Dishwashing Product Development Case Study
Dishwasher Tablet Development to Outperform the Market Leader
A household products company engaged d-labs to develop a dishwasher tablet capable of delivering superior cleaning performance to the established market-leading benchmark.
The client’s existing product delivered only moderate performance, so d-labs developed and comparatively tested successive formulations to create a commercially viable tablet that exceeded the target benchmark.
Client
Established household products company
Challenge
Outperform the market-leading dishwasher tablet
Approach
Formulation development + comparative performance testing
Outcome
Superior benchmark performance within target cost and timeframe
The Challenge
Develop a dishwasher tablet capable of outperforming the market leader
The client already had a dishwasher tablet in market, but its cleaning performance was only moderate and did not provide the competitive position they wanted.
Their objective was to develop a substantially stronger product capable of outperforming the established market-leading benchmark, while still meeting the commercial requirements for formulation cost and development timing.
The challenge was therefore not simply to improve the existing product. The new formulation needed to demonstrate a clear and measurable performance advantage under comparative test conditions without becoming commercially impractical.
The target was not parity with the market leader — the new product needed to demonstrate a genuine performance advantage.
What d-labs Did
Developed and tested successive formulations against the market benchmark
d-labs combined formulation development with comparative dishwashing performance testing so each prototype could be assessed objectively against the target market-leading product.
1. Established the benchmark
Defined the market-leading product as the performance reference and clarified the client’s cost, development and product requirements.
2. Developed formulation pathways
Created and screened dishwasher tablet formulations designed to improve cleaning performance while remaining commercially practical.
3. Tested comparative performance
Successive prototypes were tested directly against the benchmark under controlled conditions to identify genuine performance improvements and remaining weaknesses.
4. Optimised the final formulation
The most promising formulation was progressively refined until the required balance of superior cleaning performance, cost and commercial practicality was achieved.
Comparative testing throughout development meant formulation decisions were driven by measured performance rather than assumptions about how individual ingredients should behave.
The Outcome
A dishwasher tablet that exceeded the target market benchmark
d-labs developed a commercially viable dishwasher tablet formulation that delivered superior cleaning performance to the selected market-leading benchmark.
The formulation was achieved within the client’s required cost and development timeframe, allowing the client to move forward with a stronger product proposition supported by comparative performance data.
Following commercialisation, the product also received a “Recommended” rating from a leading publication, providing further independent recognition of its market performance.
Superior performance
Outperformed the selected market-leading dishwasher tablet in comparative testing.
Commercially viable
Achieved the required result within the client’s target formulation cost.
Delivered to timeframe
Development completed within the agreed project schedule.
Independent recognition
The commercial product subsequently received a “Recommended” rating from a leading publication.
The result was not simply an improved formulation, but a commercially stronger product with demonstrated performance against the market leader.
Work With d-labs
Have a dishwashing product development challenge of your own?
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