0-horsepower motor and cable subassembly from Japan. The improved "405" sold for $83. Handivac engineers began at this time to connect with Japanese production managers. However there were still Additional Info where Handivac might delight in the "price busting" opportunity it needed. The most promising channel, though barely dominant, was the growing chains of catalog stores, which offered the Handivac 403 for $63, a 10% decrease from the department store rate.
Department stores were still the major source of income, but rivals were proliferating and the Stratovac II group felt the requirement to use an increasing variety of more improved and more personalized products to maintain need at the rewarding luxury. Consumers would pay a premium, marketing individuals thought, just if the business might produce so many variations that all customers felt they were getting the best color with the ideal choices.
Bulk was also an issue, as was the vacuum's unsightly appearance. Inside the company, Coolidge's two design groups had ended up being more cooperative, especially as the advantages of molded plastic became obvious to everyone. The hybrid Stratovac II, which had actually been revamped in plastic any place possible, was something of a success for the young Handivac designers over the more standard group.
Eventually the more traditional designers also concerned see the benefit of going to Japan for a smaller, lighter, more trusted motorand for a number of subassemblies important to the business's objective of offering selections of alternatives. Concurrently in the mid-1970s, the Handivac designers were pushing for a complete merging of the style engineering teams and for studying Japanese manufacturing methods.