AIRCORE H2 is a full body harness specially designed for Chinese wind energy industrial workers with patented design and technology. Wind energy industrial workers usually work at heights under relatively harsh environments (high temperature, heavy oil, confined space, etc.). By taking these conditions into consideration, we designed AIRCORE H2 wind energy harness, which is featured by excellent function, comfort and usability design. Its unique "H+Y" type webbing structure can be automatically adjusted during body movements, which ensures maximum comfort and flexibility during work. Its unique breathable padding design (back pad, waist, thigh pads) can effectively improve wearing comfort in high-temperature environments. Reinforced abrasion-resistant back webbing protector and replaceable waist plate design can effectively extend the service life of the product and reduce the cost of use. The weight of the product is 17% lighter than similar products on the market, which can effectively alleviate the fatigue during long-time work. The attractive appearance design is very distinct and and makes the users feel proud to wear.

The wind energy equipment and working conditions in different regions of China are different. In general, the working conditions in coastal regions are slightly better, while the working conditions in central and western regions are relatively backward. Wind energy industrial workers usually complete their routine construction and maintenance tasks high above the ground under high-temperature, heavy-oil and narrow-space environments. To prevent workers from falling, it is mandatory to wear a harness when working at heights. However, as existing fall protection harnesses are mostly imported from Europe and America, their size, weight and structure design cannot fit the Chinese workers well. Some workers often take off their harnesses when they feel their harnesses are too heavy / unfit / uncomfortable / airtight / inflexible, which will make them exposed to a great safety hazard. Based on an in-depth study on working scenarios and customer needs in Chinese wind energy industry, AIRCORE H2 harness has solved the key pain points of wind energy industrial workers. It is featured by lighter weight, superior comfort and fit, excellent breathability and flexibility, etc. (1) As a high-performance full body harness, the weight of this product is only 2.55kg, which is 17% lighter than similar products on the market. Lighter weight can help to reduce body fatigue during work. (2) The sizing design based on Chinese anthropometric database study and the multi-point adjustment structure design, can make this product provide best comfort and fit for 90% of workers in China. (3) The back pad, waist pad and thigh pads are made of multi-layer materials: the outer layer is abrasion-resistant mesh fabric, the middle layer is a perforated EVA, and the inner layer is a light weight Sandwich. The creative multi-layer materials have excellent cushioning and ventilating performance, which leads to great comfort even when working in high-temperature environments. (4) The ergonomic shape design of back pad, waist pad and thigh pads can effectively balance the pressure distribution around back, waist and thighs, which is very helpful to prevent viscera and bones from being damaged by excessive local pressure. (5) The unique combination of adjustable H-shape webbing design in front of chest and the movable Y-shape webbing design on the back, can not only ensure maximal fit and flexibility during work, but also can improve the work efficiency when climbing the ladder. (6) Through a series of new material and structure design, the service life of the product is effectively improved, and the operating cost of wind energy companies is reduced. For example, the webbings behind the back are coved by abrasion-resistant synthetic leather; the abrasion-resistant plate behind the waist is replaceable; the metal parts such as D-rings and buckles have corrosion-resistant coating; and the webbings have anti-stain coating. (7) A series of intimate color, graphic and accessory design make the product easy to use and carry. For example, the differentiated colors on the inner side and outer side of harness and the intuitive graphical labels beside different hanging points, make the workers easy to recognize how to don the harness correctly; the high-viz green patterns outside webbings and the reflective strips around pads, make the harness easy to see even in dimly lit environments. The high-quality backpack-like packaging makes the product easy to carry when transferring between different working stations.

Since the official launch in early 2017, Honeywell AIRCORE H2 full body harness has been well accepted by our customers because of its superior function, comfort and usability design. It has not only been widely used in some world-class wind energy equipment manufacturers, such as Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd. and Guodian United Power Technology Company, but also won the favor of some domestic leading wind energy companies, such as China Datang Corporation Renewable Power Co., Ltd. Additionally, Shanghai Jinmao Tower has specially customized this product and applied it into the “Sky Walker” top tour project. In the past two years, the revenue of AIRCORE H2 full body harness has been gratifying, and its revenue in next five years is very promising to exceed 5 million dollars.

As one of the most mature new energy resources, wind energy is very helpful in solving energy crisis, mitigating climate change and adjusting energy structure. In China, it has become the third largest energy source with the support of Chinese government and multiple policies. More and more people are coming to wind energy industry for employment. However, the safety protection for wind energy industrial workers has not been paid enough attention yet. So far, most of the workers are just using harnesses from other industries, whose safety and comfort design cannot meet the strict requirements of wind energy industry in fact. Honeywell has been working as a global leader in fall protection solutions for more than fifty years. AIRCORE H2 is the first full body harness that specially designed for Chinese wind energy industrial workers. Its innovative material and structure design based on in-depth using scenarios and user pain points study, provides the workers with an excellent wearing experience that more comfortable, more breathable, more flexible, easier to use, lighter, etc.

The project team is mainly composed of 12 full-time cross-function NPI (new product development) team members, including (1) Product Manager and Sales from Marketing Department, mainly responsible for collecting customer needs and defining new product design requirements; (2) Project Manager, mainly responsible for project process and resource management; (3) Mechanical Engineer, Material Engineer, Prototyping Engineer and Testing Engineer from R&D Department, mainly responsible for functional product design, molding, prototyping and testing; (4) Industrial Designer, Ergonomic Designer, User Experience Researcher from HUE (Honeywell User Experience) Department, mainly responsible for product appearance, ergonomics, user experience design and validation; (5) Certification Engineer, mainly responsible for product certification testing; (6) Sourcing Engineer, mainly responsible for material procurement and supplier management.

Honeywell User Experience (HUE) is one of the core initiatives of Honeywell. It can help us better understand customers unmet needs, and guide us to design / create more intuitive, more comfort, value added and differentiated products and services. AIRCORE H2 was developed by strictly following Honeywell customer-centric NPI (New Product Development) process: Market and User Research → Customer Needs Definition → Ergonomic Research → Product Design (Appearance & Structure) → Material Selection→ Design Iteration and Verification (Prototyping, User Experience Testing & Customer Trials, Performance Testing, Design Modification, etc.) → Periodical Customer Post study. It’s a full iterative design and development process including these steps. The key success of this product was achieved by taking user experience design as the core value, from early user pain points research and ergonomic study, to repeated design iteration and verification based on user experience and performance testing, and then to the periodical customer visit after product launch. (1) Market Research and User Research: In the early stage of NPI, we visited a dozen of wind energy customers in Shanxi, Shandong, Jiangsu and Shanghai. Through face-to-face interview, field study and user behavior observation, we had a full understanding of the customers, their using environment, using scenarios, unmet needs, and key pain points. (2) Customer Needs Definition: Define new product design requirements as per customer feedbacks based on the field study as well as existing general standards and industry standards. (3) Ergonomic Research: Study routine behaviors and psychophysiological motivations / needs of wind energy industrial workers via VOC reports and desktop research; figure out key body dimensions which are critical for harness comfort and fit design; do competitive analysis and figure out ergonomic design guideline. (4) Appearance and Structure Design: Run cross-function workshop and brainstorming, complete initial product appearance and structure design. Our mechanical designer and Industrial Designer both are expert in soft good design and manufacturing. (5) Material Selection: Select suitable materials for different parts of the new design to meet both ergonomic comfort and performance needs. (6) Design Iteration and Verification: Iterative design improvement based on quick-prototyping, user experience testing, performance testing, etc. until get the finalized version. (7) Periodical Customer Post Study: Visit representative customers periodically after the new product is launched, to further collect customer insights and get ready for next round product iteration.

This project was kicked off in early December 2015, and the design was completed by the end of September 2016. The whole product design and development cycle lasted 10 months. The total project .

Honeywell AIRCORE H2 full body harness is the first product specifically designed for Chinese wind energy industrial workers. Based on the in-depth application scenarios and user experience research, it effectively solved the key pain points of target users, and have won the 2018 IF Design Award. The initial goal of this project was to develop an industrial fall protection harness for Chinese wind energy industrial workers. When the product was launched, the revenue and public impact exceeded our expectations. Its high-performance protection design, comfortable material and structure design, and stylish appearance design, not only meet the strict requirements of wind energy industry, but also meet the protection requirements in other fields. Therefore, it gradually catches more and more public attention in other fields. Right now, this product is not only widely used in wind energy industry, it has also been introduced into other industries like electricity, construction, entertainment. In the past, Honeywell only produce entry level harness in China and the high end products were mainly imported. This is the first high end harness that was developed in China for China in our company.