What does “less is more” mean in front of a machine?
“Less is more”. The formula with which the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe summed up his idea of design has become one of the most influential principles of modern design.
Applied to an industrial product, it does not mean only cleaner lines, essential forms or a discreet aesthetic. It means reducing unnecessary steps, the possibilities of error, avoidable interventions and resources that are difficult to recover.
It means removing complexity without removing value.
When we picture the user of an automated uniform dispenser, we almost always think of the person standing in front of the screen, swiping a badge, selecting a garment and collecting it.
That is certainly the most visible user, but not the only one.
The same machine is used, in different ways, by those who restock it, those who check availability, those who organise the spaces, those who manage the wardrobe service and those who step in for maintenance. Even the person who chooses the product and assesses its cost and durability can be considered a user. And so, at the end of the life cycle, will be whoever has to dismantle it, separate its materials or recover its components.
To design means holding all these needs together, including those of the people the designer will probably never meet.
How much does a gesture that needs no instructions matter?
For the person collecting a uniform, what matters is understanding at once what to do and completing the operation quickly, without the need for complicated explanations.
In a hospital, an industrial plant or another operationally intensive organisation, collecting a garment is only one of the many gestures that make up the day. It should not demand more attention than necessary.
Identification must be immediate, the interface understandable and the availability of garments easy to check. Speed matters too, especially at the moments when many people begin their shift at the same time.
When a technology works well, it almost tends to disappear. The user is not forced to understand its architecture, because the product presents only what is needed at that moment.
This apparent naturalness does not happen by chance. It is the result of decisions that addressed complexity before it reached the screen.
What does the person restocking the dispenser need?
Whoever restocks the machine must be able to organise garments, sizes and quantities correctly, limiting errors, movements and repetitive operations.
The functioning of a distribution system therefore does not end at the point of contact with the end user. There is a less visible but essential work that allows each person to find the right garment at the moment they need it.
Needs can change between a hospital and an industrial plant, but also between departments of the same organisation. Uniforms, complete sets, jackets and footwear take up different volumes and cannot all be handled in the same way.
A rigid structure often forces the process to adapt to the machine, with the risk of wasting space or multiplying distribution points. A modular configuration takes the opposite path: it allows the machine to follow the real needs of the organisation.
How do you keep maintenance from interrupting work?
A machine designed with maintenance in mind makes it possible to identify a fault quickly, reach the components and act only where needed.
Servicing is often regarded as a phase that comes after design. In reality, the arrangement of the parts, the number of moving components and the ability to carry out a precise diagnosis are defined long before a technician steps in.
Every element added may represent a useful function, but also a possible point of wear. More parts and more technology do not automatically produce a better solution: every component must justify its presence through a concrete benefit.
When a system makes diagnosis more accurate, it limits unnecessary interventions and contributes to operational continuity. For the customer this means containing costs, but also preventing a technical problem from interfering with an essential daily service.
Why must you think today about tomorrow’s spare parts?
The future availability of components protects the product from premature obsolescence and safeguards the customer’s investment.
When choosing an electronic component, it is natural to focus on performance, size or immediate cost. But there is another question, less visible and just as important: will that component still be available when it needs to be replaced?
A technically brilliant solution today can become a problem tomorrow if it depends on rare parts or on technologies without continuity. The cost of that choice does not stay inside the project: it is passed on to the customer in the form of waiting times, more complex interventions or early replacements.
To design responsibly means looking beyond the product launch and considering the quality of suppliers, the availability of spare parts and the ability to keep the system efficient over time.
What happens when a product reaches the end of its life?
Separable materials, replaceable parts and recoverable components make it possible to extend the useful life of the product and to reduce its impact when it can no longer be used.
It is impossible to predict exactly when a machine’s life will end or in what context it will be decommissioned. It is however possible to avoid treating that moment as a problem belonging to someone else.
The choice of materials and the ability to separate them determine how much of the product can be renewed, reused or recycled. A casing that is damaged or no longer suited to an environment should not necessarily mean replacing a machine that still works well.
Thinking about the end of the life cycle does not mean designing something destined to end. It means creating the conditions for it to last longer and for its value not to disappear all at once.
Whoever has to deal with the product many years from now is, in this sense, a user too. Simply, an invisible user at the moment the machine is designed and purchased.
How does White C-Evo respond to different needs?
White C-Evo grew out of the very question we started from: around an automated uniform dispenser work different people, and each of those needs finds a precise answer in the product.
For the person restocking the machine and organising the spaces, the internal structure can be configured with levels of 12, 15, 18, 22 or 30 compartments. The dispenser thus accommodates textiles of different sizes — from uniforms to complete sets, jackets and footwear — and follows the real needs of the organisation instead of imposing its own.
For the person working on the system, remote control of the hardware and software components enables targeted diagnoses and makes it possible to schedule maintenance only when it is truly needed. Monitoring of energy consumption adds useful information on performance, reducing unnecessary interventions and unexpected interruptions.
For the person assessing the investment over time, the choice of components from qualified manufacturers in the automation sector aims to guarantee spare parts and support for at least fifteen years, protecting the machine from premature obsolescence.
For the person collecting a garment, what matters is being able to complete the operation without hesitation. The 21.5-inch touch display guides the user through collection with immediate interaction and can host instructions, internal communications or other informative content.
For whoever, one day, has to renew or decommission the machine, the external casing is made of ABS containing recycled plastic from industrial processes and is designed to be replaceable. It is thus possible to renew or customise the dispenser without acting on the entire system, extending its useful life.
This ability to hold such different needs together received, in 2025, the Red Dot Award Product Design in the Hospital Equipment category. The jury highlighted in particular the ease of use and the value of the configurable compartments, capable of optimising space and resources.
The recognition therefore rewards not a single feature, but the coherence with which each one answers a real person.
Can communication create a product advantage?
No. Communication can understand an advantage, make it evident and help people recognise it, but it cannot create it if the product does not possess it.
It cannot invent reliability, durability or attention to resources if these values were not addressed during design. It can only show how those qualities respond to people’s needs.
Bill Bernbach, one of the great innovators of twentieth-century communication, held that advertising does not create a product advantage: it can only make it evident. The strength of a story therefore lies not in the devices used to tell it, but in the reality of what is offered.
