E-Feasability, Design, Manufacture and Use Flashcards
The six R’s of sustainability-Recycle, Reduse, Refuse, Repair, Rethink and Reuse?
Recycle-Recovering parts and materials to be used again when the products reach the end of their useful life.
Reduce-Minimising wastage, by using less material or energy, eg. eliminating excessive packaging.
Refuse-Don’t use a material that is harmful to the environment or are difficult to recyle, refusing products means that manufacturers will have to stop producing them.
Repair-Designing products that can be repaired rather than those that have to be thrown out whe they get damaged, it extends are prducts useable life before it has to be desposed of.
Reuse-Making it possible to use a product again rather than discarding them, get the most out of a product.
What is upcycling?
This is the creative reuse of unwanted products and matrials, resulting in an outcome with a higher quality or environmental worth than the original.
Strategies to acheive efficient manufacture?
-Using a modular approach in the design, each individual parts are made independently, which makes it more flexible and customisable.
-Using standardised parts, which are idividual parts that are all made with the same specification, they can be bought in vast quantities, which is cost effective and used over dfferent versions/models to reduce the number of different parts.
-Employing self finishing materials to reduce the number of manufacuring processes.
-Using simulation software to ensure optimal layout of the machines and diagnose problems before they occur which is more time effective.
-Buying pre-made components from external suppliers, which can be more efficient than making everything in-house.
Ways to reduce the number of manufacturing processes?
-Material finishing-Use a process which provides a good finish or buy a good quality material that already has a good finish.
-Joining methods-Use standardised parts for all products being manufactured or cast/3D print/laser cut the product in its whole form.
-Casting and moulding-Calculate the volume of the product so the exact amount of material is melted.
-In-house production-Use bought in components like standardised parts, and use other companies to outsoures processes and components, which could require a higher skill level.
The importance of disassembly?
-It is the taking apart of a product for repair or at the end of its usable life.
-It is important that the product can be broken down into its individual parts and materials so that it can be recycled or reused.
-The use of integral fittings can be easily released to dismatle the product into its idividual parts.
-Use of SMA’s, which can hold elements of a product together, when they are heated they can change shape to release the two components.
How is computer modelling used in lean manufacturing?
-Lean manufacturing is minimising waste in terms of time and materials in order to make the manufacture more efficient.
-Use of coputer modelling to the assess the praticality of making the item, it can work out the efficiency of the production line and assess if their will be problems with the manufacture before they happen.
-It can predict where their might be a bottleneck, a point the production that will slow and impede it, it can be used to plan where buffer zones are required.
-A buffer zone is an area for tempoary storage where partially completed work is stored while slower tasks are completed.
-Can be used to work out cycle time for a production process, the time from the start of the production to the product being dispatched, it can be used to plan when new materials are needed and means the products might not have to be stored at the end of the production.
-All this is used to plan the takt time, the rate at which an item needs to be made to reach the consumer demand, ensures that there is alway enough stock.
Using prototypes to assess feasibility?
-A prototype can be functioning or non-functioning and are used to gain feedback about their product before putting it into production.
-They can be tested by potential cosumers, who can test their functionality, ergonomics and aestheitics.
Customer identification?
-Use of market research to know as much as possible about the customer (Age, gender, disposable income and residantial location).
-Based on the research the designer may then decide to use certain aesthetic features, set a budget for the product and look at the size and ease of storage of the product.
-Market research can also identify why customers are motivated to buy a product (social/emotional needs, family needs and brand preferences).
What is corprate identity?
-It is the branding that is used to present the image of the company to the product.
-The benefits of a recognisable brand are improved customer loyalty, if they try and like a product with a recognisable identity they are likely to use the same product again.
What is global marketing?
-Promoting a final product worldwide, which can help rapidly grow your the business.
-Marketing strategies differ depending on what country/region you are in, you need to be sensitive to religious and cultural beliefs
The avertising and promotion of a product?
-During product introduction, use media to advertise to generate interest with as many customers as possible (TV commercials, magazine adverts, billboards and posters). Uses viral marketing, which relies on people passing on the marketing to friends so that the overall growth snowballs.
-For product growth, used to promote features of the products, the adverts are promoted in specialised places to reach the target market. Cookies are used to obtain customer preferences, who can then be targeted.
-For product decline, marketing may be withdrawn completly as sales decline rapidly, or use retargeted marketing, which can use personalised ads/pop-up display ads to target customers who had previous interest in the product.
What are direct and indirect costs?
Direct costs-Those that are directly associated with the making of the product, including labour, material and factory costs.
Indirect costs-Those that are not specifically associated with the manufacture of the product but are involved in the running of the business such as security and maitinence.
What is an entrepreneur and collaborative working?
-An entrepreneur is a person who demonstrates initiative and invests capital into an idea and perhaps setting up a business. They can invest their own money or obtain finance from a bank or investor. They can use their own skills as well as working with designers and engineers to produce the idea.
-Designers don’t work in isolation, they will work with others either face to face or virtually. Often complex project will require skills and knowledge that a single person cannot be expected to have, they will usually have particular skills and expertise in certain areas.
What is a design report?
-It is a record made of the project after it has been completed.
-Contains an executive summary, which is a concise summary of the design itself, the reasons behind it and how effective it is.
-The next section is the introduction, it describes the design problem and explains background details such as context, client and possible customers.
-The conclusion, it describes the selected design, the problems encountered in the project and how they were overcome. It evaluates how well the design works in comparison to the specification. It also explains how it was tested and analyses how the design could be modified to improve it further.
What is a technical report?
A written report of any results recorded from carrying out practical tests, target market research or product reviews.
