Numatic International Limited

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Numatic International Limited is a British company with a large manufacturing facility located in Chard, Somerset in south-west England. Numatic manufactures an extensive range of domestic, commercial and industrial cleaning/maintenance equipment for distribution worldwide; the company incorporates wholly owned distributors in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and South Africa. Numatic employs over 600 people.

[edit] Products

Numatic manufactures a number of products, including a wide range of vacuum cleaners, aimed at both commercial and domestic markets.

One of Numatic's most popular products is a vacuum cleaner called Henry, which is easily distinguishable because it features a large smiling face on the front of the canister (there are two screen printed eyes and a mouth; the vacuum's hose forms Henry's nose). Since the introdution of Henry in 1981, over 6 million have been produced worldwide. These vacuum cleaners have a reputation for being hard-wearing, ultra-reliable and effective in use, and can often be seen in service in commercial applications in schools, shops, offices and so on.

Henry is part of a larger range of vacuum cleaners aimed at the domestic and commercial market, all with traditional English mostly male (Aside from a Pink model named. 'Hetty') names (Such as Edward, James, Basil, Bertie , Charles, and George), James is the smallest and least powerful of the range up to George which is a larger model with the ability to wet-clean carpets, pick up water as well as a regular dry vac, and all feature the smiling face design.

Numatic also manufactures a range of vacuum cleaners aimed at commercial markets, without the friendly names (although some models still feature the smiling face), and a range of other cleaning products.

Henry has been constantly updated and improved since his launch, originally having an 800watt motor, 900watts, 1000watts, 1100watts and now the powerful 1200watt Twinflo unit, and most models are now available in various colours, usually blue, yellow or green as well as the famous original red.

From June 2006, Numatic have re-designed their flagship Henry cleaner. This model now features 2 'rocker' type switches on the top of the cleaner, recessed near the back of the machine, at the top. These switches are the On/Off switch, and the Twinflo controls, enabling the motor to be turned down or up, depending on the task in hand. The rear exhaust has been redesigned as well, with one central exhaust port at the back, rather than 2 vents at the sides of the cleaner. The 360 degree bumper around Henry has been changed from plastic to rubber, to stop damage to walls and doors during operation.

[edit] The Dustatic101

In November 2001 Ian Huntley was employed as the manager of a team of caretakers at Soham Village College. One of the many duties and responsibilities that Huntley had at the school was the maintenance of hard internal floor surfaces, in particular the floor of the school assembly hall. In order to carry out this task, the school provided Huntley and his team with two Numatic NSX550 rotary floor polishers. During the course of his employment, Huntley had expressed some dissatisfaction with the performance of the floor polishers. In a memo to the headmaster Howard Gilbert, Huntley stated that the rotary action of the polisher created dust, particularly when the brush pad became worn out. In the following months, Huntley improvised an electro-static device and fitted it to the bottom of the floor polisher. The device when activated attracted dust much in the same way that a magnet would attract iron filings. Huntley realised the commercial possibilities of his device and submitted a patent application to the UK Intellectual Property Office. Huntley told friends that he had approached Numatic International and that he had proposed to them the notion of incorporating the electro-static device into the design of their floor polishers in return for receiving a royalty on each unit sold. Huntley decided to call the device the “Duststaic101”. Huntley claimed that Numatic International were initially receptive to the proposal and that a meeting had been arranged for mid September 2002. Huntley was arrested in August 2002 and the meeting never took place. The details of Huntley’s contacts with Numatic International did not enter the public domain until the UK Intellectual Property Office granted Huntley his patent in January 2005. Upon being informed about the Dustatic101, the chairman of the British Cleaning Council commented publicly about Huntley’s invention stating, “The Dustatic101 has the potential to reduce dust emissions from rotary floor polishers by as much as 56%. This device would have revolutionised floor polishing. It is a tragedy that his device will never be available on the open market. It just goes to show that there is a fine line between madness and genius.” Huntley has so far refused to let any commercial organisation develop the Dustatic101. ^[1]