New and Emerging Technologies

Question 1

What Is Enterprise?

Answer 1

Enterprises the ability to identify business opportunities and take advantage of them. This can be used to generate new ideas and successful businesses those that can adapt quickly to change.

Question 2

What is crowdfunding?

Answer 2

Crowdfunding is a new way of enabling individuals to promote an idea on a platform, such as a website to a large audience. People can then choose to invest in projects that they believe to be worthwhile.

Question 3

What do those support of project through crowdfunding usually receive?

Answer 3

Those who support a project through crowdfunding are called backers, and they generally get rewarded for their investment, usually in the form of gifts, discounts and shares in the business

Question 4

What is virtual marketing and retailing?

Answer 4

Virtual marketing and retailing is the increased use of the Internet in selling products. This includes online advertising such a social media adverts and pay-per-click advertising. Most businesses now have online stores and websites where customers can shop

Question 5

What is a cooperative?

Answer 5

A cooperative is a business that is owned and run by its workers, the workers and members make the decisions within the business and share in the profits made. They usually based around local communities but they can also be larger businesses such as nationwide building society.

Question 6

What is fair trade?

Answer 6

Fair trade no ensures that farmers get a fair price for their produce, so they can provide for their families. It also aims to improve trade terms and conditions for workers. Fair trade products are usually labelled accordingly.

Question 7

What is automation and what is it used for?

Answer 7

Automation involves the use of automatic equipment and it was first developed and used on a large scale during the industrial revolution to help with the increase in demand for manufactured goods

Question 8

What are the advantages of automation?

Answer 8

Increase efficiency and productivity
Fewer errors and greater accuracy
Limited human input, reducing labour costs
The ability to perform work that is otherwise dangerous to humans

Question 9

What are the Disadvantages of automation?

Answer 9

Expensive to set up and maintain
Replace a human labour, leading to job losses
No human judgement
Requires high skilled workers to operate the equipment

Question 10

What is the impact of new technology on buildings and equipment?

Answer 10

Technologies such as Wi-Fi have significantly improved workplace efficiency by enabling faster communication and data transfer and has lead to greater energy efficiency in buildings and equipment

Question 11

What is computer aided design?

Answer 11

CAD allows users to draw, design, and model products by creating 2-D and 3-D models that can be manipulated to test ideas before manufacturing

Question 12

What is computer aided manufacturing?

Answer 12

CAM uses computer numerical control to create CAD designs. The software creates the 3-D coordinates of every point of the design and the CAM machine interprets these coordinates to manufacture it.

Question 13

What are the advantages of CAD?

Answer 13

More accurate than hand drawings
Designs can be extensively amended and tested before production
Several designers can work on the same project simultaneously
Offers 3-D views of models

Question 14

What are the disadvantages of CAD?

Answer 14

Can be difficult to learn
Can require large amounts of memory
Expensive software

Question 15

What are the advantages of CAM?

Answer 15

Higher level of accuracy
Increased speed and efficiency
Can operate 24 hours a day

Question 16

What are the disadvantages of CAM?

Answer 16

Expensive equipment
Requires maintenance
Replaces human workforce

Question 17

What are the benefits of a flexible manufacturing system?

Answer 17

FMS is ideal for batch production and allows manufacturers to adapt quickly to consumers changing needs by altering product design

Question 18

What is Just In Time manufacturing?

Answer 18

Stock is closely monitored and is only ordered when it is needed and it arrives ‘just in time’ before existing stocks run out

Question 19

What are the advantages of JIT manufacturing?

Answer 19

Reduces cost and need for warehouse space
Reduces risk of losing money through stolen or damaged stock
Stock is less likely to go out of date
Helps cash flow

Question 20

What are the disadvantages of JIT manufacturing?

Answer 20

More expensive to order in small quantities
Lack of stock, if supplier delays or ordering mistakes occur
Increase transport cost due to more frequent deliveries
Little room for production mistakes

Question 21

What is a life-cycle assessment?

Answer 21

An evaluation used to assess the environmental impacts of a product at every stage of its life

Question 22

What do we look at in a life cycle assessment?

Answer 22

The energy needed
Impact on environment
Whether it follows environmental standards
Waste and pollution
Packaging

Question 23

What is global warming?

Answer 23

Fossil fuels, release, greenhouse gases when but energy production and the transportation of materials, which leads to global warming

Question 24

What is a result of global warming?

Answer 24

Melting glaciers
Increase risk of flooding in coastal areas
Animal and plant species becoming extinct
Severe drought and famine

Question 25

What is continuous improvement?

Answer 25

Looking for a way to make small improvements to products or processes to boost productivity and efficiency

Question 26

What is efficient working?

Answer 26

Efficient working is making the best use of available resources to save energy money and minimise damage to the environment

Question 27

What must be considered when developing new products?

Answer 27

Is it made from renewable resources?
Does the manufacturing cause pollution?
How much energy is used during manufacturing?
How energy efficient will the product be?
Can it be easily disposed of?
What are the waste products?

Question 28

What is sustainability?

Answer 28

Meeting the needs of the present society without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs

Question 29

What is the difference between finite resources and non-finite resources?

Answer 29

Finite resources are nonrenewable, and they can’t be replenished as fast as they’re being consumed. However, non-finite resources or renewable resources can be replenished faster than they are being consumed

Question 30

What are the downfalls of landfill sites?

Answer 30

Decaying waste chemical solution by contaminating local land and water supplies, and generating greenhouse gases.

Question 31

What are the six answers for analysing potential environmental impacts?

Answer 31

Rethink: considering our products can be made in a more sustainable way
Refuse: refusing to use, unsustainable and unethical products
Repair: repairing products that are broken to extend their life cycle
Reduce: reducing the amount of resources and energy used for creating products
Recycle: considering how product can be made from recyclable materials
Reuse: consider, a product can be used again, or in other ways

Question 32

What is the impact of technology push?

Answer 32

New materials and techniques become available through research and development that enables designers to create new and exciting products

Question 33

What is market pull?

Answer 33

New product development is driven by changing consumer demands and requirements

Question 34

What is the impact of the new and emerging technology on jobs?

Answer 34

Is led to the rise in skilled jobs and service industry jobs.
Many people argue that technology leads to redundancies and unemployment. Others argue that technology is simply changing the nature of peoples jobs.

Question 35

What is the impact of culture and society and the design of new products?

Answer 35

When a product is being designed for a specific market it is important to research that market group. It’s also important though to consider the wide world including different religions and cultures and languages to ensure the
product doesn’t cause offence or have a negative impact on certain groups in society

Question 36

Why was products be adapted?

Answer 36

Products have to be adapted in order not to exclude people who may find it difficult to use otherwise, for example, elderly people who have poor vision or reduced mobility or products to help those with physical disabilities who may have restricted speech on mobility

Question 37

What is the impact of fashion and product development?

Answer 37

Fashion and trend have a great impact on product development as people won’t purchase products that are considered uncool the Internet allowed businesses and famous people to showcase new fashions and trends on social media sites and blogs, resulting in trends coming going very quickly

Question 38

What is planned obsolescence?

Answer 38

Planned obsolescence is giving a product a set lifespan. For example, single use products don’t need to be durable, but it would be good if they were biodegradable. Many technology and fashion products will have intentionally short lifespans due to changing trends.

Question 39

What does it mean to design for maintenance?

Answer 39

Designing for maintenance means that when one part of a product is broken or worn out that component can be repaired or replaced easily without having to throw the whole product away which is better for the environment

Question 40

What are ethical concerns with product production?

Answer 40

In order to try to lower costs for customers manufacturers may look for ways to cut costs during production. This may involve unethical behaviour such as using cheaper overseas labour, using cheaper materials, and illegally disposing of waste