February 15, 2019
Mandom Corporation
Panasonic Corporation

Mandom collaborates with Panasonic to develop ergonomic, easy-to-use
packaging for roll-on antiperspirant deodorants

Mandom Corporation (HQ: Osaka City; President and Corporate Officer: Motonobu Nishimura; hereinafter“Mandom”) and Panasonic Corporation (HQ: Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture; President and CEO: Kazuhiro Tsuga;hereinafter “Panasonic”) developed a container for roll-on antiperspirant deodorants (hereinafter referred to as“roll-on”) sold by Mandom.
Mandom has developed a roll-on container that reduces the stress on users’ hands and makes it easy for users not
only to apply roll-on to the underarm but also to take it with them wherever they go. The product development
combined Mandom’s knowledge of users’ behavior, situations in which roll-on is used, and users’ feeling when using
it, with Panasonic’s expertise in ergonomics and affective engineering. This is the first attempt by both Mandom andPanasonic at developing cosmetic containers based on ergonomics.

1. Roll-on users’ behavior, usage situations and awarenessConsumers are paying greater attention to grooming and odor control with every year, and are using deodorant
products in a wider variety of situations. A survey, conducted by Mandom, of 1,384 males aged 10 to 50 revealed
that around 70% of males carry deodorant products when they go out (Figure 1). Given this situation, portableroll-on deodorant products that control odor effectively are becoming more and more popular. Consumers also use
deodorant products with their clothes on, and apply them not only to their underarm, but also to the forearms andchest. Mandom has already been exploring easy-to-use roll-on container shapes and improving their products.
However, we need to provide more user-friendly container shapes in accordance with the increasing number ofusers and usage situations.

2. Design and verification based on ergonomics and affective engineering
Contact

mandom corp.
Public Relations Div.
mail: press@mandom.co.jp

URL: https://www.mandom.co.jp/en/

Please contact us in Japanese or English.

-1-Mandom has been collaborating with Panasonic to develop a design which can convey a global brand vision andproduct concept. This is an essential part of communicating our message to consumers. In addition to
being user-friendly starting with using usability verification to brainstorm ideas (Figure 2), we haveapplied the rich usability technology experience of Panasonic Product Analysis Center, which has wealth ofknowledge in ergonomics and affective engineering. We measured the muscle potential*1 of arms and hands
during roll-on use from an ergonomic perspective, and analyzed the relationship between muscular activity andease-of-use. The results showed a negative correlation between the muscle load on the thumb and the (subjectivelyevaluated) ease of application to the underarm. The greater the load on the thumb felt by consumers, the moredifficult they felt it was to apply products (Figure 3).
The Mandom roll-on container was newly developed based on our study and reduces the load on the thumb,making it easier to use than traditional products (see Figure 4).

We will continue to develop and design more easy-to-use and attractive products, thorough improvements inergonomic and affective engineering technology.
*1 Muscle potential: The action potential generated by the muscle fiber stress that accompanies muscle contraction.

Reference materials
Figure 1. Whether people take deodorant with them when

Figure 2. Mandom and Panasonic collaboratively

they leave the housebrainstorming ideas on container shape

Always take it with them
Usually take it with them
Sometimes take it with them
Leave it somewhere other than athome and don’t take it with them
Leave it at home and don’t takeit with them
Survey details: Conducted online Sep 2018 with 1,384 males aged 10 to 50 years

Figure 3. Muscle potential measurement experiment – Relationship between load on muscles associated with thumbmovement (abductor pollicis brevis) and “ease of application to underarms”-2-Ease of application to underarm(subjectively evaluated)

Better・Conducted: December 2018
・Participants: Males 20-49 years old (n=9）
・Sample size: 3・Evaluation: Mandom・Muscle load score: Measured muscle

Correlation coefficient: -0.44

Worse

potential value compared with Mandom
Muscle load scorereference productMuscle load

Smaller

Greater

Area where muscle potential was measured(abductor pollicis brevis)

Figure 4. Comparison of muscle load between existing Mandom products and the newly developed product (thumbarea)

Muscle load score

・Conducted: December 2018
・Participants: Males 20-49 years old (n=9）
・Evaluation: Mandom・Muscle load score: Measured muscle potential value
compared with Mandom reference product
Existing
product

Newlydeveloped
product

Right hand

Existing
product

Newlydeveloped
product

Left hand(**p<0.01, *p<0.05)

End-3-