Whiteware innovation gives F&P edge in US

By ELLEN READ

Fisher & Paykel Appliances will unveil the world's first top-loading clothes dryer at an international kitchen and bathroom show in Florida next week.

Five years and $7 million in the making, the Smartload dryer is aimed at the American market where it will go on sale later this year.

"It sounds simple. But the stumbling block has been that a dryer drum needs to rotate horizontally, which would appear to make a top-opening machine impossible," managing director John Bongard said.

"Having the drum opening available to the user when the dryer is stopped, yet having no opening while it rotates, presented some challenges.

"Our engineering team figured out how to do this, and also how to rotate the drum forwards and backwards to give superior drying performance."

The dryer - which can dry a full 8kg load in under an hour - will go on sale with a matching Smart Drive washing machine and the pair will have a recommended retail price of US$1400 ($2570).

They will be produced at F&P's East Tamaki plant at the rate of up to 150 a day, and while expansion there is not planned at this stage, Bongard said space was available if needed.

New Zealanders will have to wait until the middle of next year to get their hands on the new product.

The company also announced yesterday that its appliance sales were up 11.5 per cent for the year ended March 31, lifting the total to over 1 million in a single year for the first time since the company was founded 70 years ago.

The millionth sale mark was reached just days before the end of F&P's financial year last Monday. To mark the occasion, the company is donating a range of appliances to Women's Refuges around the country.

Over 50 per cent of sales were in Australia, with New Zealand accounting for 28 per cent and the United States for 11 per cent.

Bongard said the United States was the company's fastest-growing market and that the new top-loading dryer should help increase sales there.

The company's share price rose on the news of the launch, closing yesterday up 40c at $10.05.