothes Bottle/Umbrella Shoes Head Phones Tissues/hand sanitizers

If a person is rotating his bag to access the items to bring the bag from back to front, the bag will comes horizontal to his view. In the above figure we can see how a bag which is horizontally hanged on back comes to front of the person when he tries to ring it in from without pulling one strap.

Wire binder inside laptop bag to keep the charger wire in one place

An elastic band organizer which can be taken out from bag

Orthographic view of concept bag

Concept: How we can make the organizer very predictable that the stuffs that user put in it will be saved in his mind that in which compartment which item should be, we can make it tactile, can play with colors for memorizing and use mnemonics. So without looking into the bag one can reach out to the right item.

Color pockets for different items

4. Popping of the bag While walking most of the bag starts popping and makes walking uncomfortable, slows walking speed.

So what could be the solution, using the waist belt, but again that is not used by many people as the buckle used in those belts are little hard or small to use it.

Reason: Usually the center of mass changes due to bag-so bags starts hopping.

Centre of mass of body shifted while carrying the backpack

Easy to use waist belt clip

Concept 2: On the way entertainment will have the objective like engage the customer by giving them opportunity to play instrument, play some small board game.

Pin ball board game

Digital sketching board

Small sketch board

Fidget Spinner

Tic talk toe small wooden board

5. On the go entertainment More than 75 percent people are using their phone while on commute for their entertainment. So music or phone call is now one of the most frequent medium of entertainment.

People listing to music while traveling

Using phone frequently

People listen to music, FM, reading books, magazine etc. Also one of the major problem is to carry earphones as it got wires that entangles with everything or if it is a bluetooth earphones than also for keeping it inside bag or taking it out is also a time taking. So why don’t bags have earphones attached so that carrying around problem would be solved.

6. To sit anywhere Story : A boy from coming from college talking to friends passes through a small field where they wanted to sit and chat for few moment as, but there was nothing to sit as there were dust on the grounds and even on the small walls.

So there could be something which is attached to bag like rain cover which can be also used as a surface to sit

Padding on small part of the rain cover

7. Problem of theft While commuting via public transport there always a problem of threat of loosing stuffs from bags. So people started caring it in front or keep it in their lap most of the time. Also in crowd there are risk of loosing stuffs from the bag.

Snap button

Snap button attached to puller

Prototype

Sweat on the back The one concept of making an innovative backpack for a daily commuter that is sweat on the back is passed for further process that is prototype development. For problem of sweat on the back we have three concepts as a solutions.

1. Attaching a high speed air sucker- blower for the ventilation of trapped air on the back, 2. Providing an comfortable elevated rubber formed back system which will allow gap between the back and bag.

3. Powering the blower with the motion of hand. So no need of batteries would be there.

Concept 1 Providing a good elevated airstrips for proper ventilation.

The holes and gaps inside the stripes are inter connected with each other to let the air flow from one place to other allowing the air not to be trapped but move and hence it will increase the ventilation.

Dimensions

The air stripes on the back

Orthographic view

Concept 2 Providing a high speed powerful ventilator turbine inside the bag that will such all the trapped sweat and air and vent it out, initiating air movement and hence reducing sweat.

Front

Exploded view

Back

So on researching about the DC turbines small we came across different kinds of brush less motors.

Prototype Development at Nashik Factory :

High speed turbine used in bag

The inside stitching of chamber

Shaukat Ali making prototype

Covered with lining

The Ventilator

Back side prototype ready to be attach to bag

Back view

Front of the bag with ventilator

Ventilator : The bag will having a small turbine fan with it on the back of the bag and raised air stripes to keep a gap in between bag and back. The small powerful turbine makes the air flow and helps to reduce sweat.

The blower will be powered by a 12 volt battery.

Observation The sweat releasing backpack : Used this backpack for couple of days here are the observation we found out.

The battery keeps decreasing after running contentiously, so that the efficiency of the blower reduces, Using this bag, somehow has lowers the sweat but depending on weather condition as the humidity was hight at the time of observing in Mumbai.

Experience

The two month internship was a good learning experience for me as a product design specially in backpacks as I have learned many useful process like a new design process and how to do a deep research. Market visit and how to filter down the observation result is what I learned. I also learned new softwares and techniques to render the ideas. Cintique pro was there on which I practiced digital drawing. I have also gained the costing ideas of making a bag and also how much a time period is given to a particular project. Over all it was great learning experience

Bibliography

http://www.samsoniteindia.com/ https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/ https://www.ergonomics.com.au/what-is-ergonomics/ https://www.deuter.com/SG/se/index.html https://www.inverse.com/article/40217-best-smart-backpacks https://www.fueladream.com/home/campaign/2839 lp.wgsn.com/Trends/Insight‎