With more than 900 research and development professionals employed by Amway, discovery is job #1.

In fact, more than 1,000 patents have been secured during the company’s history and over 800 more are pending. Many of these discoveries are driven by customer demands, feedback from distributors or advances in the market.

But some of the best discoveries happen simply by accident.

Take, for example, the company’s invention of non-chlorinated automatic dishwasher detergent. In the 1980s, there was not a non-chlorinated product on the market and Amway wasn’t trying to develop one. But, while testing a potential product for soil removal, our R&D professionals noticed that the product eliminated spots. Upon further testing, it also seemed to clean plates, plastic and other flatware better than anything else.

Quickly, a new product was born.

“It was all just serendipity,” Amway Scientist Ernie Brumbaugh said. “The result of observation and the understanding that something unique was happening in front of our eyes.”

What came to be known as Crystal Bright Automatic Dishwashing Detergent is just one of many discoveries made by Brumbaugh, who’s been with Amway for nearly 43 years.  It’s also one of the reasons the company recently honored him with induction into the Amway’s new R&D Distinguished Scientific Leadership Society – the highest honor bestowed by the R&D division.

Our Amway One by One Campaign for Children had quite a week last week.

Amway staff attended the International Corporate Citizenship Conference, organized by the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship.

Our own Jesse Hertstein was one of the speakers, explaining how our campaign is organized globally, but is implemented with flexibility among the local country affiliates.

We also were honored with an award: Our film highlighting 10 years of our One by One Campaign was named one of the 10 finalists in a film festival sponsored by Boston College.

Many thanks to all who voted for it. That film has now been viewed more than 10,000 times. Thank you to everyone for helping us share our story!

Last night, cosmetics industry professionals gathered at the Beyond Beauty Gala in New York City to support the James E. Marshall OCD Foundation, which raises money for education and research into Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Clubhouse International, community centers for people living with mental illness, will also benefit.

The disorder affects millions of people worldwide and is considered among the top 10 most disabling diseases in the U.S. — more than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined.

That’s why the cosmetics industry is taking a stand to expand its concept of beauty beyond physical attributes to include the beauty from within — and we’re proud to support this cause.

Congratulations to the Beyond Beauty 2013 co-honorees Nicolas Mirzayantz of IFF and our very own George Calvert, Ph.D, vice president R&D and supply chain at Amway, for their work to bring attention to this cause.

“We are proud of our association with this tremendous organization and the great work that it does in OCD awareness and research,” Calvert said.

The distributors who won Amway Europe’s Home Demo Contest this year had an experience they won’t soon forget – including being treated like movie stars while they filmed their winning demonstrations.

But they’re not the only ones: Our research scientists at our World Headquarters won’t forget the Home Demo Contest, either.

“What we saw in the distributor Demo Contest was innovation of applications,” Amway Senior Research Scientist Bob Faber said. “And those innovative applications and innovative uses of product shed new light on what we need to be … in the R&D environment, concentrating on in the future.”

Faber and other researchers praised distributors creativity, imagination and innovation. Watch the video to see the story behind the contest and how much fun – and educational — it was for our researchers.

Congratulations, again, to our winners!

YouTube DirektAmway Home Demo Contest Video

We’re placing another wireless charging award in the trophy case!

This week, Fulton Innovation won the Silver Stevie Award for Electronics Company of the Year. Part of the 2012 American Business Awards, the Stevie Award recognizes achievement in business for companies all over the world.

The Stevie Award follows our success at the 2012 Edison Awards, where Fulton Innovation earned a gold award in the applied technology category for eCoupled wireless power.

Our intelligent wireless power technology finds a home just about everywhere — from restaurant table tops to grocery aisles to parking garages.

This year, Fulton’s Dave Baarman was invited to speak at SXSW  representing us as a founding member of the Wireless Power Consortium – a who’s who of companies leading the wireless charge.

Our congratulations to the Fulton team!

In the last year, Amway China was recognized for its corporate citizenship efforts and earned honors as a finalist for the US Secretary of State’s prestigious 2011 Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE).

Now, Amway China has become the first direct seller to win the China Best Customer Service Award, widely recognized as the benchmark for corporate customer service.

Haier Group, 360 Buy, China Life Insurance and China Merchants Bank joined Amway China in this elite group of 2012 award winners.

‘Secret Customers’ evaluated the companies by testing more than 30 indicators of customer service through experiences in-store, online and telephone hotlines.

The awards are granted by the China Information Industry Association and China Association of Trade in Services.

The readers voted and ARTISTRY won!

Among a list of some of the world’s best-known beauty brands, ARTISTRY, the prestige beauty brand of Amway, recently took home not just one, but two Her World Beauty Awards in Malaysia.

Both the ARTISTRY Hydrating Foundation and ARTISTRY Intensive Skincare Renewing Peel received the 2012 Readers’ Choice Award in the makeup and skincare categories.

The winners were announced in the July issue of the monthly women’s magazine.

A round of applause to our colleagues in Malaysia!

Every year, thousands of Amway distributors around the world are rewarded for their efforts with trips that combine exotic locations with learning opportunities and entertainment.

But these trips do so much more. They also benefit local economies and communities.

This week in Fiji, Achiever-level distributors from Amway Australia and New Zealand are repairing desks, painting new chalkboards and otherwise making a disaster-struck school an acceptable place for learning to take place again.

Said one distributor: “By the time we leave today, we’ll be friends with another group of people somewhere else in the world – which is absolutely wonderful.”

And earlier this spring, Amway China brought its top 15,000 distributors from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan to Laguna Phuket in Thailand. The visit was estimated to help the local economy by bringing an influx of $2.5 billion baht in cash; providing temporary jobs to 300 students; and hiring hundreds of local transport and catering employees.

When our distributors enjoy their well-deserved rewards, they aren’t the only ones positively affected.

Thomas Edison was a brilliant inventor.

That’s why our Fulton Innovation team is privileged to win the Gold Edison Award in Applied Technology for Power Management for eCoupled Intelligent Wireless Power in the internationally renowned 2012 Edison Awards.

Fulton’s innovative entry impressed the judges – a group of more than 3,000 senior business executives and academics – with a collaborative effort with Motorola Mobility to provide a wireless power option for the DROID™3.

“We are honored to receive this recognition from the prestigious Edison Awards,” said Dave Baarman, director of advanced technologies for Fulton Innovation, in a news release. “Our work with Motorola, the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), and our many partners enable us to bring advancements in wireless power directly to consumers to simplify their lives.”

Amway President Doug DeVos and former Amway President Dick DeVos will receive our industry’s highest honor when they are inducted into the Direct Selling Association (DSA) Hall of Fame in June.

The induction during the DSA Annual Meeting will recognize the far-reaching impact these second-generation Amway leaders have had on direct selling.

Both have served as chairman of the DSA board of directors. Dick has been chairman of the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA) and Doug was previously chair of the Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF), earning that organization’s Circle of Honor Award in 2009. Doug is currently treasurer of WFDSA.

 “The leadership and vision Dick and Doug DeVos have provided to the Direct Selling Association over many years made their induction into the DSA Hall of Fame an obvious choice. The tireless efforts of both of these extraordinary men to serve the interests of not only Amway, but the entire direct selling community, has been a source of inspiration,” said DSA President Joseph Mariano in a news release announcing the honor.

Amway Co-Founders Rich DeVos and the late Jay Van Andel were inducted into the DSA Hall of Fame in 1979 and 1987, respectively.