Hoopsy: The sustainability, design & manufacturing journey towards creating one of the world’s first 100% compostable pregnancy test
Project challenges
MTC were tasked with understanding the user interactions with the existing strip test & helping to design a pregnancy test with innovative new form which would be easily identifiable and more intuitive to use. The team were asked to focus on replacing any plastics within the test and making it 100% compostable and to design it with assembly and mass manufacture in mind.
Business challenge
Product Innovation
Growth & Scaling
Sector
SME
Technology or capability
Industrial Transformation
Additive Manufacturing
Product Design
Hoopsy was founded by Lara Solomon, who after going through two failed embryo transfers, looked into the challenges of getting or not getting pregnant. She identified that most women prefer to use mid-stream tests as it is less messy and when trying to conceive, use up to 3 tests to test each time. Lara discovered that midstream tests contain mostly 90% plastic which made her take action and create the Hoopsy Brand.
Hoopsy’s goal is to provide sustainable healthcare products that help women, their partners and the planet. They want to reduce the amount of plastic going into landfill from pregnancy tests and knows that every test they sell means one less plastic test thrown in the bin.
Project Challenges
Hoopsy approached the West Midlands Health Technology Innovation Accelerator (WMHTIA), a regional programme part of the locally-lead Innovation Accelerators delivered in partnership with DSIT, Innovate UK and the West Midlands Combined Authority to help develop their offering. In Hoopsy’s journey to market, they needed support to re-design their existing strip test to replace the plastic components for a 100% compostable solution and to give it a new look – making it clearly distinguishable in the market. Hoopsy needed support researching alternative disposal methods & understanding the test’s impact on the environment from cradle to grave, so that they had tangible facts and figures to gain investment for future development. MTC skills and expertise were identified as the most suitable within the WMHTIA consortium to address those challenges and to help Hoopsy accelerate their development.
MTC were tasked with understanding the user interactions with the existing strip test & helping to design a pregnancy test with innovative new form which would be easily identifiable and more intuitive to use. The team were asked to focus on replacing any plastics within the test and to make it 100% compostable whilst designing it with assembly and mass manufacture in mind.
MTC were also asked to identify all potential suppliers of the compostable materials and manufacturers who could assist Hoopsy with manufacturing their newly designed test.
MTC's Solution
The Hoopsy team joined MTC for a Discovery Workshop in which the MTC team applied their proven methodology to support businesses – leading activities focussing on product innovation & development. This helped the MTC team to explore Hoopsy’s business aims and objectives, understand Hoopsy’s values & goals and define how MTC could support Hoopsy and progress them in their journey towards Manufacture.
MTC identified Hoopsy’s business needs & created a technical specification to outline their ideas for a new and improved version of the existing pregnancy test – a generation-2 prototype – with the main focus being to identify the plastic materials within the existing test and find a compostable and ideally natural replacement.
The MTC team took the generation-2 concept that they had developed for Hoopsy with its new 100% compostable bill of materials and checked it was a suitable design for mass manufacture and assembly. The project team developed a plan for manufacture & drafted a pathway with a network of manufacturers and suppliers within the UK. This was an important requirement for the Hoopsy brand, who were interested in keeping supply local and associated emissions low.
MTC also performed an initial Life Cycle Assessment to understand the possible impact on the environment of the proposed generation-2 product. The viability of making this product “flushable” was also explored – with the MTC team performing a research study on existing standards and legislation around defining what constitutes as a ‘flushable’ product. Both of these studies also helped to define and confirm the planned route to manufacture.
Before I started working with MTC I had no idea of the help, support and expertise I would get. From the first meeting I loved the passion for my product and the ideas that came out of it. Working with them has felt like a true partnership where win-wins are happening. The report they produced was fantastic and I have used it to help me raise investment, it adds a lot of credibility and expertise that I just don't have alone. The team have gone above and beyond, and I can't wait to work with them again!
Lara Solomon, CEO & Founder – Hoopsy
The Outcome & Benefits
MTC have worked with Hoopsy on developing a fully compostable version of the Hoopsy Pregnancy test and as a result of this project, MTC produced multiple design concepts, which were down selected through to a final design. This design was then developed into detailed CAD model (a virtual prototype), which simulated the design and the relationship between different layers of the test. The virtual prototype was used to communicate different layers and component within the model and their assembly details – this prototype was then used to indicate a potential future manufacturing pathway that Hoopsy could follow to get this product to market. MTC were able to understand the new design’s impact on the environment by performing a Life Cycle Assessment and an “assessment of flushing and alternative disposal methods” – both of which have been pivotal to Hoopsy- as this has provided them with the facts and figures needed to gain investment for further development.
MTC were also able to identify materials, methods of manufacture and source a supply chain local to Hoopsy’s HQ in the West Midlands– which would reduce emissions and lead times. MTC have helped to grow their network, introducing them to potential suppliers and development opportunities on their doorstep. This has also given local manufacturers more potential business.
Following the work developed in this project under the WMHTIA programme, the Hoopsy 100% compostable pregnancy test design will be prototyped in a variety of different sizes, to continue with usability trials & to gain feedback from users. As the compostable materials within the pregnancy test are new and novel – validation testing will also be performed to ensure that the results are accurate and are to the high standard that Hoopsy follow. After this, the product will go into its final design stages, where it will follow in the steps of its generation-1 predecessor and be tested against industry standards.
It has been amazing to have the opportunity to be part of such an impactful project – that will disrupt the market and is a real win for sustainability. We’ve used our expertise in Product development to manifest Lara’s vision of a statement look pregnancy test that is kinder to the environment. We have utilised our expert knowledge in manufacturing to design a solution with 100% compostable materials – and plan a supply chain that could deliver it. To know that we are working together to implement sustainability considerations and eliminate the last remaining traces of plastic from this pregnancy test is something we are incredibly proud of.
Rebecca Purdy, MedTech Lead, Product Design - MTC
