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Design Technology (HL) Ultimate Guide
Chapter 1: Human Factors and Ergonomics
Introduction to Ergonomics
Definition: Ergonomics is the scientific discipline studying interactions among humans and system elements.
Purpose: To design for optimal human well-being and system performance.
Contributions: Ergonomists design tasks, jobs, products, environments, and systems for human needs and abilities.
Diagram of the Ergonomics Model showing the interaction between humans, tasks, and environments.
Key Concepts in Ergonomics
Anthropometrics
Definition: Study of human body measurements focusing on strength and size.
Importance: Ensures user comfort and productivity in environments and products.
Data Types: Static data (fixed body position) and dynamic data (body in motion).
Examples of body measurement illustrations.
Psychological Factors
Definition: User psychology influences design.
Factors: Perception, memory, reasoning, emotional responses.
Challenges: Addressing various psychological needs and preferences.
Infographic about psychological factors in design (e.g., perception, memory).
Physiological Factors
Definition: Physical user characteristics affecting safety, comfort, performance.
Examples: Adjustability, alertness influencing efficiency.
Illustration showing adjustable chair or workstation designs.
Types of Ergonomic Data
Functional Data
Definition: Data related to tasks and interactions.
Examples: Reaching, navigating, space considerations.
Diagram of workspaces showing functional data considerations (e.g., reach zones).
Psychological Factor Data
Definition: Details on taste, smell, touch sensations.
Types: Qualitative and quantitative data.
Visual of sensory experiences or user feedback mechanisms.
Physiological Factor Data
Definition: Data on physical dimensions and needs.
Types: Static, dynamic, structural data.
Environmental Factors in Ergonomics
Types: Management policies, physical environment, equipment design, job nature, social environment, worker factors.
Examples: Desk height, ambient noise, monitor height, seat types affecting ergonomics.
Infographic showing different environmental factors affecting ergonomics.
7 Ergonomic Risk Factors Assessed in Initial Ergonomic Risk Assessment
Resources and Reserves
Renewable vs. Non-Renewable Resources
Renewable Resources: Solar, wind, hydro.
Non-Renewable Resources: Fossil fuels, minerals.
- Venn diagram of Renewable vs Non-renewable resources
Energy Sources that are Renewable AND/OR Non-renewable
Economic and Political Importance of Resources
Issues: Resource security, international treaties, environmental impacts.
Human Error
Definition: Mistakes by users with severe repercussions.
Examples: Design flaws leading to accidents.
Case Study: Three Mile Island accident due to human error and equipment malfunction.
E.g. A severe accident occurred at the Pennsylvania nuclear power plant Three Mile Island in 1979 as a result of a mix of human error and malfunctioning equipment. The reactor core overheated as a result of a cooling system malfunction at the plant. A partial meltdown was caused by design flaws and operator error even though safety systems were activated.
Human Errors:
Confusing Control Room: Too many alarms and poorly placed indicators.
Inadequate Training: Operators didn't know how to handle the situation.
Poor Communication: Delayed emergency response.
Lesson: Better design and training can help to prevent such accidents.
International Mindedness
Definition and Scope:
In design technology, being internationally minded means knowing how various nations and areas are impacted by international issues, policies, and practices pertaining to resources and reserves. It necessitates taking into account the global ethical, social, and environmental effects of resource management and extraction. This idea highlights how important it is for engineers and designers to be aware of global resource management opportunities and challenges, as well as to respond to them.Emerging Topics in Ergonomics
Technology and Ergonomics
Definition: The use of advanced technology in ergonomic design.
Examples:
Virtual Reality (VR) is a technology that simulates environments in order to test ergonomic designs.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): Enhancing ergonomic assessments and designs.
Ergonomic Design of a Workplace Using Virtual Reality and a Motion Capture Suit
Ergonomics in Future Workplaces
Definition: The future of ergonomic design in evolving work environments.
Examples:
Remote Work: Ergonomic home office setups.
Automation: Designing for human-machine interactions.
Chapter 2: Innovation and Design
What is Innovation
Innovation is the process of introducing new ideas, products, or methods.
It involves creativity, problem-solving, and implementation of novel solutions.
Innovations can lead to improvements, advancements, and changes in various fields.
It often involves taking risks, challenging the status quo, and embracing change.
There are multiple types of innovation:
Product Innovation: introducing a new product
Process Innovation: implementing a new delivery method
Organizational Innovation: creating new methods of organization
The Design Process
The design process is a series of steps that designers use
It helps them come up with a solution
Steps of the Design Process
Identify the Problem: Define the issue to be solved.
Research: Gather information and data related to the problem.
Design: Develop a detailed plan or prototype.
Test: Evaluate the design for effectiveness.
Implement: Put the final design into action.
Evaluate: Assess the success of the design in solving the problem.
Identifying the Problem
Understanding and identifying what needs to be fixed is the first and most important step of the process
This involves having
a clear and concise problem statement
e.g. “The current training materials lack updated information, interactive elements, and real-world examples, hindering employee skill development.”
and a stakeholder analysis
who will be affected by the design
Research
There are two types of research involved in this:
Primary Research: Direct data collection methods.
Secondary Research: Indirect data from existing sources.
Research involves gathering data through primary and secondary sources and analysis includes evaluating data to draw insights and make informed decisions.
An important thing to note is that effective research is very important for the design process, as it builds the foundations to your solution and your next steps.
Design
There are three steps to design:
Brainstorming: Group idea generation
Sketching: Visualizing concepts
Modeling: Creating simple prototypes
An example of design is using flowcharts to map out the user journey in a website redesign project.
Test
Involves evaluating the functionality and performance of a product or system.
Helps identify defects, errors, or areas for improvement.
Testing ensures that the design meets requirements and functions as intended.
Types of testing include:
Unit Testing: Tests individual components in isolation.
Integration Testing: Checks interactions between integrated components.
System Testing: Validates the entire system's functionality.
Acceptance Testing: Ensures the system meets user requirements.
Implementation
Involves putting the design into action.
Includes executing the planned design solutions.
Ensures the design is realized as intended.
Evaluation
Involves assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of the design solution.
Helps in determining if the design meets the specified requirements and objectives.
Involves user testing, feedback collection, and performance analysis.
The results are used to make improvements or modifications to the design.
Design Thinking
Design thinking is a problem-solving approach that emphasizes empathy, creativity, and iterative prototyping to generate innovative solutions.
The principles of design thinking include:
Empathy: Understanding the needs of the user
Define: Understanding the problem that needs to be addressed
Ideate: Formulating a range of ideas
Prototype: Building tangible representation of the ideas
Test: Testing the ideas with users
Invention
Invention is defined as the creation of a new product, process, or idea. In the IB curriculum, you are encouraged to develop innovative solutions to real-world problems through research, experimentation, and critical thinking.
Remember to not get confused between invention and innovation:
Inventors must be creative, understand concepts, and consider end-user needs.
Inventions stem from curiosity, problem-solving, or accidental discoveries.
Drivers for invention include personal motivation, curiosity, discontent, profit, and helping others.
Lone inventors work independently, facing advantages like control but disadvantages like lack of business acumen.
Intellectual Property (IP) includes patents, trademarks, design protection, copyright, and service marks.
First to Market strategy involves rushing innovative products to gain market advantage.
Shelved technologies are put on hold due to social, technological, timing, cost, or market readiness reasons.
Product Life Cycle
The product life cycle is the stages a product goes through from introduction to withdrawal from the market. It includes introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
Discovery and Development: Research, idea generation, and product design.
Introduction: Launching the product into the market.
Growth: Increasing sales and market share.
Maturity: Sales peak, competition intensifies.
Decline: Sales decrease, the product becomes obsolete.
Rogers' Characteristics of Innovation and Consumers:
Relative Advantage: Benefits compared to alternatives
Compatibility: Fits with existing practices
Complexity: Ease of understanding and use
Trialability: Ability to test before commitment
Observability: Results are visible to others
Marketing Specifications
Marketing specifications relate to market and user characteristics of a design. There are multiple terms involved with marketing that you need to be able to know and explain for the IB exam.
Target Markets
Identify market sectors and segments to determine target customers.
Consider who is likely to buy the product, how to reach them, and where they find out about it.
Helps position the product in the right marketing and distribution channels.
Target Audiences
Differentiate between target market and target audience.
Establish characteristics of users when defining the target audience.
Market Analysis
Evaluate economic viability by considering costs and pricing.
Summary of potential users and market overview.
User Need
Specify product requirements based on market and user needs.
Competition
Analyze competing designs to understand market demand.
Identify buyer preferences and strategies to compete effectively.
Chapter 3: Classic Design
Introduction:
Classic design represents a timeless aesthetic characterized by balance, proportion, and enduring beauty. It encompasses a rich tapestry of architectural styles, furniture designs, and artistic expressions that have shaped cultures and civilizations throughout history. Understanding classic design provides insights into the evolution of artistic principles, cultural identities, and the human quest for beauty and functionality.
Key Characteristics of Classic Design:
Symmetry and Balance:
Symmetry: Symmetry is a defining characteristic of classic design, encompassing the even distribution of elements around a central axis or point. This principle is integral to creating a sense of harmony, orderliness, and visual coherence across various forms of artistic expression.
Types of Symmetry:
Axial Symmetry: Elements are mirrored or repeated identically on either side of a central axis. This form of symmetry is prominently featured in classical architecture, such as the facades of temples, palaces, and cathedrals.
Example: The Parthenon in Athens exhibits axial symmetry in its columned facade and proportional layout.
Radial Symmetry: Elements radiate outward from a central point, creating a circular or star-like pattern. While less common in architecture, it is often found in decorative arts, gardens, and some architectural elements.
Example: The floor plan and gardens of the Palace of Versailles demonstrate radial symmetry around the central axis of the palace.
Symbolic Importance:
Symmetry in classic design symbolizes concepts such as balance in nature, divine proportion, and the pursuit of perfection. It reflects cultural values and ideals prevalent during different historical periods.
Significance: In ancient Greek and Roman cultures, symmetry was associated with ideals of harmony and cosmic order, reflecting philosophical notions of balance and proportion in the natural world.
Balance: Balance in classic design ensures visual stability and aesthetic appeal by proportionately arranging elements within a composition. It is essential in achieving a pleasing equilibrium that enhances the overall coherence of architecture, interiors, and decorative arts.
Achieving Balance:
Symmetrical Balance: Elements are evenly distributed around a central axis or point, creating a sense of formal balance and order. This approach is common in classical architecture and structured interiors.
Asymmetrical Balance: Different elements are arranged to achieve balance through contrast, variation in size, color, texture, or placement. Asymmetry adds dynamism and visual interest while maintaining overall harmony.
Example: Baroque and Rococo styles often employ asymmetrical balance to create dramatic and dynamic compositions in architecture and interior design.
Functional and Aesthetic Considerations:
Balance in classic design serves functional purposes by ensuring structural stability and visual coherence. It also contributes to the aesthetic appeal and emotional impact of architectural spaces and decorative arts.
Importance: The careful consideration of balance in design reflects the skill and intent of artisans and architects to create environments that are both visually striking and functionally sound.
Proportion and Scale:
Proportion: Proportion in classic design refers to the harmonious relationship between different parts of a design and the whole. It involves using mathematical ratios and principles to achieve aesthetically pleasing compositions.
Golden Ratio: A mathematical proportion of approximately 1.618, the Golden Ratio is frequently utilized in classic design to create balanced and visually appealing structures. It is found in architectural elements, paintings, and sculptures throughout history.
Example: The Parthenon in Athens is often cited for its use of the Golden Ratio in the dimensions of its columns and pediment.
Classical Principles: Architects and artists in classical periods, such as ancient Greece and Renaissance Italy, meticulously calculated proportions to evoke ideals of beauty, harmony, and perfection.
Application: Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio's villas and churches are celebrated for their use of classical proportioning systems, contributing to their enduring aesthetic appeal.
Scale: Scale in classic design refers to the size of elements relative to each other and their environment. It plays a crucial role in evoking specific spatial experiences and emotional responses.
Monumental Scale: Classic architecture often employs monumental scale to create awe-inspiring and grandiose structures that dominate their surroundings.
Example: Gothic cathedrals, such as Notre-Dame de Paris, use towering spires and expansive interiors to convey a sense of spiritual transcendence and majesty.
Intimate Scale: Conversely, classic design can also utilize intimate scale to create spaces that are inviting and human-scaled.
Example: Renaissance palaces, like the Villa Medici in Florence, feature courtyards and proportions that provide a sense of intimacy and domestic comfort.
Materiality and Craftsmanship:
Materiality: Classic design values the use of natural materials that contribute to both aesthetic beauty and structural integrity.
Natural Materials: Stone, marble, wood, and metals such as bronze and wrought iron are favored materials in classic architecture and decorative arts.
Significance: These materials not only enhance the visual appeal of designs but also convey a sense of permanence, durability, and connection to the natural world.
Craftsmanship: Craftsmanship is integral to classic design, emphasizing the skillful execution of techniques to create detailed and refined works.
Traditional Techniques: Artisans employ traditional methods such as carving, molding, and casting to create intricate ornamentation and decorative elements.
Example: The intricate stone carvings on the façade of Chartres Cathedral exemplify the high level of craftsmanship in Gothic architecture.
Timeless Elegance and Simplicity:
Classic design embodies enduring elegance and simplicity, focusing on clarity of form and function.
Understated Beauty: Classic design avoids excessive ornamentation, emphasizing clean lines and harmonious proportions to achieve timeless appeal.
Example: The simplicity and elegance of a Greek Doric column, with its unadorned capital and sturdy proportions, symbolize classical ideals of beauty and order.
Symbolic motifs and iconography play a significant role in classic design, reflecting cultural, religious, or philosophical beliefs.
Symbolic Elements: Classical architecture often incorporates symbolic elements such as columns, arches, and pediments that carry meanings related to strength, stability, and divine order.
Example: The use of Corinthian columns in Roman architecture symbolizes luxury and sophistication, reflecting cultural values of the time.
Cultural Narratives: Symbols in classic design connect artworks and architecture to broader cultural narratives and historical contexts, enriching their meaning and significance.
Interpretation: The depiction of gods and goddesses in classical sculptures not only showcases artistic skill but also communicates religious beliefs and mythological stories.
Examples of Classic Design Movements:
Ancient Greek and Roman Architecture: Characterized by columns (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian), pediments, and symmetrical layouts in structures like the Parthenon and Colosseum.
Renaissance Art and Architecture: Revived classical forms, humanist ideals, and perspective techniques seen in works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Palladio.
Baroque and Rococo Styles: Baroque emphasizes drama, movement, and ornate detailing, while Rococo features asymmetry, pastel colors, and delicate ornamentation in interiors and decorative arts.
Influence on Modern and Contemporary Design:
Revival Movements: Periodic revivals of classic design elements, such as the Neoclassical revival in the 18th and 19th centuries, adapt historical motifs to contemporary tastes and technological advancements.
Modern Interpretations: Modern movements draw on classic design principles of balance, proportion, and simplicity, interpreted in minimalist or abstract forms.
Postmodern Reinterpretations: Postmodernism critiques and reinterprets classic design motifs and forms, often with irony and juxtaposition, challenging traditional notions of authenticity and cultural hierarchy.
Studying classic design provides a foundation for understanding the evolution of artistic expression, cultural identities, and the built environment. It encourages critical thinking about how design shapes societies and reflects historical contexts. Through interdisciplinary exploration, students gain insights into the enduring principles of classic design and their relevance to contemporary challenges in architecture, art, and cultural heritage preservation.
Classic design exemplifies timeless principles of beauty, craftsmanship, and cultural significance that continue to inspire and influence contemporary aesthetics. By exploring classic design within historical, cultural, and interdisciplinary frameworks, we deepen our appreciation for its enduring legacy and its role in shaping the world we inhabit today.
Chapter 4: User-Centred Design (UCD)
Introduction to User-Centred Design (UCD)
User-Centred Design (UCD) is a design philosophy that prioritizes the needs, preferences, and limitations of end-users throughout the entire design process. Unlike traditional design approaches that may focus primarily on technical specifications or business objectives, UCD places the user at the heart of decision-making, ensuring that the final product is both effective and satisfying to use.
At its core, UCD involves a deep understanding of the target audience. This begins with comprehensive user research to gather insights into users' behaviors, goals, and challenges. By creating detailed user personas and scenarios, designers can better empathize with their audience and tailor solutions that address real-world needs.
The UCD process is iterative, involving continuous feedback and refinement. Early concepts and prototypes are tested with actual users to uncover usability issues and areas for improvement. This iterative approach ensures that the design evolves in response to user input, resulting in a product that is not only functional but also intuitive and engaging.
The ultimate goal of UCD is to enhance the overall user experience by creating products that are accessible, usable, and enjoyable. By involving users at every stage, from initial research to final implementation, UCD helps in delivering solutions that align with users' expectations and improve their overall satisfaction. of end-users throughout the entire design process. This approach ensures that the final product or service is both effective and satisfying to use, enhancing overall user experience.
Understanding Users
Research and Analysis:
Ethnographic Studies: In-depth observation of users in their natural settings to gain insights into their behaviors, routines, and challenges.
Contextual Inquiry: Combines observation with interviews to understand how users interact with a product in their own environment.
Diary Studies: Users record their interactions with a product over time, providing longitudinal insights into usage patterns and issues.
Personas and User Profiles:
Empathy Maps: Visual tools that capture what users think, feel, say, and do, helping to build a deeper understanding of their experiences.
Customer Journey Mapping: A visual representation of the user’s journey, highlighting key interactions, touchpoints, and pain points.
Involvement Throughout the Design Process
Early and Continuous Engagement:
User Advisory Panels: Groups of users who provide ongoing feedback and advice throughout the design process.
Design Sprints: Time-boxed workshops where cross-functional teams work intensively on solving design problems, often involving users to test solutions quickly.
Iterative Design:
Rapid Prototyping: Creating quick, low-cost prototypes to test concepts and gather feedback before committing to more detailed designs.
Mockups and Wireframes: Visual representations of design ideas that help communicate concepts and gather early feedback from users and stakeholders.
Design Solutions Based on User Needs
Requirements Gathering:
User Surveys and Questionnaires: Collect quantitative data on user preferences, needs, and satisfaction.
Focus Groups: Structured discussions with groups of users to explore their attitudes and perceptions about a product or service.
Usability Principles:
Heuristic Evaluation: Experts evaluate the design against established usability principles to identify potential issues.
Cognitive Walkthroughs: Experts simulate user tasks to identify potential usability problems and areas for improvement.
Evaluation and Feedback
Usability Testing:
A/B Testing: Comparing two or more versions of a design to determine which performs better with users.
Remote Usability Testing: Users interact with the product from their own environment, allowing for a more natural evaluation of usability.
Continuous Improvement:
Analytics and Heatmaps: Tools that track user interactions and visualize areas of interest and engagement on a page.
Post-Launch Surveys: Collecting feedback from users after a product is launched to identify any ongoing issues and areas for enhancement.
Accessibility and Inclusivity
Inclusive Design:
Assistive Technologies: Designing products that are compatible with tools such as screen readers, voice recognition software, and alternative input devices.
Multi-Modal Interfaces: Offering multiple ways for users to interact with a product, such as touch, voice, and gesture controls.
Universal Design Principles:
Error Tolerance: Designing systems that prevent errors or offer simple recovery options.
Consistent and Predictable Design: Ensuring that design elements behave in a consistent and predictable manner, reducing the learning curve for users.
Additional Considerations
Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration:
Interdisciplinary Teams: Collaboration between designers, developers, researchers, and business stakeholders ensures a holistic approach to solving design problems.
Stakeholder Involvement: Engaging all relevant stakeholders, including business owners and technical experts, to align user needs with business goals and technical feasibility
Real-World Applications:
Healthcare: Designing user-friendly medical devices and health management systems that improve patient outcomes and ease of use for healthcare professionals.
E-Commerce: Creating intuitive online shopping experiences that enhance user satisfaction and drive sales.
Public Services: Developing accessible and efficient systems for government services, improving user engagement and satisfaction.
Benefits of UCD:
Enhanced User Satisfaction: Tailoring designs to user needs and preferences leads to greater satisfaction and loyalty.
Improved Usability: Products are easier to use and navigate, reducing the likelihood of user errors and frustration.
Increased Efficiency: Streamlined designs and clear interfaces help users complete tasks more quickly and effectively.
Cost Savings: Identifying and addressing usability issues early in the design process can reduce the need for costly changes and support interventions later.
User-Centred Design (UCD) is a robust approach that integrates user feedback into every stage of the design process. By focusing on understanding users, involving them continuously, and adhering to usability and accessibility principles, UCD helps create products and services that are not only functional but also resonate with users on a practical and emotional level. This approach leads to enhanced user satisfaction, greater efficiency, and reduced costs, making it a valuable methodology for any design project.
Sustainability & Sustainable Development
Term: Sustainability is the long-term maintenance of responsibility, which has environmental, economic and social dimensions. It is the capacity to endure and maintain.
Autodesk, Coca Cola and McDonald’s approach to Sustainability.
Term: Sustainable Development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Triple Bottom Line Sustainability
Term: An expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational success: economic, environmental and social.
TBL
From IB | TBL |
Environmental Aspect of TBL
It is technically possible to deliver the same or equivalent goods and services with lower environmental impact while maintaining social and equity benefits.
Is involved in maintaining the ecosystem by optimizing (using) its resources more prudently.
This could include redesigning the production system to be more efficient.
Maintaining ecosystem integrity
Assess and work within the carrying capacity (the size of a population that an ecosystem can support without degradation of social, economic and environmental systems).
Recognizing and maintaining biodiversity.
Historically there has been a close correlation between economic growth and environmental degradation—as economic prosperity increases so environmental quality decreases.
This trend is clearly demonstrated on graphs of human population numbers, economic growth and environmental indicators, see graph below.
Sustainable development frameworks enable the evaluation of the complex and interrelated concepts that are associated with development.
Social Aspect of TBL
There is a correlation between economic development and human well-being.
See graph below.
International Development on Wikipedia. It mentions economics influence.
Social sustainability:
Designing to develop goods and services for the enhancement of human well-being,
maintaining cultural identity,
empowerment of local communities,
accessibility to resources and services,
stability of communities not placing them in upheaval
social and gender equity
GDP vs Social Indicators
Economic Aspect of TBL
Economic development increases the GDP and spending power of people this results in consumption of resources leading to a negative environmental impact.
Designing for sustainability is dependent upon an understanding of the short- and long-term goals and values of individuals, institutions and governments.
It is about the big picture that allows economic activity to rise while:
reducing resource use and reducing environmental impact.
maintaining economic growth,
development,
improving productivity,
facilitates the economic trickle-down affect to local communities
Close cooperation is required between designer and manufacturer.
The importance of sustainability issues and strategies is critical to sustainable economic development.
Decoupling
Term: Decoupling refers to disconnecting two trends so that one no longer depends on the other. Through the act of decoupling (using resources more productively and redesigning production systems), it is technically possible to deliver the same or equivalent goods and services with lower environmental impact while maintaining social and equity benefits.
Decoupling is a strategy for sustainability
Consider the benefits and limitations of decoupling as an appropriate strategy for sustainability
Decoupling impacts and resources – from the UNEP
International and National Laws
The use of international and national laws to promote sustainable development
Nations need to adhere to the treaties/laws usually through enforceable domestic legislation.
International and national laws encourage companies to focus on something other than shareholder value and financial performance
Adopting a corporate strategy that has the support of shareholders/stakeholders can be difficult to achieve.
International and national laws encourage companies to focus on aspects other than shareholder value and financial performance,
These include transparency of corporate sustainability, transparent sustainability assurance and whether businesses, public services, national resources and the economy have the means to continue in the years ahead at a micro and macro level.
Kyoto Protocol on carbon emissions
Rio Earth Summit on sustainability
Sustainability Reporting
Term: A company report that focuses on four aspects of performance: Economic; Environmental; Social; and Governance.
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Science
IB Design Technology (HL)Sustainability
Chapter 5: Sustainability
Sustainable Development
Designers utilize design approaches that support sustainable development across a variety of contexts. A holistic and systematic approach is needed at all stages of design development to satisfy all stakeholders. In order to develop sustainable products, designers must balance aesthetic, cost, social, cultural, energy, material, health and usability considerations.
Triple bottom line sustainability does not only focus on the profitability of an organization or product, but also the environmental and social benefit it can bring.
Organizations that embrace triple bottom line sustainability can make significant positive effects to the lives of others and the environment by changing the impact of their business activities
Sustainability & Sustainable Development/
Term: Sustainability is the long-term maintenance of responsibility, which has environmental, economic and social dimensions. It is the capacity to endure and maintain.
Autodesk, Coca Cola and McDonald’s approach to Sustainability.
Term: Sustainable Development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Triple Bottom Line Sustainability
Term: An expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational success: economic, environmental and social.
TBL
From IB | TBL |
Environmental Aspect of TBL
It is technically possible to deliver the same or equivalent goods and services with lower environmental impact while maintaining social and equity benefits.
Is involved in maintaining the ecosystem by optimizing (using) its resources more prudently.
This could include redesigning the production system to be more efficient.
Maintaining ecosystem integrity
Assess and work within the carrying capacity (the size of a population that an ecosystem can support without degradation of social, economic and environmental systems).
Recognizing and maintaining biodiversity.
Historically there has been a close correlation between economic growth and environmental degradation—as economic prosperity increases so environmental quality decreases.
This trend is clearly demonstrated on graphs of human population numbers, economic growth and environmental indicators, see graph below.
Sustainable development frameworks enable the evaluation of the complex and interrelated concepts that are associated with development.
Social Aspect of TBL
There is a correlation between economic development and human well-being.
See graph below.
International Development on Wikipedia. It mentions economics influence.
Social sustainability:
Designing to develop goods and services for the enhancement of human well-being,
maintaining cultural identity,
empowerment of local communities,
accessibility to resources and services,
stability of communities not placing them in upheaval
social and gender equity
GDP vs Social Indicators
Economic Aspect of TBL
Economic development increases the GDP and spending power of people this results in consumption of resources leading to a negative environmental impact.
Designing for sustainability is dependent upon an understanding of the short- and long-term goals and values of individuals, institutions and governments.
It is about the big picture that allows economic activity to rise while:
reducing resource use and reducing environmental impact.
maintaining economic growth,
development,
improving productivity,
facilitates the economic trickle-down affect to local communities
Close cooperation is required between designer and manufacturer.
The importance of sustainability issues and strategies is critical to sustainable economic development.
Decoupling
Term: Decoupling refers to disconnecting two trends so that one no longer depends on the other. Through the act of decoupling (using resources more productively and redesigning production systems), it is technically possible to deliver the same or equivalent goods and services with lower environmental impact while maintaining social and equity benefits.
Decoupling is a strategy for sustainability
Consider the benefits and limitations of decoupling as an appropriate strategy for sustainability
Decoupling impacts and resources – from the UNEP
International and National Laws
The use of international and national laws to promote sustainable development
Nations need to adhere to the treaties/laws usually through enforceable domestic legislation.
International and national laws encourage companies to focus on something other than shareholder value and financial performance
Adopting a corporate strategy that has the support of shareholders/stakeholders can be difficult to achieve.
International and national laws encourage companies to focus on aspects other than shareholder value and financial performance,
These include transparency of corporate sustainability, transparent sustainability assurance and whether businesses, public services, national resources and the economy have the means to continue in the years ahead at a micro and macro level.
Kyoto Protocol on carbon emissions
Rio Earth Summit on sustainability
Sustainability Reporting
Term: A company report that focuses on four aspects of performance: Economic; Environmental; Social; and Governance.
A sustainability report is an organization report that provides information on its performance in 4 areas:
Economic
Environmental
Social
Governance
The reliability and acceptance of sustainability reporting requires accurate data gathering to be maintained over a lengthy period of time.
Benefits of sustainability reporting for:
Governments | Manufacturers | Consumers |
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Coca Cola Sustainability Report | Crocs 2014 Sustainability Report |
Product Stewardship
Everyone involved in making, selling, buying or handling equipment (products) takes responsibility for minimizing environmental impact of the equipment at all stages in the life cycle.
Designers may need to respond to consumer pressure as more consumers become aware of resource issues and product labeling.
International Mindedness
Changes in governments sometimes result in the reversal of sustainable development policies leading to different approaches to international agreements.
Theory of Knowledge
Design involves making value judgments in deciding between different ways of interacting with the environment. Is this the case in other areas of knowledge?
Sustainable Consumption
Designers develop products, services and systems that satisfy basic needs and improve quality of life. To meet sustainable consumption requirements, they must also minimize the use of natural resources, toxic materials and waste, and reduce emissions of pollutants at all stages of the life cycle.
It is not only the role of designers to create markets for sustainable products. Consumers need to change their habits and express a want and need for these products.
Sustainable Consumption
Term: The consumption of goods and services that have minimal environmental impact, promote social equity and economically viable, whilst meeting basic human needs worldwide.
Sustainable consumption is not about consuming less but consuming differently.
Designers need to recognize the importance of consumerism in developed countries and as an ambition in many developing countries.
Societies, particularly in developed countries, are [tend to be] a throwaway society.
Consumers need to be encouraged to repair and reuse products rather than throw them away.
Sustainable design and sustainable production contribute to sustainable consumption.
This can be achieved in a number of ways, for example, not buying more food than needed and reducing waste; changing attitudes to water and energy use, for example, turning taps off when brushing teeth, aerated water in showers, less water per flush of the toilet, grey water.
Consumer Attitudes
Consumer attitudes and behaviors towards sustainability can be classified into 4 groups.
Eco-warriors:
Term: Individuals or groups that actively demonstrate on environmental issues.
It is an individual who cares about our environment & the diversity of life forms so much that they want to take action.
An eco-warrior can be someone such as non-confrontational as a tree sitter or someone who engages in direct action, ranging anywhere from planting tree spikes into trees on public lands, to keep the lumber industry from cutting them down, to sit-ins which occupy a corporate office.
Eco-champions:
Term: Individuals or groups that champion environmental issues within organizations.
Champion environmental issues within organizations.
Attempt to introduce or create change in a product, process, or method that takes into account green or environmental issues
Is a person who fights or argues for a cause.
Eco-fans:
Term: Individuals or groups that enthusiastically adopt environmentally friendly practices as consumers.
It is usually someone who accepts all green design products on the current market or its related objectives.
An eco-fan will usually buy anything that is environmentally friendly and will never buy a harmful product.
It is usually someone who accepts all green design products on the current market or its related objectives.
An eco-fan will usually buy anything that is environmentally friendly and will never buy a harmful product.
Green Attitude to Buying Green – click on the image
Eco-phobes:
Term: Individuals or groups that actively resent talk of environmental protection.
Eco-phobes are people who are against helping the environment and purposely go against the ecological movements.
They believe that the environmental problems are irrelevant to their lives or are blown out of proportion.
Wikipedia reference to environmental denial
An example of an eco-phobe is a head of a country refusing to sign the Kyoto agreement which is based on controlling the c02 output in a country and limit it in order to decrease global warming.
Eco-Labelling and Energy Labelling Schemes
For the designer such labels can help guide their designing in order to meet country regulations or the manufacturers design specifications.
When designers design products they need to take into consideration the criteria that make up the different eco and energy labels for different labelling schemes.
For the consumer they can make the appropriate purchase if they are environmentally concerned. Different countries have different contexts.
International standardization has resulted in many eco- and energy labelling schemes being similar thus easy for the consigner to understand.
Eco-labelling:
Term: The labelling of products to demonstrate that they are better for the environment than other products.
Provides reliable information about how the product impacts the environment, considering all stages of the product’s life cycle: manufacture, distribution, use and disposal. An example of this is Swan eco-label.
Aids in the improvement of the workers have a role in the production’s social and economic conditions, like the Fair Trade Labelling.
Informs customers about how the energy is produced, and whether it meets certain requirements, like those of The FANC energy eco-labelling scheme.
Allows consumers to make informed choices.
Energy-labeling:
Term: The labeling of products to show how energy efficient they are. The label displays information in four categories: the product’s details; Energy classification that shows the product’s electrical consumption; Measurements relating to consumption, efficiency and capacity etc.; Noise emitted from the product when in use.
The label provides/displays four pieces of information:
The product’s details;
Energy classification that shows the product’s electrical consumption;
Measurements relating to consumption, efficiency and capacity etc.;
Noise emitted from the product when in use.
It shows the user how much energy is required/used by a product, as well as how efficient it is (how much heat-loss for example)
By using such labels, consumers can make their choices in products, by taking into account how much energy (toll on the environment) is used by the product.
By comparing theses two labels. and with consumer help, more environmentally friendly products could be sold therefore making companies use greener design.
As with Eco-labelling this label is given by a third party company
Market for Sustainable Products
Corporate strategies have an impact on the design brief or specifications, such as, market development, where we take an existing product and develop a new segment.
Creating a market for sustainable products:
pricing considerations: ensuring the products proved value-for-money to the customer.
such as eBikes that use cheaper lead-acid batteries vs lithium ion batteries.
long term costs
For example incandescent bulbs are very cheap and long life bulbs tend to more expensive. The Incandescent bulbs need regular changing
stimulating demand for green products
consumers must be convinced that the green product is of similar or better quality
is competitively priced
promote their green products
production of green products
taking into consideration triple bottom line sustainability
JIT manufacturing
end-of-pipe or better still radical change to manufacturing
Pressure Groups
Collections of individuals who hold a similar viewpoint on a particular topic, for example the environment, who take action to promote positive change to meet their goals.
“Non-profit and usually voluntary organizations whose members have a common cause for which they seek to influence political or corporate decision makers to achieve a declared objective. Whereas interest groups try to defend a cause (maintain the status quo), the pressure groups try to promote it (change the status quo).” (Business dictionary)
Pressure groups are not a market segment but they can influence the market and product cycle.
Some large organizations have evolved to inform consumers about environmental issues and ethical issues relating to the activities of certain multinational corporations.
These pressure groups are able to exert considerable influence to press for changes on these issues and to support or undermine development of specific technologies, for example, GM food production.
Consumer and environmental pressure groups can attract widespread support using the media (including social media).
Consumers have become increasingly aware of information provided by these organizations and, as markets have globalized, so has consumer power.
Lifestyle and Ethical Consumerism
Ethical Consumerism: The practice of consciously purchasing products and services produced in a way that minimizes social and environmental damage, while avoiding those that have a negative impact on society and the environment.
Lifestyle Consumerism: A social and economic order and ideology that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever greater amounts.
Consider strategies for managing western consumption while raising the standard of living of the developing world without increasing resource use and environmental impact.
Some companies incorporate ethics into their corporate strategy and designers need to work within such constraints.
They aim to curb and manage Western consumption while raising the standard of living of the developing world without increasing its resource use and environmental impact.
Implications of Take-Back Legislation for Designers, Manufacturers and Consumers
Take back legislation is the legislation that holds manufacturers responsible for the environmentally safe recycling or disposal of their end-of-life products. They are expected to provide a financial and/or physical plan to ensure that such products are collected and processed.
Apple, in 2016, introduced a take back program where you can get a discounted price on a new phone.
In Maine in the U.S.A., Car manufacturers have take-back legislation in the sense that they have to pay for the collection and recycling of mercury switches from old cars.
In March 2003 the UK government issued a legislation requiring that all car manufacturers and vehicle importers of new cars into the United Kingdom take back vehicles from their previous owner and guarantee that they are treated environmentally friendly.
In Sweden, Producers and importers must take back for free a piece of old equipment (all electrical household appliance) when the customer buys a new product.
In Japan, the end users are obliged to pay fees for collection, take-back and recycling at the time of disposal. The government sets the fees to cover industry’s actual costs for take-back, transportation, and recycling. They are (in U.S. dollars): washing machine, $24; air conditioner, $35; refrigerator, $46; and television, $27.
LG Policy of recycling and take-back.
The implications for the design cycle and product cycle depend on the nature of appropriate legislation.
Impact for the designer … when designing
Consider candle to the grave or cradle to cradle to cradle
Consider recyclability or re-use of materials
Consider design for disassembly
Work within the cost constraints if manufacturer – make the process efficient
Impact for the manufacturer …
Added costs due to paying for it to be returned and recycled
Interested in design for disassembly and recyclability since they are most likely the ones pulling it apart and recycling or reusing
consider manufacturing techniques
consider material selection and reduction in products
collection systems need to be developed
manage the waste themselves or have a third party do it
Impact for the consumer …
The extra costs may be passed onto the consumer
Must return the product
can rest assured that the environment is considered
International Mindedness
There are many different eco-labelling and energy-labelling schemes across the world that could be standardized
Theory of Knowledge
Eco-warriors sometimes break laws to express their views. Does the rightness or wrongness of an action depend on the situation?
Sustainable Design
The first step to sustainable design is to consider a product, service or system in relation to eco-design and analyze its impact using life cycle analysis. The designer then develops these to minimize environmental impacts identified from this analysis. Considering sustainability from the beginning of the process is essential.
Datschefski’s five principles of sustainable design equip the designer with a tool not only to design new products, but also to evaluate an existing product. This can lead to new design opportunities and increase the level at which a product aligns with these principles.
Green design versus sustainable design
Green design: is designing in a way that takes account of the environmental impact of the product throughout its life
Sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of social, economic, and ecological sustainability. (Wikipedia)
Green Design | Sustainable Design |
Products that have little or no affect on the environment. | Deals with TBL sustainability, economic, environmental & Social |
Cradle to the grave approach | Cradle to cradle approach |
Shorter (than sustainable design) therefore easier and cheaper to address environmental concerns in products. | Longer timescale which can affect the R & D stage (system wide research needed) of the design process increases costs therefore may not be feasible. |
Incremental idea generating techniques are feasible as possibly only small changes need to be made. | Idea generating techniques are more radical to re-think (overhaul/redesign) the nature of the product and ho it works |
Datschefski’s five principles of sustainable design
Students need to develop an understanding of Datschefski’s five principles of sustainable design (The Total Beauty of Sustainable Products, 2001). The five principles are a holistic approach to sustainable design but only selected principles will be possible/applicable to some products.
Cyclic – The product could not only be made from recyclable materials but is also compostable, of organic materials or from minerals that are recycled in a continuous loop such as bio plastics.
Solar – The energy (both embedded and in use) the product requires comes from only renewable energy sources that are cyclic and safe.
Safe – By-products products that are emitted into the environment (air, land & water) and ’space’ are non-hazardous, i.e. non polluting. The by-products are “food” for other systems. Hydrogen fuel cell cars’ by-product when in use is H2O.
Efficient – Requiring 90% less energy, materials and water than equivalent products in 1990.
Social – The products manufacture and usage should underpin basic human rights, safe work practices, fair trade principles and natural justice.
International-mindedness
The application of Datschefski’s social principle of sustainable design can have different effects across different countries.
Theory of knowledge
Datschefski developed his five principles of sustainable design to help designers structure their approach and thoughts. In what ways and areas would the absence of experts most severely limit our knowledge?
Sustainable Innovation
Sustainable innovation yields both bottom line and top line returns as developing products, services and systems that are environmentally friendly lowers costs through reducing the resources required. Designers should view compliance with government legislation as an opportunity for sustainable innovation.
As energy security becomes an ever more important issue for all countries, designers, engineers and inventors need to develop new ways of efficiently generating energy. As new energy production technologies become available, designers need to harness them to be used in new products to improve their energy efficiency.
Complexity and Timescale of Sustainable Innovation
Complexities:
Sustainable innovation relies on cooperation between different stakeholders such as government and manufacturing.
This is often difficult as both parties have differing views.
Sustainable innovation requires a radical change which is time-consuming and expensive so manufacturers are not so willing to consider sustainable innovation.
It is the broadest approach going beyond technical solutions. This approach is based on a socio-technical systems (interaction between people land technology) intervention rather than just considering product improvement.
Timescale:
The huge timescale means that sustainability is difficult to maintain as conditions/criteria can change significantly, for example, a lengthy period of economic downturn.
Sustainable innovation is a hugely complex concept that requires a long time for implementation, typically 20–40 years depending on the nature of the innovation.
Sustainable Strategies
Sustainable use of the planet will require multiple sustainability strategies, which will range from the entire system, the entire Earth, the local or regional.
Strategies starting at the highest system level are referred to as ‘top-down’, and strategies designed for components, local or regional, are referred to as ‘bottom-up’ Integrating top-down/bottom-up sustainability strategies: An ethical challenge (PDF Download Available). [accessed Nov 26, 2015].
Top-down strategies
Strategies implemented from the ‘top’ such as global or national government initiatives.
Management of resources, finances (controlling bank rates, etc) and so on.
It provides targets and measures for sustainability.
When considering sustainable innovation, designers are usually more comfortable with top-down strategies as it means investment and resources are more predictable and reliable.
Examples of top-down and bottom-up strategies and the advantages and disadvantages for consumers/users
Bottom-up strategies
Strategies implemented from the ‘bottom’ such as regional or local (city or town) level.
These include local initiatives like Planting Tree Campaigns
Designers involved with bottom-up strategies are usually enthusiasts for the project and willing to make a commitment even though it may not be cost-effective to do so.
Examples of top-down and bottom-up strategies and the advantages and disadvantages for consumers/users
Government intervention in innovation
There are various strategies that governments use to promote knowledge exchange and technology transfer, including:
regulation—setting and policing rules to avoid or limit environmental issues caused by undesirable technologies
yet allow the manufacturer to still make profits
education—providing consumers with information and guidance in the choice of products and services that are more sustainable
such as eco and energy labels
taxes—to penalize environmentally damaging technologies and influence consumer choice of sustainable products and services
outside Beijing the government is forcing companies to comply or they are fined and ultimately closed down
subsidies—to stimulate and support sustainable innovations.
sustainable innovation can cast the company profits so governments offer financial help or tax breaks.
A potential problem for designers is the changing political scene and associated policies, for example, within the domain of renewable energy.
Macro energy sustainability
Macro energy sustainability concerns can be influenced through international treaties and current international energy policies, instruments for change and disincentives, and national systems changing policy when government leadership changes.
Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of green house gases.
In order for it to be successful all governments need to agree, for a while Australia and USA did not so many countries followed suit
Are there any other implications of how macro energy sustainability can be influenced?
Micro energy sustainability
Micro energy sustainability can be influenced by government, through their role in raising awareness and changing attitudes related to energy use and the promotion of individual and business action towards energy sustainability.
Local governments installing Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
Are there any other implications of how micro energy sustainability can be influenced?
Energy security
How energy security can be influenced by energy demand/supply trends and forecasting, demand response versus energy efficiency, and smart grids
Energy demand is rarely constant and this puts a responsibility on those that generate and manage the flow of energy to understand when peaks and troughs of energy use occur over the course of days, weeks and years.
For example, in many countries, energy demand increases substantially during breaks and following popular TV shows as large numbers of people put the kettle on to enjoy a hot beverage.
Also, there may be particular periods during the night where energy use is at a minimum. In these situations it is vital that the power-generating stations are informed when to start and stop energy generation.
The difficulty arises as massive amounts of electricity cannot easily be stored, excess energy generated at these times is wasted.
Demand/supply trends need to be predicted carefully to create a responsive and efficient energy supply.
International Mindedness
The internal policies of particular governments have international implications.
Theory of Knowledge
To what extent should environmental concerns limit our pursuit of knowledge?
Chapter 6: Commercial Production (IB)
Just in Time (JIT) & Just in Case (JIC)
While inventory creates a safety net for companies, maintenance and potential waste of resources can have significant implications for companies and the environment. Manufacturers must evaluate and analyze each market and determine whether a JIT or JIC strategy is the best to follow.
JIT and JIC are two production strategies used by manufacturers that have both advantages and disadvantages to them. A manufacturing company will choose one of these strategies to follow for many reasons that include the products they are producing, the nature of the market and the nature of the economy.
JIT vs JIC
Just in Time (JIT)
A situation where a company does not allocate space to the storage of components or completed items,
Instead orders or manufactures them when required.
Large storage areas are not needed
Items that are not ordered by customers are not made.
JIT aims to reduce inventory costs and increase efficiency by receiving goods only as they are needed in the production process.
Advantages
Storage – no space required thus reducing costs
Efficiency – Highly flexible, easy set-up for short runs (because of cell production)
Stock control – extensive inventory management systems are not necessary, as inventory levels are kept to a minimum.
Waste – elimination of waste due to overproduction, left over stock, idle time, product defects and material processing.
Traditions – Factory organized in cells/modules instead of departments based on function
Disadvantages
Reliability – Part will need to be made, things could go wrong, delay in manufacture and transport to consumer
Capital investment – high but machinery could be used for a variety of products
Distribution – small delay as consumer waits for the manufacture and distribution.
any disruption in the supply chain can halt production, making it crucial to have reliable suppliers.
JIT | A comparison |
Just in Case (JIC)
A company produces a small stock of components or products and stores them as inventory.
This is Just-Incase a rush order comes they have ready supply.
Some products included may be products or components that take a long time to produce therefore reducing customer wait time.
JIC can serve as a buffer against unforeseen demand spikes or supply chain disruptions.
Advantages
Distribution – no delay as parts are available.
Reliability – Part is ready to be sent and probably has passed quality control.
Market demand – manufacturer is able to keep up with a change in market demand
it can lead to better customer service as products are readily available
Disadvantages
Efficiency – Not as efficient as it is organized in departments often offsite.
Capital investment – high but machinery could be used for a variety of products
Storage – space required thus increasing costs
Waste -some waste due to overproduction, left over stock, product defects and material processing.
Traditions – Factory organized in departments based on function usually offsite bringing about added costs and transportation time
Stock control – required also, may left over stock once the product becomes obsolete or market direction changes.
International Mindedness
Effective business processes and practices developed in some countries have been exported successfully.
Theory of Knowledge
Manufacturers decide whether to pursue JIT or JIC as a production strategy depending on their perception of where the market is going. To what extent do different areas of knowledge incorporate doubt as a part of their methods?
Lean Production
Lean production considers product and process design as an ongoing activity and not a one-off task, and should be viewed as a long-term strategy.
The role of the workforce in lean production is paramount, relying on their wisdom and experience to improve the process, reducing waste, cost and production time. Recognizing this results in motivated workforces whose interests are in the success of the product.
Characteristics of lean production
Lean production considers product and process design as an ongoing activity and not a one-off task.
It should be viewed as a long-term strategy that focuses on continual feedback and incremental improvement.
JIT supplies/system
a highly trained, multi-skilled workforce
quality control and continuous improvement
zero defects
zero inventory
emphasizes reducing lead times and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Ten Principles of lean production
There are several key principles of lean production. If any of these principles are not met this could result in failure or a lack of commitment. Without commitment the process becomes ineffective.
Eliminate waste in all areas by focusing on doing tasks right the first time.
Minimizing inventory
Maximizing production flow and designing for rapid production changeover
Kaizan – Continuous Improvement from everyone – from management to workers. Without continuous improvement your progress will cease.
Respect for workers or empowering workers (Humans, most reliable and valuable resource to any company)
Pulling production from customer demand or meeting customer requirements
Designing for rapid changeover
Creating a reliable partnership with suppliers
Meeting customer requirements
Doing it right the first time
Advantages and disadvantages to lean production
Advantages
Increase consumer satisfaction due to cost reduction
Productivity has increased because of focus improvements and reduction in waste
Quality of product improvement and continuous improvement
Waste reduction
Reduced impact on the environment
Adapt to market pull
Increase in profits
Improved work conditions for employees
Competitive advantage
Disadvantages
Change in worker and management attitude can be difficult to manage or to gain complete buy in
Delivery times – since no inventory is held in storage and breakdown in the system will cause delays
Supply problems
High initial capital costs
Value Stream Mapping & Workflow Analysis
Value stream mapping is a lean production management tool used to analyze current and future processes for the production of a product through to delivery to the consumer.
helps to identify Value and Waste in production
Workflow analysis is the review of processes in a workflow, for example, a production line, in order to identify potential improvements.
Value stream mapping and workflow analysis contribute to the design of an effective lean production method through:
Value stream mapping provides the big picture of the manufacturing process
Where as workflow analysis is concerned with the production lines
This image shows a workflow analysis by using a flow chart through certain questions and criterions.
Product family
A group of products having common classification criteria.
Members of a product family have many common parts and assemblies and production processes.
members of a product family often share similar production processes, which can lead to economies of scale.
Investopedia on Product Family
Advantages include:
Cost-effective due to – reduced manufacturing costs, similar manufacturing techniques, similar supply chain, reduced R&D,
Allows companies to attract new customers to their brand though an array of products that are similar but meet slightly different needs.
Customers as they can rely on their positive experience with an existing brand.
Adapt easily to market demand such as the iPhone 5SE (shows and example of market pull)
Role of the workforce
Training
The development of a highly skilled workforce can build deep understanding of how the production process works and allow workers at all levels to identify areas of the workflow to be improved.
This leads to the devolution of power
Devolution in power relating to process improvement
Understanding that the best people to identify improvements of a product or system are those who use it, companies striving for a lean production system ensure that all members of the workforce are able to contribute to the design of the system.
This benefits the company, which is able to streamline processes and reduce costs and also empowers the workforce and gives them a sense of ownership and loyalty to the company.
Kaizen
A philosophy and commitment to continuous process and product improvement
It is considered an important aspect of an organization’s long-term strategy.
This has been central to the success of many Japanese companies such as Toyota.
It originated in Japan
Lead time
Lead time refers to the time quoted to customers (usually in days or weeks) between the date of purchase and the date of delivery.
It is basically the time frame it takes from the order of a product to its manufacture until it is delivered to the customer. This can be days or weeks in duration. This includes the production, set-up etc times.
The business dictionary has a bit more
The 5 Ss:
Sorting
Stabilizing
Shining
Standardizing
Sustaining the practice
The 7 wastes:
Overproduction
Waiting
Transporting
Inappropriate processing
Unnecessary inventory
Unnecessary/excess motion
Defects.
Theory of Knowledge
The importance of the individual is recognized in design processes. Is this the case in other areas of knowledge?
International mindedness
The implementation of lean production has benefits for the global environment.
Computer Integrated Manufacturing
When considering design for manufacture (DfM), designers should be able to integrate computers from the earliest stage of design. This requires knowledge and experience of the manufacturing processes available to ensure integration is efficient and effective. Through the integration of computers, the rate of production can be increased and errors in manufacturing can be reduced or eliminated, although the main advantage is the ability to create automated manufacturing processes.
The integration of computer control into manufacturing can streamline systems, negating the need for time-consuming activities, such as stocktaking, but also reducing the size of the workforce.
CIM
A system of manufacturing that uses computers to integrate the processing of production, business and manufacturing in order to create more efficient production lines.
Programmable computer based manufacturing system
Typically, it relies on closed-loop control processes, based on real-time input from sensors
Elements of CIM:
Design (CAD) – the product is designed within the CAD software, tested and the necessary G-Code, materials, and other data is generated.
Planning – the computer system and database (contains design and production data) helps to plan the most efficient production process.
Purchasing – with the design and production the computer system can employ a JIT approach in purchasing the necessary materials.
Cost accounting – is the budgeting of the production process, receipts, and all things financial.
Inventory control – responsible for tracking the materials, products, again JIT can be employed.
Distribution – is receiving materials and the distribution of products to warehouse or vendors.
CIM and scales of production
It is costly to set up
Therefore it is better suited for large scale production such as batch, volume or mass
Advantages and disadvantages of CIM in relation to different production systems
Scale of Production | Advantage | Disadvantage |
One – off or small scale |
| |
Batch, Volume or Mass |
|
|
Mass Customization |
|
|
Advantages and disadvantages of CIM in relation to initial investment and maintenance
Advantages:
System is constantly monitored so if there is a breakdown: the type and location of breakdown is easily identified making maintenance easier
reduces cost of maintenance
After the high initial greater profits will be achieved
Disadvantage:
high initial capital costs/investments due to computers, robots, training of personnel
maintenance is complex, requires highly skilled employees
International Mindedness
A CIM system allows for efficient global workflow and distribution.
Theory of Knowledge
Technology has a profound influence in design. How have other areas of knowledge been influenced by technology?
Quality Management
Designers should ensure that the quality of products
is consistent through development of detailed manufacturing requirements. They also need to focus on the means to achieve it. The importance of quality management through quality control (QC), statistical process control (SPC) and quality assurance (QA) reduces the potential waste of resources.
The implementation of quality management strategies requires a critical and complete understanding of the needs of a product. To ensure efficiency and efficacy, these measures need to be designed into the product and its production system.
Quality control (QC)
Tolerances are defined at the design stage of the machinery. Parts not within tolerance need to be reworked or scrapped.
Continuous monitoring ensures that the machines perform to the predetermined standard/quality.
Ensures that process inputs, such as speed, temperature, pressure, etc, are monitored and adjusted.
Quality control at the source eliminates waste from defects as workers are responsible for the quality of the work they do.
Able to get the same results over time
Quality assurance (QA)
This covers all activities from design to documentation.
It also includes the regulation of the quality of raw materials, assemblies, products and components, services related to production, and management and inspection processes.
It is the maintenance of the entire system from design to purchasing to packaging that meets quality requirements.
QA | Process orientated | Pro-active | Prevent defects |
QC | Product orientated | Reactive | Find defects |
Statistical process control (SPC)
This is a quality control tool that uses statistical methods to ensure that a process operates at its most efficient.
This is achieved through measuring aspects of a component to ensure that it meets the required standard throughout its production in order to eliminate waste.
International Mindedness
Effective quality management can have major benefits for the environment.
Theory of Knowledge
There are commonly accepted ways of assuring quality in design. How do other areas of knowledge ensure the quality of their outputs?
Economic Viability
Designers need to consider how the costs of materials, manufacturing processes, scale of production and labor contribute to the retail cost of a product. Strategies for minimizing these costs at the design stage are most effective to ensure that a product is affordable and can gain a financial return.
The economic viability of a product is paramount for designers if they are to get their product into production. Understanding how to design a product to specification, at lowest cost and to the appropriate quality while giving added value, can determine the relationship between what a product is worth and how much it costs.
Cost-effectiveness
The most efficient way of designing and producing a product from the manufacturer’s point of view.
Costs that the manufacture is likely to incur, such as, capital costs (machinery and factory), R&D, Marketing, energy, overheads, taxes, profits, storage etc
Value for money
The relationship between what something, for example a product, is worth and the cash amount spent on it
The consumer decides if it was well worth spending the money on something.
It is an individual judgement and different people will value something differently.
Costing versus pricing
In production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something.
Pricing is the process of determining what a company will receive in exchange for its product or service. The potential profit.
More examples include labor, manufacturing costs, costs relating to availability and procurement of materials, profits and taxes, size and weight of product for storage and distribution, resources, distribution and sales.
Fixed costs
The costs that must be paid out before production starts, for example, machinery. These costs do not change with the level of production.
Fixed costs, indirect costs or overheads are business expenses that are not dependent on the level of goods or services produced by the business, i.e., not reliant on output.
More examples include, scale of production, complexity of product, skills, quality control, type of advertising and marketing, R&D, capital costs, overheads, labor (directly related to production output).
Variable costs
Variable costs are costs that change in proportion to the goods or service that a business produces, i.e. reliant on output.
These costs are incurred once production starts.
These include, materials (processed and raw), utilities (electricity, water etc), wages, storage, distribution.
Fixed costs and variable costs make up the two components of total cost.
Cost analysis
It is a tool used to determine the potential risks and gains of producing a product.
It is used by manufacturers to determine the break-even point for a product and can be used to create multiple scenarios for a product.
It allows the feasibility of a product to be established.
Break-even
It is the point of balance between profit and loss. It represents the number of sales of a product required to cover the total costs (fixed and variable).
The break-even level or break-even point (BEP) represents the sales amount—in either unit or revenue terms—that is required to cover total costs (both fixed and variable). Total profit at the break-even point is zero. Break-even is only possible if a firm’s prices are higher than its variable costs per unit.
Break Even Point
Calculating Product Price
Designers must consider encomium feasibility of their designs.
When companies calculate the price of their products they use Pricing Strategies described below.
Often more than one strategy would be used.
The below strategies can be used in conjunction with the Price Setting Strategies listed in topic 9.3: Marketing mix.
Price Setting Strategies include: cost-plus pricing, demand pricing, competitor-based pricing, product line pricing, psychological pricing.
Pricing strategies
Price-minus
The market demand determines the product pricing (selling price) before manufacturing begins.
Then all commercial costs (manufacture, profits, etc) are determined and the company works within these constraints.
Retail price
It is the recommended retail price (RRP) suggested by the manufacturer (MSRP) that the retailer should sell the product for.
It is to standardize prices
Some retailers will sell below the RRP to lure customers.
Wholesale price
The cost of a product sold by the wholesaler.
The product costs more than the manufacturer but less than the retailer.
Typical manufacturing price
It is the total costs (variable and fixed) to manufacture the product. Divide the total manufacturing/product costs by the total products/items produced to get the average cost/price per unit.
Once total costs are determined then a profit margin is added.
The goal is to maximize profit.
Target cost
It is desired final cost of a product is determined before manufacturing begins.
This is based on the competing pricing.
Profit is then removed to determine initial cost.
The product is design or designed to meet it
Wikipedia on target costing
Return on investment (ROI)
Receiving a profit (return) on money invested into the product or service.
Usually expressed as a percentage.
The higher the ROI the better return
Unit cost
The costs a company incurs to produce store and sell one product (item).
This is calculated as an average cost.
These include fixed and variable costs
Sales volume
It is the amount of products sold in a specified time period during regular working operations of a company.
They can be annual, quarterly, etc sales
Can also be based on demographics, geographic regions, etc
Financial return
It is the profits generated from a sale or investment into a company.
Activity: Calculation of prices based on the listed pricing strategies.
International Mindedness
The cost effectiveness of a product can determine whether it can enter economically diverse national and international markets.
Theory of Knowledge
The retail price of a product is partly based on evidence of its potential position in the market. What counts as evidence in various areas of knowledge?
Chapter 7: Resource Management and Sustainable Production
Resource and reserves
Renewable resources are natural sources that can replenish themselves over time. These may include forms of energy or commodities such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and tidal energy.
Some renewable resources, like wind and solar power, are considered inexhaustible, while others, such as timber, require careful management to maintain their sustainability.
Renewable resources are typically characterized by lower carbon emissions and minimal impact from human activities. However, the implementation of renewable resources often involves higher costs compared to non-renewable alternatives.
Non-renewable resources, also referred to as finite resources, are those that cannot renew themselves at a sufficient rate to support sustainable economic extraction.
Examples of non-renewable resources include coal, petroleum, natural gas, fossil fuels, minerals, ores, timber, and nuclear energy. These resources exist in fixed and limited quantities, rendering them exhaustible.
Non-renewable resources generally produce higher carbon emissions but are more cost-effective to implement compared to renewable resources.
Reserves denote the quantities of a natural resource that have been identified and quantified in terms of quality and availability.
Projections of energy reserves are typically based on geological and engineering data. However, certain reserves may be currently inaccessible due to economic or technical constraints, as is the case with the extraction of oil sands, which remains economically unviable under current market conditions.
Renewability pertains to the ability of a resource to replenish itself over time or to exist in an inexhaustible supply.
Examples of renewable resources include timber from trees and fresh drinking water. The conservation of these resources and the advancement of technologies to enhance energy efficiency are essential to ensuring long-term sustainability.
The impact of development on the environment is a critical consideration, particularly when multinational corporations extract resources from various countries or regions.
Such activities can have profound social, ethical, and environmental implications for local populations.
One of the foremost challenges of the 21st century for designers is the development of renewable and sustainable resources. This challenge involves navigating the economic and political significance of material and land resources while considering factors such as initial set-up costs, conversion efficiency, sustainability of supply, social impact, environmental consequences, and the decommissioning process.
Waste mitigation strategies
The Industrial Age, marked by an abundance of resources and raw materials, led to the development of a throwaway society. As resources diminish and the impact of waste becomes increasingly apparent, sustainability has emerged as a critical focus for designers. This shift is driven by the realization that a large amount of material waste ends up in landfills, which could otherwise be utilized as resources. Waste mitigation strategies aim to reduce or eliminate materials directed to landfills through various approaches, including prevention, monitoring, and innovative handling of waste.
Strategies for Waste Reduction
Re-use: Involves the use of the same product in the same or different context. For example, reusing water bottles, plastic bags, glass bottles, and clothes helps to extend the lifecycle of these items and reduce waste.
Repair: Focuses on the reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing structure or device. By mending or servicing faulty equipment, the lifecycle of products such as washing machines, light bulbs, or car parts can be extended, reducing the need for replacement and minimizing waste.
Re-engineering: Involves redesigning components or products to enhance their characteristics or performance, such as speed and energy consumption. A common example is in Formula 1 cars, where aerodynamics are improved, or lighter new materials are used to reduce waste and increase efficiency.
Recycle: Refers to the process of using materials from obsolete products to create new ones. Examples include recycling glass, paper, aluminum cans, thermoplastics, and newspapers.
Recondition: Entails rebuilding a product so that it is in an "as new" condition. This approach is typically applied to items such as car engines and tires, where components are refurbished to extend their use.
Dematerialization: Focuses on reducing the quantities of materials required to achieve the same functionality, essentially doing more with less. This involves product efficiency improvements by saving, reusing, or recycling materials and products. Examples include reducing the size of electronic devices or replacing physical products with digital versions, like using emails instead of paper or web pages instead of brochures.
Methodologies for Waste Reduction
Waste management encompasses strategies for dealing with landfill waste, incineration, and pollution, including noise and air pollution. Key methodologies include:
Development of New Materials and Technologies: This involves the creation of new biofuels, self-decomposing materials, and buildings made from recyclable materials, alongside reconditioning products and building products with a "cradle to cradle" life cycle approach.
Legislation and Consumer Awareness: Encouraging manufacturers and consumers to be more conscious of pollutants and waste, with the support of laws and regulations such as the "Clean Air Act" and "Take Back" programs. Eco-labeling schemes and standards also play a significant role in driving sustainable practices.
ISO Standards: The adoption of ISO 14000 standards helps organizations address environmental issues globally, establishing a network of national standards that tackle waste management and sustainability challenges.
Product Recovery Strategies
Recycling: Involves using materials from obsolete products to create new ones, reducing the need for virgin resources.
Raw Material Recovery: Entails separating components of a product to recover parts and materials for reuse.
WEEE Recovery: Deals with the recovery of materials and components from electrical products that pose environmental and health hazards if not properly managed.
Energy Recovery: Converts waste into energy, either through waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) processes. This includes generating electricity, heat, or fuel from the combustion of waste materials.
Standard Parts at the End of Product Life: Focuses on reducing material and energy use by limiting environmental impact throughout a product’s lifecycle. This includes using standardized parts that can be recycled or repurposed at the end of a product’s life.
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a technique used to assess the environmental impact of a product at every stage, from raw material extraction through manufacturing, distribution, use, repair, maintenance, and disposal or recycling.
Circular Economy
The circular economy promotes the use of waste as a resource within a closed-loop system, where materials are kept in use for as long as possible. This approach ensures that maximum value is extracted from resources while in use, and products and materials are recovered and regenerated at the end of their lifecycle.
External Drivers and Social Change
Social and economic factors also drive waste mitigation and sustainable practices, including:
Increasing pressure on supply chains
Evolving public opinion on environmental issues
Rising energy costs and waste charges
The implementation of "Take Back" legislation
Obligations to provide environment-related information
Adherence to international standards and eco-labeling schemes
Government subsidies and environmental competition awards
The need to address environmental requirements in consumer tests and contracts
Energy Utilisation, Storage and Distribution Waste mitigation strategies
Energy utilization, storage and distribution
Efficient energy use is an important consideration for designers in today's society. Energy conservation and efficient energy use are pivotal in our impact on the environment. A designer's goal is to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products or services using newer technologies or behavioral changes to avoid and reduce usage. For example, driving less is an example of energy conservation, while buying the same amount but with a higher mileage car is energy efficient.
Embodied energy
The embodied energy in a product accounts for all of the energy required to produce it. It is a valuable concept for calculating the effectiveness of an energy-producing or energy-saving device.
Distributing energy: national and international grid systems
The way in which electricity is distributed along the grid and the energy loss involved from small source collection and delivery, to large scale and the effect on the environment.
Local combined heat and power (CHP)
Combined heat and power (CHP) is an efficient and clean approach to generating electric power and useful thermal energy from a single fuel source. CHP is used either to replace or supplement conventional separate heat and power (SHP). Instead of purchasing electricity from the local utility and burning fuel in an on-site furnace or boiler to produce thermal energy, an industrial or commercial facility can use CHP to provide both energy services in one energy-efficient step.
Advantages of CHP include:
Reduced energy costs versus separate heat and electrical generation systems
Reduced emissions versus separate heat and electrical generation systems
Where the capture and use of waste heat is not viable, many industrial facilities may still benefit financially via distributed generation (DG)
Systems for individual energy generation
Systems for individual energy generation such as microgeneration includes the small-scale generation of heat and electric power by individuals, small businesses and communities to meet their own needs, as alternatives or supplements to traditional centralized grid-connected power. E.g. solar power, wind turbines or biogas rainwater harvesting, compost toilets and greywater treatments among others.
Quantification of carbon emissions: Measuring
record carbon emissions
discover how much is being produced
discover who/ where it is produced
track your carbon footprint
Mitigation of carbon emissions: Reducing
Humans intervention in the reduction of carbon emissions
These contribute to global warming
Resulting in melting polar caps, rising seas, desertification, provide 'Sinks' that can reabsorb carbon emissions
A 'Sink' are forests, vegetation or soils.
Batteries, capacitors and capacities considering relative cost, efficiency, environmental impact and reliability.
An electric battery is a device consisting of two or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Batteries and other electronic components (capacitors, chips, etc) have had a great impact on the portability of electronic products and, as new technologies are developed, they can become more efficient and smaller. Batteries are made from important resources and chemicals, including lead, cadmium, zinc, lithium and mercury. It’s important to understand the effects of your decisions as batteries are categorised into High, Medium and Low through the use of a sustainable lens (charging, impact on eco-system, etc).
Clean Technologies
Clean Technology
Clean technology encompasses products, services, or processes that reduce waste and require the minimum amount of non-renewable resources. It is prevalent across various industries, including water, energy, manufacturing, advanced materials, and transportation. As Earth's resources dwindle, the demand for energy-efficient solutions should be a priority for designers. The convergence of environmental, technological, economic, and social factors will drive the development of more efficient technologies that rely less on outdated, polluting methods.
Drivers for Cleaning Up Manufacturing
Manufacturers may be driven to clean up their processes due to current or impending legislation or pressure from the local community and media. The key reasons for this include promoting positive impacts, ensuring a neutral or minimized negative impact through conserving natural resources, reducing pollution and energy use, and minimizing waste of energy and resources.
Breakdown of Environmental Problems by Geographical Scale
Environmental problems caused by products can be categorized based on their geographical scale:
Local: Issues like noise, smell, air pollution, and soil and water pollution.
Regional: Problems such as soil and water over-fertilization and pollution, drought, waste disposal, and air pollution.
Fluvial: Pollution affecting rivers, regional waters, and watersheds.
Continental: Concerns including ozone levels, acidification, winter smog, and heavy metals.
Global: Challenges like climate change, sea level rise, and impacts on the ozone layer.
Legislation
The role and scale of legislation depend on the type of manufacturing and the perspectives of different countries. Legislation pushes manufacturers to clean up their processes and dictates how they respond to such laws. Governments, politicians, and businesses must consider manufacturing's environmental impact. Increased awareness of environmental issues has led to more pressure on governments to introduce or comply with legislation. These laws bind companies to environmental standards, and non-compliance can result in financial penalties.
International Targets for Reducing Pollution and Waste
International or continental agreements often set targets for reducing pollution and waste. These targets are typically discussed and agreed upon at international summits and meetings. Conflicts and disagreements can arise between countries over setting caps or limits, making it difficult to achieve agreements. Some countries may be more adversely affected by such limits, impacting their economy or corporate profits. Notable agreements include the Kyoto Protocol, Montreal Protocol, and the Carbon Trading Scheme.
End-of-Pipe Technologies
An initial approach to reducing pollutant emissions and waste creation is adding clean-up technologies at the end of the manufacturing process, known as the end-of-pipe approach. This involves treating water, air, noise, solid, or toxic wastes. Examples include carbon capture, filtration systems, composting, and catalytic converters on vehicles.
Incremental Solutions: These involve improving and developing products over time, leading to new versions and generations.
Radical Solutions: This approach involves devising completely new products by rethinking solutions from the ground up.
System Level Solutions
A system-level solution addresses pollution and waste holistically, focusing on the interrelationship of elements rather than individual parts. It helps policymakers and energy planners understand the impacts of existing and proposed legislation, policy, and plans on renewable energy development and deployment at various levels (local, state, regional, and national).
Agreements at international or continental levels set targets for reducing pollution and waste, typically discussed at international summits and meetings. Conflicts and disagreements between countries over limits can complicate achieving agreements. Some countries may be more adversely affected by such limits, impacting their economy or corporate profits.
Green Design
Green Design
The product - role of designer: The starting point for many green products is to improve an existing product by redesigning aspects of it to address environmental objectives. The iterative development of these products can be incremental or radical depending on how effectively new technologies can address the environmental objectives. When new technologies are developed, the product can re-enter the development phase for further improvement.
Green Legislation
Laws and regulations that are based on conservation and sustainability principles, followed by designers and manufacturers when creating green products. Green legislation often encourages incremental, rather than radical approaches to green design. Sustainable products provide social and economic benefits while protecting public health, welfare, and the environment throughout their life cycle—from the extraction of raw materials to final disposal.
Incremental Innovation is sometimes referred to as continuous improvement, and the business attitude associated with it is ‘inside-the-box’ thinking. A simple product may be improved (in terms of better performance or lower costs) through the use of higher performance components or materials. A complex product that consists of integrated technical subsystems can be improved by partial changes to one level of a sub-system. Incremental innovations do not involve major investments or risks. User experience and feedback is important and may dominate as a source for innovation ideas.
Radical Innovation involves the development of new key design elements such as change in a product component combined with a new architecture for linking components. The result is a distinctively new product, product-service, or product system that is markedly different from the company’s existing product line. A high level of uncertainty is associated with radical innovation projects, especially at early stages.
Timescale to implement green design
Often, legislation requires governments and manufacturers to comply over many years. This can be beneficial to companies and manufacturers as they can adopt incremental approaches to green design, therefore minimizing the cost. However, some environmental concerns, for example carbon dioxide reduction and climate change, require immediate action.
Legislation
Environmental legislation has encouraged the design of greener products that tackle specific environmental issues, for example, eliminating the use of certain materials or energy efficiency.
Incremental changes to a design and as such is relatively easy to implement, for example, legislation relating to the use of catalytic converters for cars. The timescale for implementing green design is relatively short (typically 2–5 years) and therefore cost-effective.
Consumer Pressure
The public have become aware of environmental issues through media focus on issues such as the destructive effect of chlorofluorocarbons on the ozone layer; acid rain in Northern European forests and the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. Increased public awareness has put pressure on corporations and governments.
CFCs were the ideal refrigerants during their time. They were nonflammable, non-corrosive, nontoxic, and odorless. Used consumer products during the 70s and 80s, such as refrigerators, cleansing products, and propellants. CFC’s were found to be destructive to the Ozone layer.
Drivers for green design (consumer pressure and legislation)
Drivers for green design include consumer pressure and legislation, among others. Environmental legislation has encouraged the design of greener products that tackle specific environmental issues, for example, eliminating the use of certain materials or energy efficiency. Unfortunately, many companies value short-term profit and value for shareholders over the impact of their activities on the environment. Some companies lobby governments so that they can be exempt from legislation, or to try and persuade them to ‘water down’ legislation. Sometimes consumer pressure can be just as effective as legislation. Through social media, the bad behavior of companies can be exposed quickly, reach a wider audience, and consumers can decide as a large group to boycott a company. Social media has allowed the influence of consumers to grow exponentially. This can hurt a company’s profits greatly, persuading them to clean up their act.
Design objectives for green products
Design objectives for green products will often address three broad environmental categories:
Materials
Energy
Pollution/Waste
These objectives include:
increasing efficiency in the use of materials, energy, and other resources;
minimizing damage or pollution from the chosen materials;
reducing to a minimum any long-term harm caused by the use of the product;
ensuring that the planned life of the product is most appropriate in environmental terms and that the product functions efficiently for its full life;
taking full account of the effects of the end disposal of the product;
ensuring that the packaging and instructions encourage efficient and environmentally friendly use;
minimizing nuisances such as noise or smell;
analyzing and minimizing potential safety hazards;
minimizing the number of different materials used in a product;
labeling of materials so they can be identified for recycling.
When evaluating product sustainability, students need to consider:
raw materials used
packaging
incorporation of toxic chemicals
energy in production and use
end-of-life disposal issues
production methods
atmospheric pollutants.
Strategies for designing Green Products
The environmental impact of the production, use, and disposal of a product can be modified by the designer through careful consideration at the design stage. When designing green product consideration must be made for:
raw materials used
packaging
incorporation of toxic chemicals
energy in production and use
end-of-life disposal issues
production methods
atmospheric pollutants.
Materials
How much damage is done to the environment in extracting the raw material?
How much energy is needed to process this material?
How long will this material last/will it damage easily?
Can this material be recycled?
Energy
How can I reduce the amount of energy required to manufacture this product?
How can I reduce the amount of energy required to use this product?
Pollution/Waste
What is likely to happen to this product when it is obsolete?
How can I reduce the chances of this product ending up in landfill or sent to incineration?
How can I increase the chances of this product being repaired, reused or recycled?
How can I reduce the amount of pollution given off by this product?
The prevention principle
The avoidance or minimization of hazards and waste. It aims to address the occupational health and safety concerns through each stage of the product life cycle.
A number of risk assessment tools can be used by companies to assess their operations for risk and introduce management systems to protect the health and safety of employees and minimize waste.
Knowledge based
Actual risk of causing harm can be assessed
Occurrence of damage is probable if no measure is taken
Regulation emission framework defines substantial criteria (eg. emissions thresholds)
Definition of acceptable risk is primarily science-based
The precautionary principle
The anticipation of potential problems in relation to the environmental impact of the production, use, and disposal of a product. The precautionary principle permits a lower level of proof of harm to be used in policy-making whenever the consequences of waiting for higher levels of proof may be very costly and/or irreversible.
Uncertainty
Risk cannot be calculated and is only a suspected risk of causing harm
Occurrence of damage is uncertain and cannot be predicted clearly
Regulation through procedural requirements
Social acceptance of the risk is considered
Eco Design
Eco Design
Eco-design is a more comprehensive approach than green design because it attempts to focus on all three broad environmental categories—materials, energy and pollution/waste. This makes eco-design more complex and difficult to do.
Impact of internal and external drivers for eco-design from an economic perspective
Internal drivers for eco-design
Manager's sense of responsibility
The need for increased product quality
The need for a better product and company image
The need to reduce costs
The need for innovative power
The need to increase personnel motivation
External drivers for eco-design
Government
Market demand
Social environment
Competitors
Trade organisations
Supplies
Cradle to grave
Cradle to grave design considers the environmental effects of a product all of the way from manufacture to use to disposal.
Cradle to the Gate
Cradle to cradle design is a key principle of the circular economy. Cradle to Cradle® (C2C) is a holistic approach to design popularized by Professor Michael Braungart and William McDonough. Braungart and McDonough offer Cradle to Cradle® certification to products that measure up to the standards they set. According to their website: “The target is to develop and design products that are truly suited to a biological or technical metabolism, thereby preventing the recycling of products which were never designed to be recycled in the first place.
Cradle to the Gate
Cradle to the Gate (Cradle-to-gate is an assessment of a partial product life cycle from resource extraction (cradle) to the factory gate (i.e., before it is transported to the consumer)
Life Cycle stages:
Make sure you are able to assess the environmental impact of a given product over its life cycle through LCA (Life Cycle Assessment)-Pre-production, Production, Distribution including packaging, Utilization and Disposal. The complex nature of LCA means that it is not possible for a lone designer to undertake it and a team with different specialism is required. LCA is complex, time-consuming and expensive, so the majority of eco-designs are based on less detailed qualitative assessments of likely impacts of a product over its life cycle. The simplest example is the use of a checklist to guide the design team during a product’s design development stages
UNEP Ecodesign Manual
In 1996 the United nations released an Eco-design manual also known as Design for Sustainability (D4S).
The major concerns outlined in the UNEP Ecodesign Manual were to:
increase recyclability
reduce energy requirements
maximise use of renewable resources
reduce creation and use of toxic materials
reduce material requirements of goods and services
increase product durability and reduced planned obsolescence
Design for the environment software
CAD Software that allows designers to perform Life cycle analysis (LCA) on a product and assess its environmental impact.
Product life cycle stages: the role of the designer, manufacturer and user
The roles and responsibilities of the designer, manufacturer and user at each stage of the product life cycle can be explored through LCA. LCA identifies conflicts that have to be resolved through prioritization. It is not widely used in practice because it is difficult, costly and time-consuming. It is targeted at particular product categories—products with high environmental impacts in the global marketplace, for example, washing machines and refrigerators. However, in the re-innovation of the design of a product or its manufacture, specific aspects may be changed after considering the design objectives for green products, such as selecting less toxic materials or using more sustainable sources. A product may be distributed differently or its packaging may be redesigned.
Environmental impact assessment matrix
Environmental considerations include water, soil pollution and degradation, air contamination, noise, energy consumption, consumption of natural resources, pollution and effect on ecosystems
Converging technologies
The synergistic merging of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information and communication technologies and cognitive science. A typical example of converging technology is the smart phone in terms of the materials required to create it, its energy consumption, disassembly, recyclability and the portability of the devices it incorporates.
Chapter 8: Modelling
Conceptual modelling
A conceptual model originates in the mind and its primary purpose is to outline the principles, processes and basic functions of a design or system.
Designers use conceptual modeling to assist their understanding by simulating the subject matter they represent.
Designers should consider systems, services and products in relation to what they should do, how they should behave, what they look like and whether they will be understood by the users in the manner intended.
What is the role of conceptual modelling in design?
A conceptual model originates in the mind and its primary purpose is to outline the principles, processes and basic functions of a design or system.
Conceptual models are used to help us know and understand ideas.
Concept models are useful for communicating new ideas that are unfamiliar to people.
How do conceptual models vary in relation to the context? What are some of the conceptual modelling tools and skills needed?
Conceptual models may vary in range from the more concrete, such as mental image that appears in mind, to the abstract mathematical models that do not appear directly in mind as an image.
Conceptual models also range from scope of the subject they are representing. For example, they can represent either a single model (Statue of Liberty), whole classes of things (f.e. electron) or even a vast domains of subject matter, such as physical universe.
Conceptual models are used to help us know and understand, design thinking, ideas, casual relationships, principles, data, systems, algorithms or processes.
Graphical Modelling
Sketches
Drawings
Flow charts
Physical Modelling
Card
Clay
Rapid prototype (3D printing)
Balsa wood
Blue styrofoam
Virtual Modelling
Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Surface or Solid modelling, FEA, Data modeling
What is service design?
Service design is the activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service in order to improve its quality and the interaction between service provider and customers. The purpose to design according to the needs of the customers → so the product is user-friendly, competitive and relevant.
How are conceptual models used to communicate with oneself and others?
Concept models are used to communicate ideas that might be difficult to imagine otherwise. Designers use conceptual modelling to visualise and communicate ideas by simulating what they want to design.
The advantages of using conceptual modelling are:
Shares the "Big Picture": Conceptual models provide an overview, helping everyone understand the broad scope and goals.
Accessibility: They make it easier for non-designers and non-technical people to grasp complex ideas.
Improved Communication: Conceptual models facilitate better communication with clients and users.
Feedback: They allow designers to gauge people's reactions to concepts or ideas.
The disadvantages of using conceptual modelling are:
Lack of Detail: Conceptual models may not include all the intricate details necessary for final design.
Risk of Misinterpretation: These models can be misunderstood if not properly explained.
Scale Issues: Scale models can be misleading, especially when the final product size is significantly different.
Material Emulation: It can be difficult to emulate the final choice of materials in the conceptual model, which might affect the perception of the final product.
Graphical modelling
Graphical models are used to communicate design ideas. They simplify data and present it in a way that aids understanding and further development or discussion. Designers use graphical modelling to explore creative solutions and refine ideas from the technically impossible to the technically possible, within the constraints of feasibility.
What is a graphical model? A graphical model is a 2D and 3D visualization of an idea, often created on paper or through software. They are drawings that convey the designer's idea.
Perspective drawings Perspective drawings are used to show what a product will look like when finished in a more lifelike way. This informal drawing technique focuses on the 3D view of the design, with the lines of the perspective drawing heading towards a vanishing point.
Isometric drawings Isometric drawings are used to accurately depict what a product will look like when finished. You can recognize these drawings by the angle of the object in the drawing, which is typically 30 degrees.
Orthographic Projection Orthographic projection involves drawing a 3D object from different directions—usually the front, side, and plan views are drawn so that a person looking at the drawing can see all the important sides. These drawings are particularly useful when a design is almost ready for manufacture, as they must always have at least three views.
Scale drawings Scale drawings are techniques that show an object in proportion to its actual size. They are used when something needs to be presented accurately, either for planning or manufacturing.
Sketching versus formal drawing techniques:
Sketching:
Description: Spontaneous and free-hand representation used very early in the design process, usually free-hand.
Advantages: Communicates ideas quickly among colleagues.
Disadvantages: Cannot take the idea to manufacture.
Formal drawings:
Description: Ruled out and accurate drawings used in the development phase of a design process. Represent a more resolved idea for further investigation.
Advantages: Show details of the concept, can be used for construction, are accurate, and offer different views of objects that 3D drawings cannot provide.
Disadvantages: Time-consuming, require high skill levels, and need specialist drawing equipment.
Part drawings:
Description: Provide the information to assemble a product similarly to assembly drawings, with the added benefit of a list of parts (LOP) or Bill of Materials (BOM). Drawings of individual parts help indicate which part is broken and how to repair it.
Assembly drawings (Exploded isometric):
Description: Show how parts of a product fit together, often used for model kits and flat-pack furniture. There are two types:
Fitted assembly drawing: Shows the parts put together, in 2D or 3D.
Exploded assembly drawing: Shows parts separated but in the correct relationship for fitting together, usually in 3D.
Algorithm
An algorithm, in mathematics and computer science, is a self-contained step-by-step set of operations to be performed. This is often represented using a flow chart, which visually depicts the sequence of steps and decisions involved in the process.
Physical modelling
Physical Modelling:
Definition: A physical model is a three-dimensional, tangible representation of a design or system, often referred to as an "Appearance Model."
Examples/Advantages:
Allows users to visualize the product and identify any problems easily.
Helps users understand how the product would look in a real environment.
Disadvantages:
Time-consuming to create.
Cannot be manipulated the same way as digital models.
Scale Models:
Definition: A scale model is a smaller or larger physical copy of an object, usually represented at a specific scale (e.g., 1:100).
Examples/Advantages:
Easier to overview, especially if the original design is large.
Provides an idea of how large the model will be when it is actually produced/built.
Disadvantages:
Time-consuming to create perfectly.
Difficult to show how it works beyond visual representation.
Aesthetic Models:
Definition: Developed to look and feel like the final product, used for ergonomic testing and visual appeal evaluation.
Examples/Advantages:
Useful instead of digital models for user visualization.
Helps production engineers assess feasibility.
Disadvantages:
Non-working models.
Expensive due to the need for a realistic surface finish.
Mock-ups:
Definition: Used to test ideas, either at scale or full-size, to gain feedback from users.
Examples/Advantages:
Useful for getting user feedback.
Offers a full-size representation of the product.
Disadvantages:
Less functionality than a prototype.
Can be difficult and time-consuming to create.
Functional Prototypes:
Definition: A sample or model built to test a concept or process, representing a real, working product.
Examples/Advantages:
Fully functional, used to test product functions.
Can be used to see how the product works in a real environment.
Disadvantages:
Expensive to make.
Does not take aesthetics into account.
Fidelity:
Definition: A measure of the realism of a model or simulation, ranging from low (conceptual) to high (mock-up of the idea, close to the final product).
Contexts:
Restricted, general, partial, and total user and environment.
Advantages:
Validates ideas and provides insight for development.
Instrumented Models:
Definition: Physical models equipped to take measurements for quantitative feedback.
Examples/Advantages:
Accurate measurements related to performance.
Records dynamic behavior in controlled environments.
Disadvantages:
Time-consuming and expensive to set up.
Computer-aided design (CAD)
CAD and Modelling Techniques
Computer-aided design (CAD) is used for generating, creating, developing, and analyzing designs using computer software. It enhances the whole design cycle, from data analysis to final designs.
CAD
Definition: Used for conceptual design and layout, reducing testing and manufacturing costs.
Advantages: Accurate, cost-effective design and analysis.
Disadvantages: Requires software and training.
Surface Modelling
Definition: Photo-realistic images of a product without internal data.
Advantages: Realistic images.
Disadvantages: No internal data.
Solid Modelling
Definition: Clear representation of the final product, including internal dimensions.
Advantages: Complete data for realization.
Disadvantages: Requires detailed input.
Data Modelling
Definition: Determines structure of data, including statistical models.
Advantages: Organizes and structures data effectively.
Virtual Prototyping
Definition: Uses surface and solid modelling for photo-realistic, interactive models.
Bottom-Up Modelling
Definition: Parts are created independently and assembled later.
Advantages: Independent part design.
Disadvantages: Assembly can be complex.
Top-Down Modelling
Definition: Design starts as a concept and evolves, with components designed to meet criteria.
Advantages: Integrated design process.
Disadvantages: Can be restrictive in design changes.
Digital Humans
Definition: Computer simulations of human aspects for interaction with prototypes.
Advantages: Quick iterations, accurate human requirements.
Disadvantages: High complexity.
Motion Capture
Definition: Recording of human and animal movement to create digital models.
Advantages: Reduces animation costs, natural movements.
Disadvantages: Limited to certain motions.
Haptic Technology
Definition: Provides user sense of touch through mechanical feedback.
Advantages: Improved user performance, better product design.
Disadvantages: Expensive and complex.
Virtual Reality (VR)
Definition: Simulates real situations for interaction.
Advantages: Realistic simulation.
Disadvantages: Requires VR setup.
Animation
Definition: Links graphic screens to simulate motion.
Advantages: Visual simulation of processes.
Disadvantages: Requires animation software.
Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
Definition: Simulates unknown factors in products.
Advantages: Shows structural load, aerodynamics.
Disadvantages: Requires specialized software.
Rapid prototyping
Stereolithography (SLA) (uses laser or light to set plastic liquid)
How it works: It is a form of 3D printing using a liquid bath of resin combined with an ultraviolet laser. The ultraviolet light hits the liquid, hardening it to form the structure of the object being printed. The base plate of the bath then moves down, allowing more liquid to flow over the previously hardened liquid so the same process can be repeated until the object being printed has been completed. The ‘Sweeper’ seen in the image to the right just helps even out the height of the bath every time the laser fires.
Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM)
How it works: It takes the sliced CAD data from a 3D model and cuts out each layer from a roll of material using a laser or plotter cutter. These sliced layers are glued together to form the model, which is either built on a movable platform below the machine or on locating pins when using card.
Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) (Same as school makerbot and Flashforge)
How it works: Uses an “additive” principle by laying down materials in layers. Plastic/metal is unwound from a coil and sent to an extrusion nozzle that can turn the flow on and off. The nozzle is heated to melt the material, and the nozzle moves in horizontal and vertical directions by a numerically controlled mechanism (CAM).
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) (uses laser to set plastic powder)
How it works: It is an additive manufacturing technique that uses a high-power laser (for example, a carbon dioxide laser) to fuse small particles of materials such as plastic, metal (direct metal laser sintering), ceramic, or glass powders into a mass that has a desired 3D shape.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Rapid Prototyping
Advantages:
Decrease development time
Decrease costly mistakes
Increase number of variants of product (since each printed model takes less time to produce, the time saved can be used to develop more ideas, thus increasing productivity).
Increase product complexity (more complex and difficult shapes can be modeled, which would perhaps not be possible with hand. For example, sculpting out an accurate sphere in a material).
Increase effective communication (since the model is tangible, various aspects of the design would be easier to explain to others, as compared to CAD).
Models can also be tested, which probably would only be possible through artificial simulation for CAD designs, and thus unlike prototypes, this would only give an approximate idea.
Rapid Prototyping can provide concept proof that would be required for attracting funds (easier to explain, aesthetics can be focused on).
Disadvantages:
Some people are of the opinion that rapid prototyping is not effective because, in actuality, it fails in replication of the real product or system.
It could so happen that some important developmental steps could be omitted to get a quick and cheap working model. This can be one of the greatest disadvantages of rapid prototyping.
Another disadvantage of rapid prototyping is one in which many problems are overlooked, resulting in endless rectifications and revisions.
One more disadvantage of rapid prototyping is that it may not be suitable for large-sized applications.
The user may have very high expectations about the prototype’s performance and the designer is unable to deliver these.
Chapter 9: Raw Material to Final Product
Properties of materials
Physical Properties
These properties tend to be the characteristic of materials that can be identified through testing that is considered to be non-destructive, although some deformation is required to test hardness. This exception is often why hardness is often categorized as a mechanical property.
Mass: Relates to the amount of matter that is contained within a specific material. It is often confused with weight understandably as we use Kg to measure it. Mass is constant whereas weight may vary depending upon where it is being measured.
Weight: Relies on mass and gravitational forces to provide measurable value. Weight is technically measured as a force, which is the Newton, i.e., a mass of 1Kg is equivalent to 9.8 Newtons (on earth).
Volume: Is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance solid, liquid, gas, or shape occupies or contains.
Density: Is the mass per unit volume of a material. Its importance is in portability in terms of a product’s weight and size. Design contexts include, pre-packaged food (instant noodles) is sold by weight and volume, packaging foams.
Electrical Resistivity: This is a measure of a material’s ability to conduct electricity. A material with a low resistivity will conduct electricity well. It's particularly important in selecting materials as conductors or insulators.
Thermal Conductivity: A measure of how fast heat is conducted through a slab of material with a given temperature difference across the slab. It’s important for objects that will be heated or must conduct or insulate against heat.
Thermal Expansion (expansivity): A measure of the degree of increase in dimensions when an object is heated. This can be measured by an increase in length, area, or volume. The expansivity can be measured as the fractional increase in dimension per Kelvin increase in temperature. It's important where two dissimilar materials are joined. These may then experience large temperature changes while subjected to heat.
Hardness: The resistance a material offers to penetration or scratching. Hardness is important where resistance to penetration or scratching is required. Ceramic floor tiles are extremely hard and resistant to scratching.
Mechanical Properties
Tensile Strength: The ability of a material to withstand pulling forces. Tensile strength is important in selecting materials for ropes and cables, for example, for an elevator.
Compressive Strength: Compressive strength is the capacity of a material or structure to withstand loads tending to reduce size.
Stiffness: The resistance of an elastic body to deflection by an applied force. Stiffness is important when maintaining shape is crucial to performance, for example, an aircraft wing.
Toughness: The ability of a material to resist the propagation of cracks. It is good for resisting the high impact of other objects, e.g., a hammer.
Ductility: The ability of a material to be drawn or extruded into a wire or other extended shape. Ductility is important when metals are extruded (not to be confused with malleability, the ability to be shaped plastically).
Malleability: The ability for materials to be shaped easily. The property of a substance that makes it capable of being extended or shaped by hammering or by pressure from rollers.
Young's Modulus
Also known as the tensile modulus or elastic modulus, Young's Modulus is a measure of the stiffness of an elastic material and is a quantity used to characterize materials. It is defined as the ratio of the stress (force per unit area) along an axis to the strain (ratio of deformation over initial length) along that axis in the range of stress.
Stress-Strain Diagram
The diagram illustrates the relationship between stress and strain for a material under tension.
Key Points:
Stress = Force / Cross Sectional Area
Strain = Change in Length / Original Length
Regions and Points:
Elastic Region: The straight-line region from point A to the yield point where the material can regain its original shape after the removal of the load. The stress and strain are directly proportional in this region.
Yield Point (Point B): The point beyond which the material will not return to its original shape. This marks the transition from elastic to plastic deformation.
Plastic Region: The region beyond the yield point where the material undergoes permanent deformation.
Ultimate Stress or Fracture Point: The point at which the material ultimately fails and breaks apart.
Additional Information:
The line between points A and C is not straight. In this region, strain increases faster than stress, indicating that the material will change in length faster at these points than at any other point.
At this point C the cross-sectional area of the material starts decreasing. At point D the workpiece changes its length with a little or without any increase in stress up to point E.
Point F is called the ultimate stress point or fracture point. A material is considered to have completely failed once it reaches the ultimate stress.
Measuring when a material reaches its Yield Point is called the Young’s Modulus.
Aesthetic characteristics
Some aesthetic characteristics are only relevant to food, while others can be applied to more than one material group. Aesthetic characteristics of products make them interesting, appealing, likable, or unattractive and are based completely on personal preferences. These personal views are affected by mood, culture, experience, activation of the senses, values, beliefs, etc. They are very difficult to quantify scientifically and people's reactions to taste, smell, appearance, and texture are very different.
Definitions
Taste - The ability to detect the flavour of substances such as food and poisons.
Smell - The ability of humans and other animals to perceive odors. Consider the scene in Ratatouille (film) where he experiences the taste of food in vibrant technicolor, think about how smells evoke memories, the smell of fresh bread when you enter a supermarket, food smells making you hungry, etc.
Appearance - Related to how something looks. What a product looks like. Is it colourful? Masculine? Feminine? Funny? Sexy? Sleek? Minimal? Clean? Busy? Etc. The appearance of a product appeals to different demographics such as age, gender, culture, ethnicity, etc. Shoppers place a large emphasis on colour, so does brand recognition, e.g., Coca-Cola.
Texture - The properties held and sensations caused by the external surface of objects received through the sense of touch. E.g., smoothness of kitchen work surfaces for reasons of hygiene, tiles around a swimming pool (i.e., roughened surface to prevent slipping when wet). Hard, Soft, Abrasive, Smooth. Wood has a grain pattern, metal has a cold texture.
Colour - Is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories of colours.
Optical e.g., opaque, translucent, transparent
Colour e.g., Hot, Cold, Warm, Mellow, Bright, Vivid, Cool
Effects on emotions, e.g., sense of 'warmth' and 'coldness' i.e., 'warm' red/orange/yellow 'cool' violet/green/blue. The use and application of such knowledge in the designed environment, e.g., decoration, symbols, artefacts.
Smart Materials
Smart materials have one or more properties that can be dramatically altered, for example, viscosity, volume, conductivity. The property that can be altered influences the application of the smart material.
Piezoelectricity
How it works/what it can do:
Piezoelectricity is a term that is derived from the Greek meaning for piezo, squeeze or pressure where electricity is generated when piezoelectric material is deformed. The pressure acting upon the material it gives off a small electrical discharge.
Design contexts where properties of smart materials are exploited:
When a piezoelectric material is deformed, it gives off a small electrical discharge. When an electric current is passed through it, it increases in size (up to a 4% change in volume). These materials are widely used as sensors in different environments. Piezoelectric materials are used in the airbag sensor on a car as it senses the force of an impact on the car and sends an electric charge to activate the airbag.
Shape memory alloy (SMA's)
How it works/what it can do:
Metals that exhibit pseudo-elasticity and shape memory effect due to rearrangement of the molecules in the material. Pseudo-elasticity occurs without a change in temperature or electrical voltage. The load on the SMA causes molecular rearrangement, which reverses when the load is decreased and the material springs back to its original shape.
Design contexts where properties of smart materials are exploited:
They can be used to make products for durable and harder to break, i.e., glasses frames. The shape memory effect allows severe deformation of a material, which can then be returned to its original shape by heating it.
Photochromicity
How it works/what it can do:
Material that can be described as having a reversible change of colour when exposed to light. One of the most popular applications is for colour-changing sunglasses lenses, which can darken as the sun light intensifies. A chemical either on the surface of the lens or embedded within the glass reacts to ultraviolet light, which causes it to change form and therefore its light absorption spectra.
Design contexts where properties of smart materials are exploited:
Welding goggles/mask, cool tee shirts, "reactor light" sunglasses.
Magneto-rheostatic Electro-rheostatic
How it works/what it can do:
Electro-rheostatic (ER) and magneto-rheostatic (MR) materials are fluids that can undergo dramatic changes in their viscosity. They can change from a thick fluid to a solid in a fraction of a second when exposed to a magnetic (for MR materials) or electric (for ER materials) field, and the effect is reversed when the field is removed.
Design contexts where properties of smart materials are exploited:
MR fluids are being developed for use in car shock absorbers, damping washing machine vibration, prosthetic limbs, exercise equipment and surface polishing of machine parts. ER fluids have mainly been developed for use in clutches and valves, as well as engine mounts designed to reduce noise and vibration in vehicles.
Thermoelectricity
How it works/what it can do:
Thermoelectricity is, at its simplest, electricity produced directly from heat. It involves the joining of two dissimilar conductors that, when heated, produce a direct current. Thermoelectricity circuits have been used in remote areas and space probes to power radio transmitters and receivers.
Design contexts where properties of smart materials are exploited:
Nest was co-founded by former Apple engineers Fadell and Rogers in 2010 and foray into the home and household monitoring devices. The temperature monitors uses thermocouples to drive a thermal signal to provide data. The products form part of the interface to create smart systems that are remotely driven through smartphone apps.
Metals and metallic alloys
Extracting metal from ore
The Earth's crust contains metals and metal compounds such as gold, iron oxide, and aluminium oxide, but when found in the Earth, these are often mixed with other substances. To be useful, the metals have to be extracted from whatever they are mixed with.
A metal ore is a rock containing a metal, or a metal compound, in a high enough concentration to make it economic to extract the metal. The method used to extract metals from the ore in which they are found depends on their reactivity. For example, reactive metals such as aluminium are extracted by electrolysis, while a less-reactive metal such as iron may be extracted by reduction with carbon or carbon monoxide. Thus the method of extraction of a metal from its ore depends on the metal's position in the reactivity series:
Aluminium Extraction
Aluminium ore, most commonly bauxite, is plentiful and occurs mainly in tropical and sub-tropical areas. Bauxite is refined into aluminium oxide trihydrate (alumina) and then electrolytically reduced into metallic aluminium.
Steel
Blast Furnace using oxygen furnace and the electric arc furnace contribute to high rates of steel reusability.
Grain size
Metals are crystalline structures comprised of individual grains. The grain size can vary and be determined by heat treatment, particularly how quickly a metal is cooled. Quick cooling results in small grains, slow cooling results in large grains. Grain size in metals can affect the density, tensile strength, and flexibility.
The smaller the grains in the metal, the higher density the metal is. Higher density means lower flexibility and sometimes tensile strength. The tensile strength and flexibility will also depend on how the metal is tempered normally. The rate of cooling and the amount of impurities in the molten metal will affect its grain size:
Gradual cooling – a few crystals are formed – large grain size
Rapid cooling – many crystals are formed – small grain size
Reheating a solid metal/alloy allows the grain structure to re-align itself.
Directional cooling in a structure is achieved by selectively cooling one area of a solid.
The effect of impurities (or additives) in a molten metal can induce a large number of fine grains that will give a stronger and harder metal. This addition must be carefully controlled as too many impurities may cause an accumulation at the grain boundaries, which will weaken the material.
Modifying physical properties by alloying, work hardening and tempering
Alloying is an alloy is a mixture of two elements, of which one is at least a metal:
e.g., Carbon and Iron is Steel. Copper and Zinc (two metals) create Brass
Adding in different (materials) to metals to ultimately create a harder and strong metal.
Work hardening or cold working is the strengthening of a metal by plastic deformation. As the name suggests the metal becomes harder after the process. The metal is not heated at all. The process involves the metal passing through a set of rollers to reduce its thickness, (compressed) grains are deformed. The shape is changed, but the volume remains constant. The defects of these structures reduce the ability for crystals to move within the metal structure, becoming more resistant to more deformation as they recrystallize.
Processes include:
rolling
bending
shearing
drawing
Annealing is a heat treatment that alters the physical and sometimes chemical properties of a material to increase its ductility and to make it more workable. It involves heating, maintaining a suitable temperature, and then cooling by slowly reducing the temperature over time. Annealing is softening the metal after work hardening.
Case Hardening is hardening area processes in which the surface of the steel is heated to high temperatures (by direct application of a flame or by induction heating) then cooled rapidly, generally using water; this creates a surface of martensite on the surface. Improves hardness on the surface or case of the material while keeping the core untouched and so still processes properties such as flexibility and is still relatively soft.
Tempering is a process of heat treating, which is used to increase the toughness of metals containing iron. Tempering is usually performed after hardening, to reduce some of the excess hardness, and is done by heating the metal for a certain period of time, then allowed to cool in still air. Tempering is reducing brittleness after quenching.
Superalloys
Design criteria for superalloys:
Excellent mechanical strength and creep resistance at high temperatures
Corrosion and oxidation resistance
Creep Resistance:
Creep is the gradual extension of a material under constant force. Dependant on temperature and load.
Creep occurs as a result of thermal vibrations of the lattice. Can result in fracture of materials, superalloys to development of cavities in the material.
Oxidation Resistance:
Presence of other metals such as chromium ensures that a tight oxide film is formed on the surface.
This restricts access of oxygen to the metal surface so that the rate of oxidation is heavily reduced.
Applications of Superalloys:
Nickel-Based Alloy
Jet Engine Components (Turbine blades operate at high temperature and under extreme stress conditions. In operation, they will glow red hot; however, they must be creep resistant, fatigue, and corrosion resistant.)
Recovery and disposal of metals and metallic alloys
Car bodies and steel reinforcing recovered from concrete can be recycled into new steel.
Modern technologies are causing a significant problem:
20 million to 50 million tonnes of e-waste.
New recycling schemes directed specifically for e-waste:
Example: Samsung Washing Machine where broken parts can be taken apart and replaced with a new one.
Aluminium recycling is a huge advantage as the extraction process is so expensive/damaging to the environment; therefore, we should encourage aluminium recycling.
Classification and Types of Metals
Ferrous Metals:
Steel:
Properties: Poor corrosion resistance, tough, ductile, malleable, good tensile strength, recyclable, and relatively cheap.
Example products: Surgical tools, screws, nails, kitchen utensils, and general-purpose engineering items.
Iron:
Properties: Very ductile, strong, malleable, and long-lasting.
Example products: Basic machinery, tools, building structures, and manufacturing components of cars and automobiles.
Stainless Steel:
Properties: High initial cost, difficult to fabricate, and challenging to weld due to high carbon content.
Example products: Pipes, cutlery, and aircraft components.
Non-Ferrous Metals:
Aluminium:
Properties: Lightweight, easily worked, malleable, soft, conducts heat and electricity, and corrosion-resistant.
Example products: Aircraft manufacture, window frames, and some kitchenware.
Copper:
Properties: Conducts heat and electricity, corrosion-resistant, tough, and ductile.
Example products: Wiring, tubing, and pipework.
Tin:
Properties: Soft and corrosion-resistant.
Example products: Tin cans.
Zinc:
Properties: Forms a layer of oxide for anti-corrosion, and easily worked.
Example products: Used to make brass, steel coating (galvanizing), tanks, and anti-rust applications.
Brass:
Properties: Very corrosive, tarnishes, and conducts electricity well.
Example products: Ornamental purposes and within electrical fittings.
Timber
Characteristics of Natural Timber
Natural Timber:
Timber used directly from the tree after being seasoned (a controlled drying process). It is a composite material made up of cellulose (wood fibers) and lignin.
Greater tensile strength along the grain (fiber) than across the grain (matrix).
Classification:
Softwood:
Comes from coniferous trees with needles kept year-round.
Hardwood:
Comes from deciduous trees with broad leaves that often shed annually.
Global Distribution:
Temperate Forests: Between the tropics and polar areas, mainly in the northern hemisphere. Both hardwoods and softwoods grow.
Tropical Forests: Regions between the two tropics, generally only hardwoods are found.
Seasoning of Timber
Two types of seasoning: Artificial (Kiln) or Natural.
1. Air Seasoning:
Advantages:
No expensive equipment needed.
Small labor cost once stack is made.
Environmentally friendly, uses little energy.
Disadvantages:
Takes longer than kiln seasoning.
Requires large space.
Not always effective in modern, centrally heated buildings.
2. Kiln Seasoning:
Advantages:
Kills insects.
Precise moisture control.
Faster drying.
Achieves lower moisture content.
Defects controlled.
Disadvantages:
Expensive.
Weaker timber compared to air seasoning.
Requires skilled supervision.
High energy use.
Conversion of Timber
After felling/cutting down a tree and taking it to a sawmill:
Timber is seasoned.
Once dried, it is cut into smaller sections.
Conversion Methods:
Quartered conversion (showing two different cuts: radial boards)
Through and through conversion (tangential and radial boards)
Tangential cuts (tangent to the heart)
Bowed heart
Faults with Natural Timber
Natural woods are susceptible to movements such as:
Splitting
Cupping
Warping
Bowing
These movements can render the wood unusable.
Knots:
Formed where branches grow from the main trunk or where the bud was formed.
Can weaken timber but may be used for aesthetic purposes.
Characteristics of Natural Timber: Hardwood
Hardwood trees are mostly deciduous and characterized by broad or large area leaves.
They bear fruit such as nuts, seeds, or acorns.
Hardwood trees can take 100 years to mature.
Tropical hardwoods are not classified as deciduous but as angiosperms with similar mechanical properties of strength, hardness, and durability.
Higher density and hardness compared to softwoods.
Aesthetics of hardwoods make them desirable and often used in high-quality furniture.
Hardwoods are more fibrous and compact, leading to greater strength.
Hardwood Examples:
Beech
Colour/Texture: Light color, fine texture, straight grain.
Uses: Furniture, children's toys, tool handles. Can be steam bent and laminates well.
Teak
Colour/Texture: Golden brown, durable, highly resistant to moisture with natural oils.
Uses: High-quality furniture, outdoor furniture.
Oak
Colour/Texture: Light color, open grain, very strong, classy when treated.
Uses: Furniture, flooring, barrels.
Mahogany
Colour/Texture: Reddish-brown, easy to work with, expensive.
Uses: High-quality furniture, musical instruments.
Characteristics of Natural Timber: Softwood
Softwoods come from coniferous trees, which are evergreen, needle-leaved, cone-bearing trees such as cedar, fir, and pine.
Softwoods are often used in various construction applications and can be easier to work with compared to hardwoods.
Types and Characteristics:
Scots Pine
Colour/Texture: Light in color, straight-grained, but knotty.
Uses: DIY projects, cheap quality furniture, constructional work, simple joinery. Fairly strong and easy to work with.
Spruce
Colour/Texture: Creamy-white, small hard knots, not very durable.
Uses: Indoor work, without exposure to harsh elements. Commonly used in bedrooms and kitchens.
European Redwood
Colour/Texture: Quite strong, lots of knots, durable when preserved.
Uses: General woodwork, cupboards, shelves, roofs.
General Characteristics:
Softwoods can sometimes be harder than hardwoods. For example, Douglas Fir has higher tensile and compressive strength than many hardwoods.
Technically a hardwood, balsa wood, has mechanical weakness, low tensile strength, low hardness, and lacks toughness.
Aesthetics: Softwoods like pine are very resinous, causing resin to leak out of the timber. This resin can be sticky and messy and often appear on painted surfaces, creating a bad stain.
Exposure to sunlight can cause pine to change color, generally to a pale yellow with brown streaks.
Softwoods are prone to decaying, warping, bowing, cupping, and splitting.
Made up of tube-like cells, making them less dense and more prone to water damage if the end grain is exposed. The timber absorbs water like a sponge.
Characteristics of Man-Made Timbers
Man-made timbers are composite products that use wood lengths, fibers, and veneers, combined with an adhesive binder under heat and pressure to produce a product.
These materials offer high tensile strength, resistance to damp environments, longevity, and aesthetic properties.
Types and Characteristics:
MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard)
Properties: Smooth, even surface that can be easily machined and painted or stained. Available in water and fire-resistant forms.
Uses: Mainly for furniture and interior paneling due to its easy machining qualities. Often veneered or painted.
Plywood
Properties: A very strong board constructed of layers of veneer glued at 90 degrees to each other.
Uses: A strong board used in various construction applications due to its strength and stability.
Chipboard/Particleboard
Properties: Made from wood chips glued together, usually veneered or covered in plastic laminate.
Uses: Used for general furniture, especially where it will be covered, such as countertops and shelves.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Man-Made Timbers:
Advantages:
Availability in Large Sheets: Typically available in large flat sheets (2440 x 1220mm), making them useful for large pieces of furniture without having to join pieces together.
Good Dimensional Stability: Man-made boards do not warp as much as natural timber.
Decorative Options: Can be decorated in various ways, such as with veneers or paint.
Flexibility: Sheets of plywood and MDF are flexible and easy to bend over formers for laminating.
Use of Waste Wood: Waste from wood production can be used to make MDF, chipboard, and hardboard.
Disadvantages:
Tool Wear: Sharp tools are required when cutting manufactured boards, and tools can become easily blunted.
Joining Difficulty: It is difficult to join man-made boards using traditional construction methods, as traditional woodwork construction joints (e.g., finger or dovetail joints) cannot be used.
Flatness Issues: Thin sheets do not stay flat and will bow unless supported.
Health Hazards: Cutting and sanding some types of boards generate hazardous dust particles.
Edge Treatment: Edges must be treated and covered to hide unsightly edges and to stop water ingress. This process is called concealing edges, which helps to create an appearance similar to a solid piece of timber.
Treating and Finishing Timbers
Timber treatments and finishes are used to protect, enhance, and improve the mechanical properties of timber.
Timber Treatments:
Purpose: To improve the timber's resistance to attack and enhance its durability to a level suitable for its intended use.
Types of Attacks:
Wood Destroying Fungi: Results from moisture.
Wood Destroying Insects: Borers, white ants.
Examples: Wood preservers, creosote, stain preservers.
Timber Finishes:
Purpose: Applied to the surface of the timber to achieve aesthetics and/or functional protection.
Aesthetics: To improve the material's natural beauty.
Function: To protect from environmental impact, heat, moisture.
Process: Finished timber requires sanding with abrasive paper to close up the grain, leaving smaller gaps.
Examples: Varnish/Estapol, finishing oil, wood wax.
Timber is seasoned as part of its preparation for commercial use. This process reduces the moisture content so that it becomes workable. The remaining moisture, albeit small, means that the wood never really stabilizes and continues to swell and shrink with humidity and temperature variations.
Recovery and Disposal of Timbers
Reforestation:
Definition: The process of restoring tree cover to areas where woodlands or forests once existed.
Importance: Necessary to maintain a sustainable forest industry and prevent deforestation.
Wood Recycling:
Process: Turning waste timber into usable products.
History: Popularized in the early 1990s due to concerns about deforestation and climate change.
Benefits: Environmentally friendly form of timber production.
Prevalence: Common in countries like the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, where supplies of old wooden structures are plentiful.
Products: Recycled timber can be chipped into wood chips for power homes or power plants.
Uses for Recycled Waste Wood:
Products: Traditional feedstock for the panel board industry, animal beddings, equestrian and landscaping surfaces, play areas, and filter beds.
Glass
Characteristics of Glass
Glass is a hard, brittle, and typically transparent amorphous solid made by rapidly cooling a fusion of sand, soda, and lime.
Amorphous: Glass is an amorphous substance (a solid that is not crystalline) made primarily of silica fused at high temperatures with borates or phosphates.
Transparency: Allows light to be transmitted with minimal scattering, allowing a clear view through the material.
Chemically Inert: Lacks reactivity with other materials.
Non-toxic: Does not produce toxic breakdown products.
Brittle: Breaks into numerous sharp shards.
Biocompatibility: Continues the health of a biological environment.
Hardness: Scratch-resistant.
Aesthetic Appeal: Favourable in terms of appearance.
Electrical Insulator: Reduces the transmission of electric charge.
Cheap: Abundance of material and high-volume production in comparison to production cost.
Applications of Glass
Laminated Glass: Consists of two thin sheets of glass with an interlayer of plastic in between. It is very strong and retains shards of glass when cracked. Used in iPhone glass covers, car windshields, architectural uses, bulletproof windows.
Toughened or Tempered Glass: The outer face of the glass is in compression, and the inner side of the glass is in tension. When it shatters, it breaks into small pieces. Used for furniture like staircases and floors, and in architectural use.
Soda Glass: Has poor thermal shock (shatters when hot water is put in glass), expands quickly, is cheap to produce, and is used in drinking bottles.
Pyrex: Slow expansion/contraction, and used for cooking, test tubes, thermometers, and oven doors.
Gorilla Glass: A brand of specialized toughened glass developed and manufactured by Corning for use in mobile devices. It is designed to be thin, light, and damage-resistant.
Recovery and Disposal of Glass
Faulty and broken glass products are broken up (cullet) and reused by mixing with virgin materials to make a batch. This saves energy and also materials (virgin).
Glass does not degrade in quality in the process, so it can be repeated several times. There is very little wastage during manufacture.
Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss of purity or quality.
Plastics
Raw Materials for Plastics
Natural Plastics
Naturally occurring materials that can be shaped and molded by heat.
Example: Amber, a form of fossilized pine tree resin, used in jewelry manufacture.
Semi-synthetic Plastics
Made from naturally occurring materials that have been modified or changed by mixing other materials with them.
Example: Celluloid, a reaction of cellulose fiber and acetic acid used to make cinema film.
Synthetic Plastics
Derived from breaking down or "cracking" carbon-based materials such as crude oil, coal, or gas.
Involve chemical changes in structure, usually produced in petrochemical refineries under heat and pressure.
Example: Most present-day, commonly occurring plastics.
Raw Materials for Plastics
Modern plastics are derived from natural materials such as crude oil, coal, and natural gas, with crude oil remaining the most important raw material.
Polymers are substances made from many molecules formed into long chains.
Differences in chain bonding cause different properties in various types of polymers.
Structure of Thermoplastics
Thermoplastics are linear chain molecules with weak secondary bonds between the chains.
These secondary bonds are weak forces of attraction.
Thermoplastics can be heated and reformed because their polymer chains do not form cross-links, allowing the chains to move freely each time the plastics are heated.
Thermoplastics: Properties and Applications
Polypropylene (PP)
Properties: Light, hard, tough, impact-resistant, good chemical resistance, can be sterilized, resistant to work fatigue.
Applications: Used for medical and laboratory equipment, containers, chairs.
Polyethylene (PE)
Properties: Tough, resistant to chemicals, soft and flexible, good electrical insulator.
Applications: Widely used in various applications due to its versatility and flexibility.
HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene)
Properties: Tough, high impact strength, rigid, good electrical insulator.
Applications: Commonly used in applications requiring durability and rigidity.
ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)
Properties: High impact strength, tough, scratch-resistant, lightweight, durable, good resistance to chemicals, good electrical insulator.
Applications: Kitchenware, GoPro camera cases, toys (Lego).
PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)
Properties: Chemical resistance, high impact resistance, tough, high tensile strength, durable, excellent water and moisture barrier.
Applications: Plastic drinking bottles.
PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Properties: Good chemical resistance, weather-resistant, lightweight, good electrical insulator, stiff, hard, tough, waterproof, durable.
Applications: Pipes, rainwater pipes and guttering, window frames and fascias, electrical cable insulation.
Structure of Thermosetting Plastics
Thermosets are linear chain molecules but with strong primary bonds between adjacent polymer chains (or cross-links).
On first heating, the polymer softens and can be molded into shape under pressure. However, the heat triggers a chemical reaction in which the molecules become permanently locked together. As a result, the polymer becomes permanently 'set' and cannot be softened again by heating. Examples of thermosetting plastics are polyurethane, urea formaldehyde, melamine resin, and epoxy resin.
Material: Polyurethane
Properties:
Strong electrical insulator (resistance)
Good tensile and compressive strength
Good thermal resistance
Can be fairly hard and tough
Can be easily bonded
Can be flexible and elastic
Applications:
Wheels
Foam
Varnish
Paint and glue
Material: Urea-formaldehyde
Properties:
High tensile (tension) strength
High heat distortion temperatures
Low water absorption
High surface hardness
Weight/volume resistance
Applications:
Tableware
Worktop laminates
Buttons
Electrical casings
Material: Melamine Resin
Properties:
High electrical resistivity
Very low thermal conductivity / high heat resistance
Hard / solid
Scratch resistant
Stain resistant
Available in a range of thicknesses and sizes
Applications:
Kitchen utensils plates
Camping bowls (not microwave safe)
Kitchen utensils and plates
Laminated benchtops
Material: Epoxy Resin
Properties:
Tough
Chemical resistance (also water)
Fatigue and mechanical strength (tensile strength and compressive strength)
Electrical insulation
Temperature resistant (maintains form and strength, though some are vulnerable to light)
Can be used on metal (the adhesive)
Applications:
Construction of aircraft boats and cars
Also used in electrical circuits and general purpose adhesive
With glass reinforced plastics
Temperature and Recycling Thermoplastics and Thermoset Plastics
Thermoplastics soften when heated and harden and strengthen after cooling.
Thermoplastics can be heated, shaped, and cooled as often as necessary without causing a chemical change, while thermosetting plastics will burn when heated after the initial molding.
The non-reversible effect of temperature on a thermoset contributes to it not being able to be recycled. Heating increases the number of permanent cross-links and so hardens the plastic, so therefore it cannot be recycled.
Recovery and Disposal of Plastics
Thermoplastics:
Heat, Reshape, Cool
Thermosetting Plastics:
Landfill, Incinerate
Biodegradable Plastics:
Bury in the ground, Landfill
Nearly all types of plastics can be recycled, however, the extent to which they are recycled depends upon technical, economic, and logistic factors. As a valuable and finite resource, the optimum recovery route for most plastic items at the 'end-of-life' is to be recycled, preferably back into a product that can then be recycled again and again, and so on. The UK uses over 5 million tonnes of plastic each year, of which an estimated 24% is currently being recovered or recycled.
Recycling
Turning waste into a new substance or product. Includes composting if it meets quality protocols.
Provides a sustainable source of raw materials to industry
Greatly reduces the environmental impact of plastic-rich products which give off harmful pollutants in manufacture and when incinerated
Minimizes the amount of plastic being sent to landfill sites
Avoids the consumption of the Earth's oil stocks
Consumes less energy than producing new, virgin polymers
Encourages a sustainable lifestyle among children and young adults
Bioplastics
To reduce the problems of disposing of plastics, they can be designed to be biodegradable, known as bioplastics. These are plastics derived from renewable sources, such as vegetable fats and oils, corn starch, pea starch, or microbiota. Production of oil-based plastics tends to require more fossil fuels and to produce more greenhouse gases than the production of biobased polymers (bioplastics).
Some, but not all, bioplastics are designed to biodegrade. Biodegradable bioplastics can break down in either anaerobic or aerobic environments, depending on how they are manufactured. Bioplastics can be composed of starches, cellulose, biopolymers, and a variety of other materials.
Textiles
Raw Materials for Textiles
Fibres can be classified as being from a natural or synthetic source. A fibre is an elongated hair-like strand or continuous filament. The length exceeds more than 200 times the diameter.
Wool, linen, and cotton are short fibres, silk is a long continuous filament fibre.
Fibres can be twisted using the spinning process and converted into yarn or fibres can be used in their raw form and manufactured to create felt.
Consider absorbency, strength, elasticity, and the effect of temperature.
Manufactured from fibres, the origin can be subdivided into two sections:
Natural (organic)
Either a plant or animal origin
Examples: cotton, linen, wool, and silk
Synthetic (man-made)
Created by chemical processes
Polymer-based from oil and coal, others are from glass, metal, ceramic, and carbon
Properties of Natural Fibres
Properties of wool, cotton, and silk and design contexts in which different types of textiles are used:
Originates from plants, animals, and minerals
Are usually short fibres (staple fibres)
Can absorb moisture (e.g., sweat from skin) therefore fabrics are 'breathable'
Flammable, easy to dye, poor resilience, good conductor of electricity
Sources include cotton, wool, linen, and silk
Fibres from Plants
Cotton: Can be cool or warm to wear as fibres trap air, reducing convective heat loss. It is durable, creases easily, absorbent, dries slowly.
Linen: Stiffer handle, dries quickly, durable, very absorbent
Fibres from Animals
Wool: Absorbent, dries slowly, warm to wear, not durable
Silk: Absorbent, durable, warm to wear, soft handle
Examples of Natural Fibres
Wool
Origin: Sheep fleece, goats, alpacas, camels
End Uses: Good insulator that traps air; used in sweaters, blankets, socks, tailored suits, etc.
Cotton
Origin: Cotton boll plant
End Uses: Highly absorbent; used in nightwear, summer clothes, shirts, underwear, jeans, bedsheets, socks, towels, etc.
Silk
Origin: Silk cocoon
End Uses: High lustre; used in evening dresses, nightwear, ties, cushions, wedding dresses, etc.
Properties of Synthetic Fibres
Man-made fibres (usually from chemical resources)
Fibres produced are long and much smoother
Most are thermoplastic and will soften and harden when exposed to heat
Have low affinity for moisture, creating less 'breathable' fabrics
Sources include viscose, acrylic, nylon, and polyester
Examples of Synthetic Fibres
Nylon
End Uses: Rope, fishing filament, seatbelts, parachutes, luggage, conveyor belts, outerwear, tents
Polyester (Dacron)
End Uses: Outerwear, combined with other fibres to improve crease resistance, sportswear, hoses, sails, auto upholstery, carpets
Lycra (Spandex)
End Uses: Sportswear, combined with other fibres to improve stretch, disposable diaper, underwear
Conversion of Fibres to Yarns
In the beginning, the strands are a tangle of loose fibres
Natural fibres, except silk, will be in different lengths to symbolize the maturity of growth
Natural fibres also require cleaning and refining, and some mixing in order to homogenize the batch
The fibres are then slightly twisted and thinned out in order to produce sufficient strength for handling
Wrapping fibres around each other increases strength
The process is repeated, while lengthening the yarn
Several fibres are then called a 'single' (single strand of yarn)
Conversion of Yarns into Fabrics: Weaving, Knitting, Lacemaking, and Felting
Weaving: Undertaken on a machine called a loom with two distinct styles of thread which are interlaced together to form a fabric. Warp and weft yarns are threaded on a loom with a piece of cloth and the weft runs across from side to side.
There are different kinds and ways to produce a weave; for example, a twill weave is by alternately passing under and over one.
Knitting: Process of forming fabrics by looping a single thread (by hand with slender wires or a machine provided with knotted needles).
Made by making knots; however, the destruction of one loop threatens the destruction of the entire web, unless the meshes are reunited (because of the interlocking nature of the yarn in knitted fabrics).
Advantages include fabric can stretch, low stress on the yarn, large number of stitches per area available.
Lacemaking: Lace-work is a stitched fabric patterned with holes, and is now commonly made from cotton.
It is made by hand with a needle (called needlepoint lace) or by machines using a pin, pillow, or cushion, hence called 'pillow lace', or by a machine called a 'braid lace'.
Threads are looped, plaited, braided, and twisted together, and then backed by additional threads on an open framework.
Felting: Felt is made from animal fibres (sheep's wool, rabbit fur); however, today it can be made from man-made fibres (viscose).
The felt-making process is dependent on the kinks in the fibres and the irregularities in the surface (to see if the fibres are able to interlock together). Good wools have scales that are perfect and numerous, while inferior ones have fewer serrations (jagged edges) and are less perfect in structure.
(From wool) progressively depositing layers of cleaned and combed fibers into a large tray, each 90 degrees from each other.
Hot soapy water assists with lubrication and reduces friction, allowing the fibres to move and entangle in the scales on the fibre surface.
They then bond to form a cloth.
(Alternative) Needle felting involves combining fibres using special felting needles.
Recovery and Disposal of Textiles
Many items of clothing are manufactured and produced in developing countries. Often working conditions that many people experience who do a repetitive, low-skilled job.
Other ethical issues connected to the production and manufacture of textiles are linked to environmental issues, chemical dyes, washing, finishes, use of pesticides to grow the crops, and land usage for growing the crops and grazing for the animals.
Development of new textiles and other related technologies needs to consider the sustainability issues such as recycling and disposal.
Wastage from textiles may be categorized as either pre- or post-consumer. Pre-consumer textile waste is mostly formed of materials that are generated as by-products of production processes. Post-consumer waste mentions to clothing or household textiles that are reused or recycled instead of being disposed.
Recycling involves the reprocessing of used materials (clothing, fabric scraps, etc.) and waste from the manufacturing process.
Once all of the materials are collected, cleaned, and sorted, recyclable textile may be processed; first mechanically where the fibres are separated before being re-spinned into yarn or chemically through repolymerizing fibres to again spin into yarn.
With waste reduction, reuse, and recycling results in: Lowering purchase prices, reducing use of virgin materials, reducing disposal costs and landfill, generating less air and water pollution, keeping materials out of the waste stream, and preserving the 'embodied energy' used in manufacturing.
Composites
Composite Materials
Composite materials (also called composition materials or shortened to composites) are materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties, that when combined, produce a material with characteristics different from the individual components.
The individual components remain separate and distinct within the finished structure.
The new material may be preferred for many reasons: common examples include materials which are stronger, lighter or less expensive when compared to traditional materials. One material acts as the matrix, which can be in the form of fibres, sheets or particles with the other as the bonding agent.
Advantages:
High strength-to-weight ratio
High tensile strength
Weave of the cloth can be chosen to maximise strength and stiffness of the final component
Can be woven in different patterns to create aesthetically pleasing surface patterns
Disadvantages:
Very expensive
Requires specialist manufacturing facilities
Weaken when compressed, squashed, distorted, or subject to a high shock or impact
Small air bubbles or imperfections of the matrix will cause weak spots and reduce the overall strength
Fibres/Sheets/Particles: Textiles, Glass, Plastics, and Carbon
Laminar: Consists of two or more layers of material bonded together usually with an adhesive to form a new composite material with improved properties. The most commonly recognized laminar material is plywood.
Plywood
Manufactured from an uneven number of plies
Application where high quality, high strength, large sheet material is required
It is resistant to cracking, breaking, shrinkage, twisting, and warping
Can be used as an engineering material for architecture or lightweight stressed skin applications (marine and aviation environments)
Laminated Glass
Consists of a sandwich of two layers of glass and a polymer interlayer of Polyvinyl butyral (PVB) joined under heat and pressure in a furnace called an autoclave
When broken the PVB interlayer holds the pieces of glass together (safer) avoiding the release of otherwise dangerous shards of glass
The fracture produces a pattern of radial and concentric cracks (spider-web pattern)
Used for car windscreens
Laminar Composites
Laminates of different material joined together in a sandwich structure
Consists of a layer of thin or bidirectional fibres or metal sheet held apart by a lightweight core (foam or honeycomb-style structure)
Fibre-reinforced
Particle reinforced
Processes: Weaving, Moulding, Pultrusion, and Lamination
Weaving:
To form (fabric or a fabric item) by interlacing long threads passing in one direction with others at a right angle to them.
Molding:
Similar to injection molding, using a mix of materials. Or put under high pressure.
Pultrusion:
A continuous molding process whereby reinforcing fibers are saturated with a liquid polymer resin and then carefully formed and pulled through a heated die to form a part.
Lamination:
One of the early materials that was used as part of a lamination process was called Formica. Formica originally consisted of layers of fabric bound together with resin; later, it was made with thick pieces of paper laminated together. This toughly resistant substrate could resist heat and abrasion, while the paper opened up a wealth of possibilities for printing colors and patterns, which proved key to its success.
Spray-up:
Spray-up is carried out on an open mold, where both the resin and reinforcements are sprayed directly onto the mold. The resin and glass may be applied separately or simultaneously ("chopped" in a combined stream from a chopper gun). Workers roll out the spray-up to compact the laminate. Wood, foam, or other core material may then be added, and a secondary spray-up layer embeds the core between the laminates (sandwich construction). The part is then cured, cooled, and removed from the reusable mold.
Composition and Structure of Composites
Matrix Materials: Thermoplastics, thermosetting plastics, ceramics, metals
Design Contexts in which Composite Materials are Used
Concrete
Composition: Sand, concrete, aggregate, and water mixed together, forming a fluid mass that is easily molded into shape. Once hardened, the cement forms a hard matrix that binds the rest of the ingredients together into a durable stone-like material.
Usage: Construction (reinforced with steel) to make strong structures.
Engineered Wood
Composition: Made by binding or fixing strands, particles, fibers, veneers of boards of wood together with adhesives or other fixing methods.
Examples:
Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF)
Particle or Chipboard
Plywood
LVL: Laminated Veneered Lumber
Usage: J-joists or beams.
Plywood
Composition: Sheet material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another.
Usage: Wall paneling, flooring, and furniture.
Particleboard
Composition: Also known as chipboard, an engineered wood product manufactured from wood chips, sawmill shavings, or sawdust, and a synthetic resin or other suitable binder, which is pressed and extruded. Oriented strand board, also known as flakeboard, waferboard, or chipboard, is similar but uses machined wood flakes offering more strength.
Usage: Manufacturing of furniture and cabinetry.
Kevlar
Composition: Similar to Carbon Fibre, woven into a cloth, combined with polyester resin to be molded into various complex shapes. Known for its high strength-to-weight ratio and being five times stronger than steel.
Usage:
Body protection (e.g., bullet-proof vests, body armor)
Sporting equipment (e.g., helmets, sails for windsurfing)
Automotive parts.
Carbon Reinforced Plastic (GRP)
Composition: Made from plastic and fine fibers of glass. Also known as Fiberglass. The strands are combined with resin polymers to form extremely strong and light composite material. GRP is versatile and can be molded into 3D shapes.
Usage:
Boat hulls
Canoes
Car body panels
Chemical storage tanks
Train canopies.
Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL)
Composition: Engineered wood product that uses multiple layers of thin wood assembled with adhesives.
Usage:
Headers
Beams
Rim Board
Edge-forming material.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Composite Materials
Advantages:
Strength: Composite materials are much stronger than the original materials used. For instance, laminated glass is tougher and shatters less.
Corrosion and Chemical Resistance: Composites are highly resistant to chemicals and will not rust or corrode.
Fabrication Costs: High cost of fabrication of composites is a critical issue.
Disadvantages:
Recycling: Composites cannot be recycled easily. Most composites are thermosetting, making them hard to separate and recycle.
Scales of Production
The scale of production depends on the number of products required.
Decisions on the scale of production are influenced by the volume or quantities required, types of materials used to make the products, and the type of product being manufactured.
There are also considerations of staffing, resources, and finance.
One-off Production:
Description: One-off production is where only one or a few specialist items are required. If a prototype is made, it usually forms the basis for further testing and subsequent batch or volume production.
Advantages:
Unique, high-quality products are made.
Workers are often motivated and take pride in their work.
Disadvantages:
Very labor-intensive, so selling prices are usually higher.
Production can take a long time and can be expensive as specialist tools are required.
Economies of scale are not possible, often resulting in a more expensive product.
Batch Production:
Description: Limited volume production where a set number of items are produced.
Advantages:
Since larger numbers are made, unit costs are lower.
Offers the customer some variety and choice.
Materials can be bought in bulk, so they are cheaper.
Disadvantages:
Workers are often less motivated because the work can be repetitive.
Goods have to be stored until they are sold, which can be expensive.
Mass Production:
Description: The production of large amounts of standardized products on production lines, permitting very high rates of production per worker.
Advantages:
Labor costs are usually lower/minimal.
Materials can be purchased in large quantities so they are cheaper, providing excellent bargaining power.
Large numbers of goods are produced.
Disadvantages:
Machinery is very expensive to buy and set up for production lines.
Workers are not motivated.
Not very flexible as a production line is difficult to adapt.
Production process will have to stop when repairs are made.
Continuous Flow Production:
Description: A production method used to manufacture, produce, or process materials without interruption.
Advantages and Disadvantages: Similar to mass production with the added benefit of continuous operation without the need to stop and start.
Mass Customization:
Description: A sophisticated CIM system that manufactures products to individual customer orders. The benefits of the economy of scale are gained whether the order is for a single item or thousands.
Advantages: Mass customization uses some of the techniques of mass production. For example, its output is based on a small number of platforms or core components that underlie the product. In the case of a watch, the internal mechanism is a platform to which a wide variety of personalized options can be added at later stages of production.
Disadvantages:
Complexity in manufacturing.
Requires highly flexible production systems.
Manufacturing processes
Manufacturing Techniques
Additive Techniques:
Paper-based Rapid Prototyping: Layers of paper are cut and glued together to create a 3D shape.
Laminated Object Manufacture (LOM): Layers of material are cut and glued together to create a 3D shape.
Stereolithography: Solidification of powder using 3D printing.
Wasting/Subtractive Techniques: To remove material by cutting, machining, turning, or abrading:
Cutting: Using lasers, saws, chiseling, and drilling.
Machining: Using a router or milling machine.
Turning: Using a metal or wood lathe.
Abrading: Using sanding, filing, and grinding.
Shaping Techniques: To change the shape of the material without wasting:
Moulding: Includes injection moulding and extrusion.
Thermoforming: Heating plastics and vacuum forming, or using a strip heater to heat and bend acrylic.
Laminating: Flexi-plywood by gluing layers together over a former/shaped mould.
Casting: Includes sand casting and die casting, where materials are usually solidified after being in a liquid state.
Knitting: Used for textiles.
Weaving: Used for textiles.
Joining Techniques:
Permanent:
Welding
Brazing
Soldering
Pop riveting
Temporary (non-permanent fastening):
Fastening or joining materials mechanically using screws, rivets, bolts, pins, clips, nails, press studs, and snaps.
Advantages: Ease of disassembly without damaging materials, like installing screws.
Adhering: Gluing materials together which cannot be separated once formed.
Fusing (Welding): A permanent process involving the heating of surfaces, such as metals and plastics. Not recommended for design disassembly.
Types of Production Systems
Craft Production:
Description/Impact: This type of production makes a single, unique product from start to finish. It is labor-intensive and highly skilled, centered on manual skills. Examples include building ships, bridges, handmade crafts (furniture), and tailored clothing.
Advantages: Locally based, allowing clients to converse directly with manufacturers.
Disadvantages: This type of production is frequently slow and may require workers to have a variety of skills. It is also high in cost.
Mechanized Production:
Description/Impact: Volume production process involving machines controlled by humans.
Advantages: Less labor-intensive.
Disadvantages: Not mentioned.
Automated Production:
Automated production is the fast way of mass producing goods and services. It involves machines controlled by computers. It has several pros and cons:
Making complex decisions: Automated systems can make decisions beyond human capacity.
Speed of decision making: Automated systems can make quick decisions.
Routine, boring jobs: Many find repetitive tasks, such as working on a factory assembly line, dull and degrading, which can affect job satisfaction and maintenance of work quality.
Assembly Line Production:
A volume production process where products and components move continuously along a conveyor. Products go from one workstation to another, and components are added until the final product is assembled.
Mass Production:
The production of large amounts of standardized products on production lines, allowing very high rates of production per worker.
Labour costs are usually lower or minimal. Materials can be purchased in large quantities, providing cheaper costs and excellent bargaining power. Large numbers of goods are produced.
Machinery is very expensive to buy and set up for production lines. Workers are not motivated and not very flexible, and the production process is difficult to adapt when repairs are needed.
Mass Customization:
A sophisticated CIM (Computer-Integrated Manufacturing) system that manufactures products to individual customer orders. Benefits of economies of scale are gained whether the order is for a single item or thousands.
Provides a wide variety of personalized options at later stages of production.
Computer Numerical Control (CNC):
Refers to the computer control of machines for manufacturing complex parts in metals and other materials. Machines are controlled by a program commonly called a "G code," assigned to particular operations or processes. Codes control X, Y, and Z movements and feed speeds.
Production System Selection Criteria:
Dependent on the type of production method selected for a product. Criteria include time, labor, skills and training, health and safety, cost, type of product, maintenance, environmental impact, and quality management.
Example provided: Injection molding a product case from three parts rather than one part to make final assembly easier and quicker.
Design for Manufacture (DfM)
Design for Manufacture (DfM) means designers design specifically for the optimum use of existing manufacturing capability.
Designers need to consider designing products so they can be easily and efficiently manufactured with minimal impact on the environment.
Design for Manufacture can be a constraint on the design brief.
DfM involves Design for Process, Design for Materials, and Design for Assembly/Disassembly.
There are four aspects of DfM:
Design for Materials:
Description: This involves designing in relation to materials during processing. The selection of materials is crucial for designers. It can affect environmental impact at each stage of the product cycle, from pre-production to disposal. For example, choosing a thermoplastic may reduce environmental impact during extraction and disposal since thermoplastics are highly recyclable. Minimizing material use and using non-toxic or biodegradable alternatives can also reduce environmental impact.
Design for Process:
Description: This involves designing to enable the product to be manufactured using a specific manufacturing process, like injection molding. When designing or redesigning products, designers should consider how the manufacture of parts and components can be achieved efficiently with minimal waste. For example, injection molding is an efficient process with minimal waste produced.
Design for Assembly:
Description: This involves designing to make assembly easy at various levels, such as component to component, components into sub-assemblies, and sub-assemblies into complete products.
Design for Disassembly:
Description: This involves designing a product so that it can be easily and economically taken apart when it becomes obsolete. The components can be reused, repaired, and repurposed or recycled.
By minimizing components, assembly time can be reduced. Using standard components can decrease manufacturing time. More designers are considering how their designs can be disassembled. This means different materials can be separated for recycling, and repair or reconditioning is easier, reducing landfill waste.
Primary Characteristics of Robots
A robot is defined as an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator programmable in three or more axes, which may be fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial automation applications.
Robots have significantly impacted the labor force by replacing skilled workers with technicians who can maintain and manage large numbers of robots.
Work Envelope
The work envelope refers to the 3D space within which a robot can operate, including its clearance and reach.
This is determined by the length of a robot’s arm and the design of its axes, contributing to its range of motion.
Robots designed with flexibility can perform various tasks, while others like gantry robots move along track systems to cover large workspaces.
Load Capacity
This refers to the weight a robot can manipulate.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Robotic Systems in Production
Single-task Robots:
Advantages: Reduce the chance of error, improve learnability for the operator.
Disadvantages: Expensive relative to the outcome, long process time as only single-task robots are used.
Multi-task Robots:
Advantages: Speed up manufacturing, more efficient, variable inputs and outputs.
Disadvantages: Increased chance of error.
Teams of Robots:
Advantages: Increased efficiency and versatility, necessary for holding parts during other tasks, required for production line processes.
Disadvantages: Robots may need flexibility in orientation and task identification, more complex robots may require AI for precision guidance.
Machine to Machine (M2M):
M2M refers to communication between similar devices, essential for warehouse management, remote control, telemedicine, etc.
Components: Sensors, Wi-Fi or cellular communications, autonomic computing software.
Generations of Robots
First Generation:
Simple mechanical arms performing precise motions, needing constant supervision.
Prone to producing bad outputs if misaligned or unsupervised.
Second Generation:
Equipped with sensors, capable of synchronization without constant human supervision.
Controlled by an external control unit, but still require periodic checking.
Third Generation:
Autonomous robots with their control units, capable of operating without human supervision.
Swarms of smaller robots fall into this category, functioning efficiently as a collective intelligent system.
Chapter 10: Innovation Markets
Invention
Definition of an Invention: An invention is the process of discovering a principle which allows a technical advance in a particular field that results in a novel or new product.
Drivers for Invention/Motivation for Invention: Drivers for invention include personal motivation to express creativity or personal interest, scientific or technical curiosity, constructive discontent, desire to make money, and desire to help others. Some reasons that drive invention are:
A personal motivation to invent in order to express one's creativity or personal interest
Scientific and/or technical curiosity
Constructive discontent with an existing invention/design
Desire to make money
Desire to help others
The Lone Inventor: A lone inventor is an individual working outside or inside an organization who is committed to the invention of a novel product and often becomes isolated because they are engrossed with ideas that imply change and are resisted by others. Individuals with a goal of the complete invention of a new and somewhat revolutionary product:
Have ideas that are completely new and different
May not comprehend or give sufficient care to the marketing and sales of their product
Are usually isolated and have no backing towards their design
Have a harder time pushing forward their designs, especially in a market where large investments are required for success
Their ideas, because of how different they are, are often resisted by other employees and workers
Intellectual Property (IP): A legal term for intangible property such as "creations of the mind" such as inventions and designs that are used in a commercial setting. Intellectual property is protected by law.
Benefits of IP: Benefits of IP include differentiating a business from competitors, selling or licensing to provide revenue streams, offering customers something new and different, marketing/branding, and its value as an asset. Benefits include:
Differentiating a business from competitors
Allowing sale or licensing, providing an important revenue stream
Offering customers something new and different
Marketing/branding
Establishing a valuable asset that can be used as security for loans
Effective Strategies for Protecting IP:
Patents: An agreement from a government office to give someone the right to make or sell a new invention for a certain number of years.
Trademarks: A recognizable sign, design, or expression that distinguishes products or services of a particular trader from the similar products or services of other traders.
Copyright: A legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution, usually for a limited time, with the intention of enabling the creator (e.g., the photographer of a photograph or the author of a book) to receive compensation for their intellectual effort.
Patent Pending: An indication that an application for a patent has been applied for but has not yet been processed. The marking serves to notify those copying the invention that they may be liable for damages (including back-dated royalties) once a patent is issued.
First to Market: When a company or a person has or thinks they have an innovative idea or product, they will rush to have it on the market before anyone else. Some innovators decide not to protect their IP as an alternative strategy to ensure success by allowing them to get first to market rather than spend money on patents or waste time.
Shelved Technologies: Technology that is shelved for various reasons. Sometimes shelved technologies will be rediscovered or taken off the shelf.
Innovation
Definition of Innovation: The business of putting an invention in the marketplace and making it a success.
Reasons Why Inventions Become Innovations: Few inventions become successful innovations due to the following reasons:
Marketability: Low product demand or not readily saleable.
Financial Support: There is little monetary backing from the organization or an outsider. The invention would need more sponsors to financially aid the product.
Marketing: The process of getting products from the producer or vendor to the consumer or buyer, which includes advertising, shipping, storing, and selling. Poor marketing strategies or wrong target markets can lead to failure. The invention would need to be advertised as a product the public would want.
The Need for the Invention: Examples include alternative energy resources to combat our insatiable need for oil; however, if oil prices are low or there is a ready supply of oil, the alternative energy invention will not take hold.
Price: Affordable, cost-effectiveness, or value for money. If too expensive to purchase or manufacture, consumers may not see it worth its cost compared to its use. The product's price needs to be equivalent to the income of the specific age group that would buy the majority of the product.
Resistance to Change: People and organizations can be resistant and reluctant to change, feeling comfort and security in the familiar, thus resisting new ideas/products.
Aversion to Risk: Risk aversion is a concept in economics, finance, and psychology related to the behavior of consumers and investors under uncertainty.
Process Innovation:
Definition: Improvement in the organization and/or method of manufacture to reduce costs or benefit consumers.
Example: Automobile industry innovations such as Ford's assembly line production and Toyota's lean manufacturing.
Architectural Innovation:
Definition: The technology of the components stays the same, but their configuration is changed to produce a new design.
Example: Electric cars, Sony Walkman.
Modular Innovation:
Definition: The basic configuration stays the same, but one or more key components are changed.
Example: A new type of switch/button on a toaster. Also known as incremental design.
Configurational Innovation:
Definition: Modifying arrangements of components to improve performance, usability, and function.
Example: Toaster with new buttons, interface, dials, better heating elements, or four slots instead of two.
Radical Innovation:
Definition: Changing the paradigm of the market that the new product is produced in.
Example: The invention of smartphones changing the phone industry, Sinclair C5 electric car.
Sustaining Innovation:
Definition: Innovative ideas that are constantly updated to maintain their success. This includes new or improved products that meet consumer needs and sustain manufacturers.
Example: Evolution of the wheel from stone to modern tires.
Disruptive Innovation:
Definition: A product or type of technology that challenges existing companies to either ignore or embrace technical change.
Example: The iPod, which changed the way we managed and listened to music, and mobile phones, which liberated us from being restricted to landlines.
Innovation Strategies for Markets: Diffusion and Suppression
Diffusion:
Definition: A process where a market accepts a new idea or product. The rate of acceptance can be increased by several factors.
Examples:
Widely diffused products: light bulb, refrigerator (100%), ATM cards, Music CDs (now mp4 format).
Once widely accepted, these products often become dominant designs.
Suppression:
Definition: A process where the market actively slows the adoption of a new idea or product.
Reasons:
Difficulties competing with a dominant design.
Ambiguity over patent ownership.
Competing companies actively petitioning against a new product perceived as threatening.
Natural resistance to an unfamiliar concept.
Strategies for innovation
Act of Insight
Description: Often referred to as the "eureka moment," a sudden image of a potential solution is formed in the mind, usually after a period of thinking about a problem.
Example: Newton watching an apple fall and gaining insight into gravitation forces.
Adaptation
Description: A solution to a problem in one field is adapted for solving a problem in another field.
Example: The principle of how a hovercraft works was adapted for the hover lawn mower.
Technology Transfer
Description: Technological advances that form the basis of new designs may be applied to the development of different types of products/systems.
Example: Laser technology transferred into surgery or audio/data CDs.
Analogy
Description: An idea from one context is used to stimulate ideas for solving a problem in another context.
Example: Sonar modeled on how bats navigate and used now in ships to check depth or placement of fish.
Chance
Description: An unexpected discovery leads to a new idea.
Example: Velcro was developed when a chap walking with his dog found lots of seed pods stuck to his socks and dog. He looked under the microscope and made his discovery of the pods having many little hooks.
Technology Push
Description: Scientific research leads to advances in technology that underpin new ideas. This is where the driving force for a new design emerges from a technological development.
Example: The Sony Walkman.
Key Points:
Innovation is created, then appropriate applications are sought to fit the innovation.
Did the market ask "please give me an iPod with a download store" or a camera phone? Most likely not; so this would be a technology push.
Market Pull
Description: A new idea is needed as a result of demand from the marketplace.
Example: The car market has separate sectors for the supermini, family cars, mini-vans, executive cars, sports cars, SUVs, and so on.
Key Points:
Implemented on platforms
Platforms are open-ended and can evolve based on changing needs
Has low market-related risk because application is known
Has low technology-related risk because solution is not known
When the market asks for better safety features in a car, this would be market pull.
Strategies for innovation
The Lone Inventor
Description: The lone inventor is an individual working outside or inside an organization who is committed to the invention of a novel product and often becomes isolated because he or she is engrossed with ideas that imply change and are resisted by others.
Characteristics of Lone Inventors:
Individuals with a goal of the complete invention of a new and somewhat revolutionary product.
Have ideas that are completely new and different.
May not comprehend or give sufficient care to the marketing and sales of their product.
Are usually isolated and have no backing towards their design.
Are having a harder time to push forward their designs, especially in a market where large investments are required for success.
Their ideas, because of how different they are, are often resisted by other employees and workers.
The Product Champion
Description: An influential individual, usually working within an organization, who develops enthusiasm for a particular idea or invention and "champions" it within the organization.
Profile of a Product Champion:
Has business experience in the domain.
Can speak intelligently about the issues.
Acts as a good facilitator.
Works and plays well with others.
Accepts responsibility for the product.
Defends the team's ability to produce the product.
Is willing to make hard decisions about scope.
Treats the team as knowledgeable professionals.
Sets reasonable performance expectations.
Communicates with the team, the customer, management, sales, and marketing.
Has a willingness to learn—from everyone.
Doesn’t trust everyone; does trust the right people.
The Entrepreneur
Description: An influential individual who can take an invention to market, often by financing the development, production, and diffusion of a product into the marketplace.
Profile of an Entrepreneur:
Business acumen.
Self-control.
Self-confidence.
Sense of urgency.
Comprehensive awareness.
Realism.
Conceptual ability.
Status requirements.
Interpersonal relationships.
Emotional stability.
Roles of the Product Champion and Entrepreneur in the Innovation of Products and Systems
Sometimes, an inventor may develop skills or profiles of a product champion and/or entrepreneur. James Dyson and Thomas Edison are two examples. Edison (later it was discovered that Swan invented the light bulb) used profits from his earlier inventions to bring the light bulb to market.
James Dyson is an example of an inventor, product champion, and/or entrepreneur. He invented the cyclone technology for suction. At first, no one was interested in this radical design, so he "championed" his product until he found a Japanese company willing to take it on. Later, he used the profits to fund further improvements and novel products. He built an understanding of business.
Comparison Between Lone Inventor and Product Champion
The lone inventor may lack the business acumen to push the invention through to innovation. The product champion is often a forceful personality with much influence in a company. He or she is more astute at being able to push the idea forward through the various business channels and is often able to consider the merits of the invention more objectively.
Inventors often take the role of product champion and/or entrepreneur because:
Their product or idea is novel
Too novel or 'out there' for a company to take a risk on
Can't find a backer or company to produce it
The inventor will have to "champion" their product to different companies
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Multidisciplinary Approach to Innovation
Effective design draws from multiple areas of expertise, and this expertise can be utilized at different stages of product development. Most products are now extremely complex and rely on expertise from various disciplines. Most designs are developed by multidisciplinary teams.
Modern products such as smart phones, printers/scanners are very complex.
Requires knowledge from many disciplines.
It would be unlikely that a lone inventor would have the expertise in all the disciplines.
Most modern day designs are developed in multidisciplinary teams
Product Life Cycle
Key Stages of the Product Life Cycle: Launch, Growth, Maturity, Decline
Including examples of products at different stages of the product life cycle, including those new to the market and classic designs:
Launch: There are slow sales and little profit as the product is launched on the market.
Growth: The market gradually accepts the product, so diffusion starts and sales expand.
Maturity: Sales peak but remain steady, so maximum profit is achieved.
Decline: Market saturation is reached and sales start to reduce as well as profit.
Obsolescence: Planned, Style (Fashion), Functional, Technological
Obsolescence affects the product life cycle:
Planned: A product becomes outdated as a conscious act either to ensure a continuing market or to ensure that safety factors and new technologies can be incorporated into later versions of the product.
Style (fashion): Fashions and trends change over time, which can result in a product no longer being desirable. However, as evidenced by the concept of retro styling and the cyclic nature of fashion, products can become desirable again.
Functional: Over time, products wear out and break down. If parts are no longer available, the product can no longer work as originally intended. Also, if a service vital to its functioning is no longer available, it can become obsolete.
Technological: When a new technology supersedes an existing technology, the existing technology quickly falls out of use and is no longer incorporated into new products. Consumers instead opt for the newer, more efficient technology in their products.
Length of the Product Life Cycle Considering the Effect of Technical Development and Consumer Trends
Length of the product life cycle considering the effect of technical development.
Length of the product life cycle considering the effect of consumer trends including fashion.
Product Versioning/Generations
A business practice in which a company produces different models of the same product and then charges different prices for each model. Product versioning is offering a range of products based on a core or initial product market segments. A company can maintain a pioneering strategy and consistent revenue flow by introducing new versions or generations of a product to a market. Apple uses this strategy effectively, creating multiple versions and generations of their iPod®, iPhone®, and iPad® products.
Advantages and Disadvantages for a Company of Introducing New Versions and Generations of a Product
Advantages:
Improved consumer choice: Consumers can choose the version that suits them.
Improved consumer choice: Can choose a budget level such as Quicken tax software.
Maximize profits for the company, hopefully through increased sales.
Disadvantages:
(Not explicitly mentioned in the provided text but implied)
Higher development and production costs.
Potential market confusion with too many versions.
Rogers’ characteristics of innovation and consumers
1. The Impact of Rogers’ Five Characteristics on Consumer Adoption of an Innovation
Five characteristics identified by Rogers that impact consumer adoption of an innovation are:
Relative Advantage: The degree to which the innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supersedes.
Compatibility: The degree to which the innovation is consistent with existing values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters.
Complexity: The degree to which the innovation is perceived as difficult to understand and use.
Observability: The degree to which the results of the innovation are visible to others.
Trialability: The degree to which the innovation may be experimented with on a limited basis.
2. Social Roots of Consumerism
Issues for companies in the global marketplace when attempting to satisfy consumer needs in relation to lifestyle, values, and identity include:
Disillusionment with the system.
The performance gap.
The consumer information gap.
Antagonism toward advertising.
Impersonal and unresponsive marketing institutions.
Intrusions of privacy.
Declining living standards.
Special problems of the disadvantaged.
Different views of the marketplace.
3. The Influence of Social Media on the Diffusion of Innovation
Consumers can influence the diffusion of innovation through social media by:
Rallying support or boycotting products/systems.
Exploring crowd-funding platforms for creative products and projects such as Kickstarter, Sellaband, Seedrs, and CrowdCube.
Raising brand awareness through social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
4. The Influence of Trends and Media on Consumer Choice
Consumer choices are influenced by trends and media through various channels, including:
Advertising through magazines, television, radio, sponsorship, and outdoor advertising.
Product placement through film and television.
Product endorsement.
5. Categories of Consumers
The categories of consumers, as described in the diffusion of innovation theory, include:
Innovators: Risk-takers and the first individuals to adopt an innovation. They are willing to take risks.
Early Adopters: Hedgers who are the second fastest category to adopt an innovation.
Early Majority: Waiters who take more time to consider adopting new innovations and tend to draw feedback from early adopters before purchasing.
Late Majority: Skeptics who adopt the innovation after it has been established in the marketplace and are seldom willing to take risks.
Laggards: Slow pokes who are the last to adopt an innovation, preferring traditions and unwilling to take risks.
Graphs Illustrating Adoption
The top graph shows the number of adopters over time, illustrating how different categories adopt innovations from innovators to laggards.
The bottom graph shows market share percentage, indicating the propensity to adopt versus resistance to adopt over time for each consumer category.
Innovation, design and marketing specifications
Target Markets
When determining the target market, it is crucial to identify market sectors and segments.
Target Audiences
Differentiating between the target market and the target audience is important. When determining the target audience, consider the characteristics of users.
Establishing Characteristics of Users
Questions to consider:
Who is most likely to buy this product given its benefits?
How can the organization tap into the buying power of these consumers?
Where is the target market most likely to find out about the product?
Answering these questions helps position the product in the correct marketing and distribution channels.
Market Analysis
An appraisal of the economic viability of the proposed design from a market perspective, considering fixed and variable costs and pricing, is essential. It typically includes a summary about potential users and the market.
Market Segmentation Approaches
Geographical: Continent, country, country region, city, density, climate, population, subway station, city area.
Demographic: Age, gender, family size, occupation, income, education, religion, race, nationality.
Psychographic: Lifestyle, social class, AIOs (activity, interest, opinion), personal values, attitudes.
Behavioral: Occasions, degree of loyalty, benefits sought, usage, buyer readiness stage, user status.
User Need
A marketing specification should identify the essential requirements that the product must satisfy in relation to market and user need.
Competition
A thorough analysis of competing designs is required to establish the market need. It is essential to understand how products compare in terms of innovation, price, and marketing schemes to effectively compete.
Research Methods
Literature Search: Conducted using authoritative sources such as academic journals, books, theses, consumer magazines, government agency, and industry publications.
User Trial: A trial where members of the community who will use the product are observed using it. This usually happens in a lab environment, and participants are given tasks to perform under controlled conditions.
User research: The questioning of users about their experience using a product. Usually as a questionnaire or focus group.
Expert appraisal: Where an expert (chosen on the basis of their knowledge or experience) is asked to give their opinion.
Performance test: Where the product is tested and data is collected- crash test dummy
Design specifications
All of the requirements, constraints and considerations must be specific, feasible and measurable.
A list of requirements, constraints and considerations that a yet-to-be-designed product must fulfill.
The design specification must be developed from the design brief and research and requirements would include:
aesthetic requirements
cost constraints
customer requirements
environmental requirements
size constraints
safety considerations
performance requirements and constraints
materials requirements
manufacturing requirements
Design Technology (HL) Ultimate Guide
Chapter 1: Human Factors and Ergonomics
Introduction to Ergonomics
Definition: Ergonomics is the scientific discipline studying interactions among humans and system elements.
Purpose: To design for optimal human well-being and system performance.
Contributions: Ergonomists design tasks, jobs, products, environments, and systems for human needs and abilities.
Diagram of the Ergonomics Model showing the interaction between humans, tasks, and environments.
Key Concepts in Ergonomics
Anthropometrics
Definition: Study of human body measurements focusing on strength and size.
Importance: Ensures user comfort and productivity in environments and products.
Data Types: Static data (fixed body position) and dynamic data (body in motion).
Examples of body measurement illustrations.
Psychological Factors
Definition: User psychology influences design.
Factors: Perception, memory, reasoning, emotional responses.
Challenges: Addressing various psychological needs and preferences.
Infographic about psychological factors in design (e.g., perception, memory).
Physiological Factors
Definition: Physical user characteristics affecting safety, comfort, performance.
Examples: Adjustability, alertness influencing efficiency.
Illustration showing adjustable chair or workstation designs.
Types of Ergonomic Data
Functional Data
Definition: Data related to tasks and interactions.
Examples: Reaching, navigating, space considerations.
Diagram of workspaces showing functional data considerations (e.g., reach zones).
Psychological Factor Data
Definition: Details on taste, smell, touch sensations.
Types: Qualitative and quantitative data.
Visual of sensory experiences or user feedback mechanisms.
Physiological Factor Data
Definition: Data on physical dimensions and needs.
Types: Static, dynamic, structural data.
Environmental Factors in Ergonomics
Types: Management policies, physical environment, equipment design, job nature, social environment, worker factors.
Examples: Desk height, ambient noise, monitor height, seat types affecting ergonomics.
Infographic showing different environmental factors affecting ergonomics.
7 Ergonomic Risk Factors Assessed in Initial Ergonomic Risk Assessment
Resources and Reserves
Renewable vs. Non-Renewable Resources
Renewable Resources: Solar, wind, hydro.
Non-Renewable Resources: Fossil fuels, minerals.
- Venn diagram of Renewable vs Non-renewable resources
Energy Sources that are Renewable AND/OR Non-renewable
Economic and Political Importance of Resources
Issues: Resource security, international treaties, environmental impacts.
Human Error
Definition: Mistakes by users with severe repercussions.
Examples: Design flaws leading to accidents.
Case Study: Three Mile Island accident due to human error and equipment malfunction.
E.g. A severe accident occurred at the Pennsylvania nuclear power plant Three Mile Island in 1979 as a result of a mix of human error and malfunctioning equipment. The reactor core overheated as a result of a cooling system malfunction at the plant. A partial meltdown was caused by design flaws and operator error even though safety systems were activated.
Human Errors:
Confusing Control Room: Too many alarms and poorly placed indicators.
Inadequate Training: Operators didn't know how to handle the situation.
Poor Communication: Delayed emergency response.
Lesson: Better design and training can help to prevent such accidents.
International Mindedness
Definition and Scope:
In design technology, being internationally minded means knowing how various nations and areas are impacted by international issues, policies, and practices pertaining to resources and reserves. It necessitates taking into account the global ethical, social, and environmental effects of resource management and extraction. This idea highlights how important it is for engineers and designers to be aware of global resource management opportunities and challenges, as well as to respond to them.Emerging Topics in Ergonomics
Technology and Ergonomics
Definition: The use of advanced technology in ergonomic design.
Examples:
Virtual Reality (VR) is a technology that simulates environments in order to test ergonomic designs.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): Enhancing ergonomic assessments and designs.
Ergonomic Design of a Workplace Using Virtual Reality and a Motion Capture Suit
Ergonomics in Future Workplaces
Definition: The future of ergonomic design in evolving work environments.
Examples:
Remote Work: Ergonomic home office setups.
Automation: Designing for human-machine interactions.
Chapter 2: Innovation and Design
What is Innovation
Innovation is the process of introducing new ideas, products, or methods.
It involves creativity, problem-solving, and implementation of novel solutions.
Innovations can lead to improvements, advancements, and changes in various fields.
It often involves taking risks, challenging the status quo, and embracing change.
There are multiple types of innovation:
Product Innovation: introducing a new product
Process Innovation: implementing a new delivery method
Organizational Innovation: creating new methods of organization
The Design Process
The design process is a series of steps that designers use
It helps them come up with a solution
Steps of the Design Process
Identify the Problem: Define the issue to be solved.
Research: Gather information and data related to the problem.
Design: Develop a detailed plan or prototype.
Test: Evaluate the design for effectiveness.
Implement: Put the final design into action.
Evaluate: Assess the success of the design in solving the problem.
Identifying the Problem
Understanding and identifying what needs to be fixed is the first and most important step of the process
This involves having
a clear and concise problem statement
e.g. “The current training materials lack updated information, interactive elements, and real-world examples, hindering employee skill development.”
and a stakeholder analysis
who will be affected by the design
Research
There are two types of research involved in this:
Primary Research: Direct data collection methods.
Secondary Research: Indirect data from existing sources.
Research involves gathering data through primary and secondary sources and analysis includes evaluating data to draw insights and make informed decisions.
An important thing to note is that effective research is very important for the design process, as it builds the foundations to your solution and your next steps.
Design
There are three steps to design:
Brainstorming: Group idea generation
Sketching: Visualizing concepts
Modeling: Creating simple prototypes
An example of design is using flowcharts to map out the user journey in a website redesign project.
Test
Involves evaluating the functionality and performance of a product or system.
Helps identify defects, errors, or areas for improvement.
Testing ensures that the design meets requirements and functions as intended.
Types of testing include:
Unit Testing: Tests individual components in isolation.
Integration Testing: Checks interactions between integrated components.
System Testing: Validates the entire system's functionality.
Acceptance Testing: Ensures the system meets user requirements.
Implementation
Involves putting the design into action.
Includes executing the planned design solutions.
Ensures the design is realized as intended.
Evaluation
Involves assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of the design solution.
Helps in determining if the design meets the specified requirements and objectives.
Involves user testing, feedback collection, and performance analysis.
The results are used to make improvements or modifications to the design.
Design Thinking
Design thinking is a problem-solving approach that emphasizes empathy, creativity, and iterative prototyping to generate innovative solutions.
The principles of design thinking include:
Empathy: Understanding the needs of the user
Define: Understanding the problem that needs to be addressed
Ideate: Formulating a range of ideas
Prototype: Building tangible representation of the ideas
Test: Testing the ideas with users
Invention
Invention is defined as the creation of a new product, process, or idea. In the IB curriculum, you are encouraged to develop innovative solutions to real-world problems through research, experimentation, and critical thinking.
Remember to not get confused between invention and innovation:
Inventors must be creative, understand concepts, and consider end-user needs.
Inventions stem from curiosity, problem-solving, or accidental discoveries.
Drivers for invention include personal motivation, curiosity, discontent, profit, and helping others.
Lone inventors work independently, facing advantages like control but disadvantages like lack of business acumen.
Intellectual Property (IP) includes patents, trademarks, design protection, copyright, and service marks.
First to Market strategy involves rushing innovative products to gain market advantage.
Shelved technologies are put on hold due to social, technological, timing, cost, or market readiness reasons.
Product Life Cycle
The product life cycle is the stages a product goes through from introduction to withdrawal from the market. It includes introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
Discovery and Development: Research, idea generation, and product design.
Introduction: Launching the product into the market.
Growth: Increasing sales and market share.
Maturity: Sales peak, competition intensifies.
Decline: Sales decrease, the product becomes obsolete.
Rogers' Characteristics of Innovation and Consumers:
Relative Advantage: Benefits compared to alternatives
Compatibility: Fits with existing practices
Complexity: Ease of understanding and use
Trialability: Ability to test before commitment
Observability: Results are visible to others
Marketing Specifications
Marketing specifications relate to market and user characteristics of a design. There are multiple terms involved with marketing that you need to be able to know and explain for the IB exam.
Target Markets
Identify market sectors and segments to determine target customers.
Consider who is likely to buy the product, how to reach them, and where they find out about it.
Helps position the product in the right marketing and distribution channels.
Target Audiences
Differentiate between target market and target audience.
Establish characteristics of users when defining the target audience.
Market Analysis
Evaluate economic viability by considering costs and pricing.
Summary of potential users and market overview.
User Need
Specify product requirements based on market and user needs.
Competition
Analyze competing designs to understand market demand.
Identify buyer preferences and strategies to compete effectively.
Chapter 3: Classic Design
Introduction:
Classic design represents a timeless aesthetic characterized by balance, proportion, and enduring beauty. It encompasses a rich tapestry of architectural styles, furniture designs, and artistic expressions that have shaped cultures and civilizations throughout history. Understanding classic design provides insights into the evolution of artistic principles, cultural identities, and the human quest for beauty and functionality.
Key Characteristics of Classic Design:
Symmetry and Balance:
Symmetry: Symmetry is a defining characteristic of classic design, encompassing the even distribution of elements around a central axis or point. This principle is integral to creating a sense of harmony, orderliness, and visual coherence across various forms of artistic expression.
Types of Symmetry:
Axial Symmetry: Elements are mirrored or repeated identically on either side of a central axis. This form of symmetry is prominently featured in classical architecture, such as the facades of temples, palaces, and cathedrals.
Example: The Parthenon in Athens exhibits axial symmetry in its columned facade and proportional layout.
Radial Symmetry: Elements radiate outward from a central point, creating a circular or star-like pattern. While less common in architecture, it is often found in decorative arts, gardens, and some architectural elements.
Example: The floor plan and gardens of the Palace of Versailles demonstrate radial symmetry around the central axis of the palace.
Symbolic Importance:
Symmetry in classic design symbolizes concepts such as balance in nature, divine proportion, and the pursuit of perfection. It reflects cultural values and ideals prevalent during different historical periods.
Significance: In ancient Greek and Roman cultures, symmetry was associated with ideals of harmony and cosmic order, reflecting philosophical notions of balance and proportion in the natural world.
Balance: Balance in classic design ensures visual stability and aesthetic appeal by proportionately arranging elements within a composition. It is essential in achieving a pleasing equilibrium that enhances the overall coherence of architecture, interiors, and decorative arts.
Achieving Balance:
Symmetrical Balance: Elements are evenly distributed around a central axis or point, creating a sense of formal balance and order. This approach is common in classical architecture and structured interiors.
Asymmetrical Balance: Different elements are arranged to achieve balance through contrast, variation in size, color, texture, or placement. Asymmetry adds dynamism and visual interest while maintaining overall harmony.
Example: Baroque and Rococo styles often employ asymmetrical balance to create dramatic and dynamic compositions in architecture and interior design.
Functional and Aesthetic Considerations:
Balance in classic design serves functional purposes by ensuring structural stability and visual coherence. It also contributes to the aesthetic appeal and emotional impact of architectural spaces and decorative arts.
Importance: The careful consideration of balance in design reflects the skill and intent of artisans and architects to create environments that are both visually striking and functionally sound.
Proportion and Scale:
Proportion: Proportion in classic design refers to the harmonious relationship between different parts of a design and the whole. It involves using mathematical ratios and principles to achieve aesthetically pleasing compositions.
Golden Ratio: A mathematical proportion of approximately 1.618, the Golden Ratio is frequently utilized in classic design to create balanced and visually appealing structures. It is found in architectural elements, paintings, and sculptures throughout history.
Example: The Parthenon in Athens is often cited for its use of the Golden Ratio in the dimensions of its columns and pediment.
Classical Principles: Architects and artists in classical periods, such as ancient Greece and Renaissance Italy, meticulously calculated proportions to evoke ideals of beauty, harmony, and perfection.
Application: Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio's villas and churches are celebrated for their use of classical proportioning systems, contributing to their enduring aesthetic appeal.
Scale: Scale in classic design refers to the size of elements relative to each other and their environment. It plays a crucial role in evoking specific spatial experiences and emotional responses.
Monumental Scale: Classic architecture often employs monumental scale to create awe-inspiring and grandiose structures that dominate their surroundings.
Example: Gothic cathedrals, such as Notre-Dame de Paris, use towering spires and expansive interiors to convey a sense of spiritual transcendence and majesty.
Intimate Scale: Conversely, classic design can also utilize intimate scale to create spaces that are inviting and human-scaled.
Example: Renaissance palaces, like the Villa Medici in Florence, feature courtyards and proportions that provide a sense of intimacy and domestic comfort.
Materiality and Craftsmanship:
Materiality: Classic design values the use of natural materials that contribute to both aesthetic beauty and structural integrity.
Natural Materials: Stone, marble, wood, and metals such as bronze and wrought iron are favored materials in classic architecture and decorative arts.
Significance: These materials not only enhance the visual appeal of designs but also convey a sense of permanence, durability, and connection to the natural world.
Craftsmanship: Craftsmanship is integral to classic design, emphasizing the skillful execution of techniques to create detailed and refined works.
Traditional Techniques: Artisans employ traditional methods such as carving, molding, and casting to create intricate ornamentation and decorative elements.
Example: The intricate stone carvings on the façade of Chartres Cathedral exemplify the high level of craftsmanship in Gothic architecture.
Timeless Elegance and Simplicity:
Classic design embodies enduring elegance and simplicity, focusing on clarity of form and function.
Understated Beauty: Classic design avoids excessive ornamentation, emphasizing clean lines and harmonious proportions to achieve timeless appeal.
Example: The simplicity and elegance of a Greek Doric column, with its unadorned capital and sturdy proportions, symbolize classical ideals of beauty and order.
Symbolic motifs and iconography play a significant role in classic design, reflecting cultural, religious, or philosophical beliefs.
Symbolic Elements: Classical architecture often incorporates symbolic elements such as columns, arches, and pediments that carry meanings related to strength, stability, and divine order.
Example: The use of Corinthian columns in Roman architecture symbolizes luxury and sophistication, reflecting cultural values of the time.
Cultural Narratives: Symbols in classic design connect artworks and architecture to broader cultural narratives and historical contexts, enriching their meaning and significance.
Interpretation: The depiction of gods and goddesses in classical sculptures not only showcases artistic skill but also communicates religious beliefs and mythological stories.
Examples of Classic Design Movements:
Ancient Greek and Roman Architecture: Characterized by columns (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian), pediments, and symmetrical layouts in structures like the Parthenon and Colosseum.
Renaissance Art and Architecture: Revived classical forms, humanist ideals, and perspective techniques seen in works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Palladio.
Baroque and Rococo Styles: Baroque emphasizes drama, movement, and ornate detailing, while Rococo features asymmetry, pastel colors, and delicate ornamentation in interiors and decorative arts.
Influence on Modern and Contemporary Design:
Revival Movements: Periodic revivals of classic design elements, such as the Neoclassical revival in the 18th and 19th centuries, adapt historical motifs to contemporary tastes and technological advancements.
Modern Interpretations: Modern movements draw on classic design principles of balance, proportion, and simplicity, interpreted in minimalist or abstract forms.
Postmodern Reinterpretations: Postmodernism critiques and reinterprets classic design motifs and forms, often with irony and juxtaposition, challenging traditional notions of authenticity and cultural hierarchy.
Studying classic design provides a foundation for understanding the evolution of artistic expression, cultural identities, and the built environment. It encourages critical thinking about how design shapes societies and reflects historical contexts. Through interdisciplinary exploration, students gain insights into the enduring principles of classic design and their relevance to contemporary challenges in architecture, art, and cultural heritage preservation.
Classic design exemplifies timeless principles of beauty, craftsmanship, and cultural significance that continue to inspire and influence contemporary aesthetics. By exploring classic design within historical, cultural, and interdisciplinary frameworks, we deepen our appreciation for its enduring legacy and its role in shaping the world we inhabit today.
Chapter 4: User-Centred Design (UCD)
Introduction to User-Centred Design (UCD)
User-Centred Design (UCD) is a design philosophy that prioritizes the needs, preferences, and limitations of end-users throughout the entire design process. Unlike traditional design approaches that may focus primarily on technical specifications or business objectives, UCD places the user at the heart of decision-making, ensuring that the final product is both effective and satisfying to use.
At its core, UCD involves a deep understanding of the target audience. This begins with comprehensive user research to gather insights into users' behaviors, goals, and challenges. By creating detailed user personas and scenarios, designers can better empathize with their audience and tailor solutions that address real-world needs.
The UCD process is iterative, involving continuous feedback and refinement. Early concepts and prototypes are tested with actual users to uncover usability issues and areas for improvement. This iterative approach ensures that the design evolves in response to user input, resulting in a product that is not only functional but also intuitive and engaging.
The ultimate goal of UCD is to enhance the overall user experience by creating products that are accessible, usable, and enjoyable. By involving users at every stage, from initial research to final implementation, UCD helps in delivering solutions that align with users' expectations and improve their overall satisfaction. of end-users throughout the entire design process. This approach ensures that the final product or service is both effective and satisfying to use, enhancing overall user experience.
Understanding Users
Research and Analysis:
Ethnographic Studies: In-depth observation of users in their natural settings to gain insights into their behaviors, routines, and challenges.
Contextual Inquiry: Combines observation with interviews to understand how users interact with a product in their own environment.
Diary Studies: Users record their interactions with a product over time, providing longitudinal insights into usage patterns and issues.
Personas and User Profiles:
Empathy Maps: Visual tools that capture what users think, feel, say, and do, helping to build a deeper understanding of their experiences.
Customer Journey Mapping: A visual representation of the user’s journey, highlighting key interactions, touchpoints, and pain points.
Involvement Throughout the Design Process
Early and Continuous Engagement:
User Advisory Panels: Groups of users who provide ongoing feedback and advice throughout the design process.
Design Sprints: Time-boxed workshops where cross-functional teams work intensively on solving design problems, often involving users to test solutions quickly.
Iterative Design:
Rapid Prototyping: Creating quick, low-cost prototypes to test concepts and gather feedback before committing to more detailed designs.
Mockups and Wireframes: Visual representations of design ideas that help communicate concepts and gather early feedback from users and stakeholders.
Design Solutions Based on User Needs
Requirements Gathering:
User Surveys and Questionnaires: Collect quantitative data on user preferences, needs, and satisfaction.
Focus Groups: Structured discussions with groups of users to explore their attitudes and perceptions about a product or service.
Usability Principles:
Heuristic Evaluation: Experts evaluate the design against established usability principles to identify potential issues.
Cognitive Walkthroughs: Experts simulate user tasks to identify potential usability problems and areas for improvement.
Evaluation and Feedback
Usability Testing:
A/B Testing: Comparing two or more versions of a design to determine which performs better with users.
Remote Usability Testing: Users interact with the product from their own environment, allowing for a more natural evaluation of usability.
Continuous Improvement:
Analytics and Heatmaps: Tools that track user interactions and visualize areas of interest and engagement on a page.
Post-Launch Surveys: Collecting feedback from users after a product is launched to identify any ongoing issues and areas for enhancement.
Accessibility and Inclusivity
Inclusive Design:
Assistive Technologies: Designing products that are compatible with tools such as screen readers, voice recognition software, and alternative input devices.
Multi-Modal Interfaces: Offering multiple ways for users to interact with a product, such as touch, voice, and gesture controls.
Universal Design Principles:
Error Tolerance: Designing systems that prevent errors or offer simple recovery options.
Consistent and Predictable Design: Ensuring that design elements behave in a consistent and predictable manner, reducing the learning curve for users.
Additional Considerations
Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration:
Interdisciplinary Teams: Collaboration between designers, developers, researchers, and business stakeholders ensures a holistic approach to solving design problems.
Stakeholder Involvement: Engaging all relevant stakeholders, including business owners and technical experts, to align user needs with business goals and technical feasibility
Real-World Applications:
Healthcare: Designing user-friendly medical devices and health management systems that improve patient outcomes and ease of use for healthcare professionals.
E-Commerce: Creating intuitive online shopping experiences that enhance user satisfaction and drive sales.
Public Services: Developing accessible and efficient systems for government services, improving user engagement and satisfaction.
Benefits of UCD:
Enhanced User Satisfaction: Tailoring designs to user needs and preferences leads to greater satisfaction and loyalty.
Improved Usability: Products are easier to use and navigate, reducing the likelihood of user errors and frustration.
Increased Efficiency: Streamlined designs and clear interfaces help users complete tasks more quickly and effectively.
Cost Savings: Identifying and addressing usability issues early in the design process can reduce the need for costly changes and support interventions later.
User-Centred Design (UCD) is a robust approach that integrates user feedback into every stage of the design process. By focusing on understanding users, involving them continuously, and adhering to usability and accessibility principles, UCD helps create products and services that are not only functional but also resonate with users on a practical and emotional level. This approach leads to enhanced user satisfaction, greater efficiency, and reduced costs, making it a valuable methodology for any design project.
Sustainability & Sustainable Development
Term: Sustainability is the long-term maintenance of responsibility, which has environmental, economic and social dimensions. It is the capacity to endure and maintain.
Autodesk, Coca Cola and McDonald’s approach to Sustainability.
Term: Sustainable Development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Triple Bottom Line Sustainability
Term: An expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational success: economic, environmental and social.
TBL
From IB | TBL |
Environmental Aspect of TBL
It is technically possible to deliver the same or equivalent goods and services with lower environmental impact while maintaining social and equity benefits.
Is involved in maintaining the ecosystem by optimizing (using) its resources more prudently.
This could include redesigning the production system to be more efficient.
Maintaining ecosystem integrity
Assess and work within the carrying capacity (the size of a population that an ecosystem can support without degradation of social, economic and environmental systems).
Recognizing and maintaining biodiversity.
Historically there has been a close correlation between economic growth and environmental degradation—as economic prosperity increases so environmental quality decreases.
This trend is clearly demonstrated on graphs of human population numbers, economic growth and environmental indicators, see graph below.
Sustainable development frameworks enable the evaluation of the complex and interrelated concepts that are associated with development.
Social Aspect of TBL
There is a correlation between economic development and human well-being.
See graph below.
International Development on Wikipedia. It mentions economics influence.
Social sustainability:
Designing to develop goods and services for the enhancement of human well-being,
maintaining cultural identity,
empowerment of local communities,
accessibility to resources and services,
stability of communities not placing them in upheaval
social and gender equity
GDP vs Social Indicators
Economic Aspect of TBL
Economic development increases the GDP and spending power of people this results in consumption of resources leading to a negative environmental impact.
Designing for sustainability is dependent upon an understanding of the short- and long-term goals and values of individuals, institutions and governments.
It is about the big picture that allows economic activity to rise while:
reducing resource use and reducing environmental impact.
maintaining economic growth,
development,
improving productivity,
facilitates the economic trickle-down affect to local communities
Close cooperation is required between designer and manufacturer.
The importance of sustainability issues and strategies is critical to sustainable economic development.
Decoupling
Term: Decoupling refers to disconnecting two trends so that one no longer depends on the other. Through the act of decoupling (using resources more productively and redesigning production systems), it is technically possible to deliver the same or equivalent goods and services with lower environmental impact while maintaining social and equity benefits.
Decoupling is a strategy for sustainability
Consider the benefits and limitations of decoupling as an appropriate strategy for sustainability
Decoupling impacts and resources – from the UNEP
International and National Laws
The use of international and national laws to promote sustainable development
Nations need to adhere to the treaties/laws usually through enforceable domestic legislation.
International and national laws encourage companies to focus on something other than shareholder value and financial performance
Adopting a corporate strategy that has the support of shareholders/stakeholders can be difficult to achieve.
International and national laws encourage companies to focus on aspects other than shareholder value and financial performance,
These include transparency of corporate sustainability, transparent sustainability assurance and whether businesses, public services, national resources and the economy have the means to continue in the years ahead at a micro and macro level.
Kyoto Protocol on carbon emissions
Rio Earth Summit on sustainability
Sustainability Reporting
Term: A company report that focuses on four aspects of performance: Economic; Environmental; Social; and Governance.
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Science
IB Design Technology (HL)Sustainability
Chapter 5: Sustainability
Sustainable Development
Designers utilize design approaches that support sustainable development across a variety of contexts. A holistic and systematic approach is needed at all stages of design development to satisfy all stakeholders. In order to develop sustainable products, designers must balance aesthetic, cost, social, cultural, energy, material, health and usability considerations.
Triple bottom line sustainability does not only focus on the profitability of an organization or product, but also the environmental and social benefit it can bring.
Organizations that embrace triple bottom line sustainability can make significant positive effects to the lives of others and the environment by changing the impact of their business activities
Sustainability & Sustainable Development/
Term: Sustainability is the long-term maintenance of responsibility, which has environmental, economic and social dimensions. It is the capacity to endure and maintain.
Autodesk, Coca Cola and McDonald’s approach to Sustainability.
Term: Sustainable Development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Triple Bottom Line Sustainability
Term: An expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational success: economic, environmental and social.
TBL
From IB | TBL |
Environmental Aspect of TBL
It is technically possible to deliver the same or equivalent goods and services with lower environmental impact while maintaining social and equity benefits.
Is involved in maintaining the ecosystem by optimizing (using) its resources more prudently.
This could include redesigning the production system to be more efficient.
Maintaining ecosystem integrity
Assess and work within the carrying capacity (the size of a population that an ecosystem can support without degradation of social, economic and environmental systems).
Recognizing and maintaining biodiversity.
Historically there has been a close correlation between economic growth and environmental degradation—as economic prosperity increases so environmental quality decreases.
This trend is clearly demonstrated on graphs of human population numbers, economic growth and environmental indicators, see graph below.
Sustainable development frameworks enable the evaluation of the complex and interrelated concepts that are associated with development.
Social Aspect of TBL
There is a correlation between economic development and human well-being.
See graph below.
International Development on Wikipedia. It mentions economics influence.
Social sustainability:
Designing to develop goods and services for the enhancement of human well-being,
maintaining cultural identity,
empowerment of local communities,
accessibility to resources and services,
stability of communities not placing them in upheaval
social and gender equity
GDP vs Social Indicators
Economic Aspect of TBL
Economic development increases the GDP and spending power of people this results in consumption of resources leading to a negative environmental impact.
Designing for sustainability is dependent upon an understanding of the short- and long-term goals and values of individuals, institutions and governments.
It is about the big picture that allows economic activity to rise while:
reducing resource use and reducing environmental impact.
maintaining economic growth,
development,
improving productivity,
facilitates the economic trickle-down affect to local communities
Close cooperation is required between designer and manufacturer.
The importance of sustainability issues and strategies is critical to sustainable economic development.
Decoupling
Term: Decoupling refers to disconnecting two trends so that one no longer depends on the other. Through the act of decoupling (using resources more productively and redesigning production systems), it is technically possible to deliver the same or equivalent goods and services with lower environmental impact while maintaining social and equity benefits.
Decoupling is a strategy for sustainability
Consider the benefits and limitations of decoupling as an appropriate strategy for sustainability
Decoupling impacts and resources – from the UNEP
International and National Laws
The use of international and national laws to promote sustainable development
Nations need to adhere to the treaties/laws usually through enforceable domestic legislation.
International and national laws encourage companies to focus on something other than shareholder value and financial performance
Adopting a corporate strategy that has the support of shareholders/stakeholders can be difficult to achieve.
International and national laws encourage companies to focus on aspects other than shareholder value and financial performance,
These include transparency of corporate sustainability, transparent sustainability assurance and whether businesses, public services, national resources and the economy have the means to continue in the years ahead at a micro and macro level.
Kyoto Protocol on carbon emissions
Rio Earth Summit on sustainability
Sustainability Reporting
Term: A company report that focuses on four aspects of performance: Economic; Environmental; Social; and Governance.
A sustainability report is an organization report that provides information on its performance in 4 areas:
Economic
Environmental
Social
Governance
The reliability and acceptance of sustainability reporting requires accurate data gathering to be maintained over a lengthy period of time.
Benefits of sustainability reporting for:
Governments | Manufacturers | Consumers |
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Coca Cola Sustainability Report | Crocs 2014 Sustainability Report |
Product Stewardship
Everyone involved in making, selling, buying or handling equipment (products) takes responsibility for minimizing environmental impact of the equipment at all stages in the life cycle.
Designers may need to respond to consumer pressure as more consumers become aware of resource issues and product labeling.
International Mindedness
Changes in governments sometimes result in the reversal of sustainable development policies leading to different approaches to international agreements.
Theory of Knowledge
Design involves making value judgments in deciding between different ways of interacting with the environment. Is this the case in other areas of knowledge?
Sustainable Consumption
Designers develop products, services and systems that satisfy basic needs and improve quality of life. To meet sustainable consumption requirements, they must also minimize the use of natural resources, toxic materials and waste, and reduce emissions of pollutants at all stages of the life cycle.
It is not only the role of designers to create markets for sustainable products. Consumers need to change their habits and express a want and need for these products.
Sustainable Consumption
Term: The consumption of goods and services that have minimal environmental impact, promote social equity and economically viable, whilst meeting basic human needs worldwide.
Sustainable consumption is not about consuming less but consuming differently.
Designers need to recognize the importance of consumerism in developed countries and as an ambition in many developing countries.
Societies, particularly in developed countries, are [tend to be] a throwaway society.
Consumers need to be encouraged to repair and reuse products rather than throw them away.
Sustainable design and sustainable production contribute to sustainable consumption.
This can be achieved in a number of ways, for example, not buying more food than needed and reducing waste; changing attitudes to water and energy use, for example, turning taps off when brushing teeth, aerated water in showers, less water per flush of the toilet, grey water.
Consumer Attitudes
Consumer attitudes and behaviors towards sustainability can be classified into 4 groups.
Eco-warriors:
Term: Individuals or groups that actively demonstrate on environmental issues.
It is an individual who cares about our environment & the diversity of life forms so much that they want to take action.
An eco-warrior can be someone such as non-confrontational as a tree sitter or someone who engages in direct action, ranging anywhere from planting tree spikes into trees on public lands, to keep the lumber industry from cutting them down, to sit-ins which occupy a corporate office.
Eco-champions:
Term: Individuals or groups that champion environmental issues within organizations.
Champion environmental issues within organizations.
Attempt to introduce or create change in a product, process, or method that takes into account green or environmental issues
Is a person who fights or argues for a cause.
Eco-fans:
Term: Individuals or groups that enthusiastically adopt environmentally friendly practices as consumers.
It is usually someone who accepts all green design products on the current market or its related objectives.
An eco-fan will usually buy anything that is environmentally friendly and will never buy a harmful product.
It is usually someone who accepts all green design products on the current market or its related objectives.
An eco-fan will usually buy anything that is environmentally friendly and will never buy a harmful product.
Green Attitude to Buying Green – click on the image
Eco-phobes:
Term: Individuals or groups that actively resent talk of environmental protection.
Eco-phobes are people who are against helping the environment and purposely go against the ecological movements.
They believe that the environmental problems are irrelevant to their lives or are blown out of proportion.
Wikipedia reference to environmental denial
An example of an eco-phobe is a head of a country refusing to sign the Kyoto agreement which is based on controlling the c02 output in a country and limit it in order to decrease global warming.
Eco-Labelling and Energy Labelling Schemes
For the designer such labels can help guide their designing in order to meet country regulations or the manufacturers design specifications.
When designers design products they need to take into consideration the criteria that make up the different eco and energy labels for different labelling schemes.
For the consumer they can make the appropriate purchase if they are environmentally concerned. Different countries have different contexts.
International standardization has resulted in many eco- and energy labelling schemes being similar thus easy for the consigner to understand.
Eco-labelling:
Term: The labelling of products to demonstrate that they are better for the environment than other products.
Provides reliable information about how the product impacts the environment, considering all stages of the product’s life cycle: manufacture, distribution, use and disposal. An example of this is Swan eco-label.
Aids in the improvement of the workers have a role in the production’s social and economic conditions, like the Fair Trade Labelling.
Informs customers about how the energy is produced, and whether it meets certain requirements, like those of The FANC energy eco-labelling scheme.
Allows consumers to make informed choices.
Energy-labeling:
Term: The labeling of products to show how energy efficient they are. The label displays information in four categories: the product’s details; Energy classification that shows the product’s electrical consumption; Measurements relating to consumption, efficiency and capacity etc.; Noise emitted from the product when in use.
The label provides/displays four pieces of information:
The product’s details;
Energy classification that shows the product’s electrical consumption;
Measurements relating to consumption, efficiency and capacity etc.;
Noise emitted from the product when in use.
It shows the user how much energy is required/used by a product, as well as how efficient it is (how much heat-loss for example)
By using such labels, consumers can make their choices in products, by taking into account how much energy (toll on the environment) is used by the product.
By comparing theses two labels. and with consumer help, more environmentally friendly products could be sold therefore making companies use greener design.
As with Eco-labelling this label is given by a third party company
Market for Sustainable Products
Corporate strategies have an impact on the design brief or specifications, such as, market development, where we take an existing product and develop a new segment.
Creating a market for sustainable products:
pricing considerations: ensuring the products proved value-for-money to the customer.
such as eBikes that use cheaper lead-acid batteries vs lithium ion batteries.
long term costs
For example incandescent bulbs are very cheap and long life bulbs tend to more expensive. The Incandescent bulbs need regular changing
stimulating demand for green products
consumers must be convinced that the green product is of similar or better quality
is competitively priced
promote their green products
production of green products
taking into consideration triple bottom line sustainability
JIT manufacturing
end-of-pipe or better still radical change to manufacturing
Pressure Groups
Collections of individuals who hold a similar viewpoint on a particular topic, for example the environment, who take action to promote positive change to meet their goals.
“Non-profit and usually voluntary organizations whose members have a common cause for which they seek to influence political or corporate decision makers to achieve a declared objective. Whereas interest groups try to defend a cause (maintain the status quo), the pressure groups try to promote it (change the status quo).” (Business dictionary)
Pressure groups are not a market segment but they can influence the market and product cycle.
Some large organizations have evolved to inform consumers about environmental issues and ethical issues relating to the activities of certain multinational corporations.
These pressure groups are able to exert considerable influence to press for changes on these issues and to support or undermine development of specific technologies, for example, GM food production.
Consumer and environmental pressure groups can attract widespread support using the media (including social media).
Consumers have become increasingly aware of information provided by these organizations and, as markets have globalized, so has consumer power.
Lifestyle and Ethical Consumerism
Ethical Consumerism: The practice of consciously purchasing products and services produced in a way that minimizes social and environmental damage, while avoiding those that have a negative impact on society and the environment.
Lifestyle Consumerism: A social and economic order and ideology that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever greater amounts.
Consider strategies for managing western consumption while raising the standard of living of the developing world without increasing resource use and environmental impact.
Some companies incorporate ethics into their corporate strategy and designers need to work within such constraints.
They aim to curb and manage Western consumption while raising the standard of living of the developing world without increasing its resource use and environmental impact.
Implications of Take-Back Legislation for Designers, Manufacturers and Consumers
Take back legislation is the legislation that holds manufacturers responsible for the environmentally safe recycling or disposal of their end-of-life products. They are expected to provide a financial and/or physical plan to ensure that such products are collected and processed.
Apple, in 2016, introduced a take back program where you can get a discounted price on a new phone.
In Maine in the U.S.A., Car manufacturers have take-back legislation in the sense that they have to pay for the collection and recycling of mercury switches from old cars.
In March 2003 the UK government issued a legislation requiring that all car manufacturers and vehicle importers of new cars into the United Kingdom take back vehicles from their previous owner and guarantee that they are treated environmentally friendly.
In Sweden, Producers and importers must take back for free a piece of old equipment (all electrical household appliance) when the customer buys a new product.
In Japan, the end users are obliged to pay fees for collection, take-back and recycling at the time of disposal. The government sets the fees to cover industry’s actual costs for take-back, transportation, and recycling. They are (in U.S. dollars): washing machine, $24; air conditioner, $35; refrigerator, $46; and television, $27.
LG Policy of recycling and take-back.
The implications for the design cycle and product cycle depend on the nature of appropriate legislation.
Impact for the designer … when designing
Consider candle to the grave or cradle to cradle to cradle
Consider recyclability or re-use of materials
Consider design for disassembly
Work within the cost constraints if manufacturer – make the process efficient
Impact for the manufacturer …
Added costs due to paying for it to be returned and recycled
Interested in design for disassembly and recyclability since they are most likely the ones pulling it apart and recycling or reusing
consider manufacturing techniques
consider material selection and reduction in products
collection systems need to be developed
manage the waste themselves or have a third party do it
Impact for the consumer …
The extra costs may be passed onto the consumer
Must return the product
can rest assured that the environment is considered
International Mindedness
There are many different eco-labelling and energy-labelling schemes across the world that could be standardized
Theory of Knowledge
Eco-warriors sometimes break laws to express their views. Does the rightness or wrongness of an action depend on the situation?
Sustainable Design
The first step to sustainable design is to consider a product, service or system in relation to eco-design and analyze its impact using life cycle analysis. The designer then develops these to minimize environmental impacts identified from this analysis. Considering sustainability from the beginning of the process is essential.
Datschefski’s five principles of sustainable design equip the designer with a tool not only to design new products, but also to evaluate an existing product. This can lead to new design opportunities and increase the level at which a product aligns with these principles.
Green design versus sustainable design
Green design: is designing in a way that takes account of the environmental impact of the product throughout its life
Sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of social, economic, and ecological sustainability. (Wikipedia)
Green Design | Sustainable Design |
Products that have little or no affect on the environment. | Deals with TBL sustainability, economic, environmental & Social |
Cradle to the grave approach | Cradle to cradle approach |
Shorter (than sustainable design) therefore easier and cheaper to address environmental concerns in products. | Longer timescale which can affect the R & D stage (system wide research needed) of the design process increases costs therefore may not be feasible. |
Incremental idea generating techniques are feasible as possibly only small changes need to be made. | Idea generating techniques are more radical to re-think (overhaul/redesign) the nature of the product and ho it works |
Datschefski’s five principles of sustainable design
Students need to develop an understanding of Datschefski’s five principles of sustainable design (The Total Beauty of Sustainable Products, 2001). The five principles are a holistic approach to sustainable design but only selected principles will be possible/applicable to some products.
Cyclic – The product could not only be made from recyclable materials but is also compostable, of organic materials or from minerals that are recycled in a continuous loop such as bio plastics.
Solar – The energy (both embedded and in use) the product requires comes from only renewable energy sources that are cyclic and safe.
Safe – By-products products that are emitted into the environment (air, land & water) and ’space’ are non-hazardous, i.e. non polluting. The by-products are “food” for other systems. Hydrogen fuel cell cars’ by-product when in use is H2O.
Efficient – Requiring 90% less energy, materials and water than equivalent products in 1990.
Social – The products manufacture and usage should underpin basic human rights, safe work practices, fair trade principles and natural justice.
International-mindedness
The application of Datschefski’s social principle of sustainable design can have different effects across different countries.
Theory of knowledge
Datschefski developed his five principles of sustainable design to help designers structure their approach and thoughts. In what ways and areas would the absence of experts most severely limit our knowledge?
Sustainable Innovation
Sustainable innovation yields both bottom line and top line returns as developing products, services and systems that are environmentally friendly lowers costs through reducing the resources required. Designers should view compliance with government legislation as an opportunity for sustainable innovation.
As energy security becomes an ever more important issue for all countries, designers, engineers and inventors need to develop new ways of efficiently generating energy. As new energy production technologies become available, designers need to harness them to be used in new products to improve their energy efficiency.
Complexity and Timescale of Sustainable Innovation
Complexities:
Sustainable innovation relies on cooperation between different stakeholders such as government and manufacturing.
This is often difficult as both parties have differing views.
Sustainable innovation requires a radical change which is time-consuming and expensive so manufacturers are not so willing to consider sustainable innovation.
It is the broadest approach going beyond technical solutions. This approach is based on a socio-technical systems (interaction between people land technology) intervention rather than just considering product improvement.
Timescale:
The huge timescale means that sustainability is difficult to maintain as conditions/criteria can change significantly, for example, a lengthy period of economic downturn.
Sustainable innovation is a hugely complex concept that requires a long time for implementation, typically 20–40 years depending on the nature of the innovation.
Sustainable Strategies
Sustainable use of the planet will require multiple sustainability strategies, which will range from the entire system, the entire Earth, the local or regional.
Strategies starting at the highest system level are referred to as ‘top-down’, and strategies designed for components, local or regional, are referred to as ‘bottom-up’ Integrating top-down/bottom-up sustainability strategies: An ethical challenge (PDF Download Available). [accessed Nov 26, 2015].
Top-down strategies
Strategies implemented from the ‘top’ such as global or national government initiatives.
Management of resources, finances (controlling bank rates, etc) and so on.
It provides targets and measures for sustainability.
When considering sustainable innovation, designers are usually more comfortable with top-down strategies as it means investment and resources are more predictable and reliable.
Examples of top-down and bottom-up strategies and the advantages and disadvantages for consumers/users
Bottom-up strategies
Strategies implemented from the ‘bottom’ such as regional or local (city or town) level.
These include local initiatives like Planting Tree Campaigns
Designers involved with bottom-up strategies are usually enthusiasts for the project and willing to make a commitment even though it may not be cost-effective to do so.
Examples of top-down and bottom-up strategies and the advantages and disadvantages for consumers/users
Government intervention in innovation
There are various strategies that governments use to promote knowledge exchange and technology transfer, including:
regulation—setting and policing rules to avoid or limit environmental issues caused by undesirable technologies
yet allow the manufacturer to still make profits
education—providing consumers with information and guidance in the choice of products and services that are more sustainable
such as eco and energy labels
taxes—to penalize environmentally damaging technologies and influence consumer choice of sustainable products and services
outside Beijing the government is forcing companies to comply or they are fined and ultimately closed down
subsidies—to stimulate and support sustainable innovations.
sustainable innovation can cast the company profits so governments offer financial help or tax breaks.
A potential problem for designers is the changing political scene and associated policies, for example, within the domain of renewable energy.
Macro energy sustainability
Macro energy sustainability concerns can be influenced through international treaties and current international energy policies, instruments for change and disincentives, and national systems changing policy when government leadership changes.
Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of green house gases.
In order for it to be successful all governments need to agree, for a while Australia and USA did not so many countries followed suit
Are there any other implications of how macro energy sustainability can be influenced?
Micro energy sustainability
Micro energy sustainability can be influenced by government, through their role in raising awareness and changing attitudes related to energy use and the promotion of individual and business action towards energy sustainability.
Local governments installing Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
Are there any other implications of how micro energy sustainability can be influenced?
Energy security
How energy security can be influenced by energy demand/supply trends and forecasting, demand response versus energy efficiency, and smart grids
Energy demand is rarely constant and this puts a responsibility on those that generate and manage the flow of energy to understand when peaks and troughs of energy use occur over the course of days, weeks and years.
For example, in many countries, energy demand increases substantially during breaks and following popular TV shows as large numbers of people put the kettle on to enjoy a hot beverage.
Also, there may be particular periods during the night where energy use is at a minimum. In these situations it is vital that the power-generating stations are informed when to start and stop energy generation.
The difficulty arises as massive amounts of electricity cannot easily be stored, excess energy generated at these times is wasted.
Demand/supply trends need to be predicted carefully to create a responsive and efficient energy supply.
International Mindedness
The internal policies of particular governments have international implications.
Theory of Knowledge
To what extent should environmental concerns limit our pursuit of knowledge?
Chapter 6: Commercial Production (IB)
Just in Time (JIT) & Just in Case (JIC)
While inventory creates a safety net for companies, maintenance and potential waste of resources can have significant implications for companies and the environment. Manufacturers must evaluate and analyze each market and determine whether a JIT or JIC strategy is the best to follow.
JIT and JIC are two production strategies used by manufacturers that have both advantages and disadvantages to them. A manufacturing company will choose one of these strategies to follow for many reasons that include the products they are producing, the nature of the market and the nature of the economy.
JIT vs JIC
Just in Time (JIT)
A situation where a company does not allocate space to the storage of components or completed items,
Instead orders or manufactures them when required.
Large storage areas are not needed
Items that are not ordered by customers are not made.
JIT aims to reduce inventory costs and increase efficiency by receiving goods only as they are needed in the production process.
Advantages
Storage – no space required thus reducing costs
Efficiency – Highly flexible, easy set-up for short runs (because of cell production)
Stock control – extensive inventory management systems are not necessary, as inventory levels are kept to a minimum.
Waste – elimination of waste due to overproduction, left over stock, idle time, product defects and material processing.
Traditions – Factory organized in cells/modules instead of departments based on function
Disadvantages
Reliability – Part will need to be made, things could go wrong, delay in manufacture and transport to consumer
Capital investment – high but machinery could be used for a variety of products
Distribution – small delay as consumer waits for the manufacture and distribution.
any disruption in the supply chain can halt production, making it crucial to have reliable suppliers.
JIT | A comparison |
Just in Case (JIC)
A company produces a small stock of components or products and stores them as inventory.
This is Just-Incase a rush order comes they have ready supply.
Some products included may be products or components that take a long time to produce therefore reducing customer wait time.
JIC can serve as a buffer against unforeseen demand spikes or supply chain disruptions.
Advantages
Distribution – no delay as parts are available.
Reliability – Part is ready to be sent and probably has passed quality control.
Market demand – manufacturer is able to keep up with a change in market demand
it can lead to better customer service as products are readily available
Disadvantages
Efficiency – Not as efficient as it is organized in departments often offsite.
Capital investment – high but machinery could be used for a variety of products
Storage – space required thus increasing costs
Waste -some waste due to overproduction, left over stock, product defects and material processing.
Traditions – Factory organized in departments based on function usually offsite bringing about added costs and transportation time
Stock control – required also, may left over stock once the product becomes obsolete or market direction changes.
International Mindedness
Effective business processes and practices developed in some countries have been exported successfully.
Theory of Knowledge
Manufacturers decide whether to pursue JIT or JIC as a production strategy depending on their perception of where the market is going. To what extent do different areas of knowledge incorporate doubt as a part of their methods?
Lean Production
Lean production considers product and process design as an ongoing activity and not a one-off task, and should be viewed as a long-term strategy.
The role of the workforce in lean production is paramount, relying on their wisdom and experience to improve the process, reducing waste, cost and production time. Recognizing this results in motivated workforces whose interests are in the success of the product.
Characteristics of lean production
Lean production considers product and process design as an ongoing activity and not a one-off task.
It should be viewed as a long-term strategy that focuses on continual feedback and incremental improvement.
JIT supplies/system
a highly trained, multi-skilled workforce
quality control and continuous improvement
zero defects
zero inventory
emphasizes reducing lead times and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Ten Principles of lean production
There are several key principles of lean production. If any of these principles are not met this could result in failure or a lack of commitment. Without commitment the process becomes ineffective.
Eliminate waste in all areas by focusing on doing tasks right the first time.
Minimizing inventory
Maximizing production flow and designing for rapid production changeover
Kaizan – Continuous Improvement from everyone – from management to workers. Without continuous improvement your progress will cease.
Respect for workers or empowering workers (Humans, most reliable and valuable resource to any company)
Pulling production from customer demand or meeting customer requirements
Designing for rapid changeover
Creating a reliable partnership with suppliers
Meeting customer requirements
Doing it right the first time
Advantages and disadvantages to lean production
Advantages
Increase consumer satisfaction due to cost reduction
Productivity has increased because of focus improvements and reduction in waste
Quality of product improvement and continuous improvement
Waste reduction
Reduced impact on the environment
Adapt to market pull
Increase in profits
Improved work conditions for employees
Competitive advantage
Disadvantages
Change in worker and management attitude can be difficult to manage or to gain complete buy in
Delivery times – since no inventory is held in storage and breakdown in the system will cause delays
Supply problems
High initial capital costs
Value Stream Mapping & Workflow Analysis
Value stream mapping is a lean production management tool used to analyze current and future processes for the production of a product through to delivery to the consumer.
helps to identify Value and Waste in production
Workflow analysis is the review of processes in a workflow, for example, a production line, in order to identify potential improvements.
Value stream mapping and workflow analysis contribute to the design of an effective lean production method through:
Value stream mapping provides the big picture of the manufacturing process
Where as workflow analysis is concerned with the production lines
This image shows a workflow analysis by using a flow chart through certain questions and criterions.
Product family
A group of products having common classification criteria.
Members of a product family have many common parts and assemblies and production processes.
members of a product family often share similar production processes, which can lead to economies of scale.
Investopedia on Product Family
Advantages include:
Cost-effective due to – reduced manufacturing costs, similar manufacturing techniques, similar supply chain, reduced R&D,
Allows companies to attract new customers to their brand though an array of products that are similar but meet slightly different needs.
Customers as they can rely on their positive experience with an existing brand.
Adapt easily to market demand such as the iPhone 5SE (shows and example of market pull)
Role of the workforce
Training
The development of a highly skilled workforce can build deep understanding of how the production process works and allow workers at all levels to identify areas of the workflow to be improved.
This leads to the devolution of power
Devolution in power relating to process improvement
Understanding that the best people to identify improvements of a product or system are those who use it, companies striving for a lean production system ensure that all members of the workforce are able to contribute to the design of the system.
This benefits the company, which is able to streamline processes and reduce costs and also empowers the workforce and gives them a sense of ownership and loyalty to the company.
Kaizen
A philosophy and commitment to continuous process and product improvement
It is considered an important aspect of an organization’s long-term strategy.
This has been central to the success of many Japanese companies such as Toyota.
It originated in Japan
Lead time
Lead time refers to the time quoted to customers (usually in days or weeks) between the date of purchase and the date of delivery.
It is basically the time frame it takes from the order of a product to its manufacture until it is delivered to the customer. This can be days or weeks in duration. This includes the production, set-up etc times.
The business dictionary has a bit more
The 5 Ss:
Sorting
Stabilizing
Shining
Standardizing
Sustaining the practice
The 7 wastes:
Overproduction
Waiting
Transporting
Inappropriate processing
Unnecessary inventory
Unnecessary/excess motion
Defects.
Theory of Knowledge
The importance of the individual is recognized in design processes. Is this the case in other areas of knowledge?
International mindedness
The implementation of lean production has benefits for the global environment.
Computer Integrated Manufacturing
When considering design for manufacture (DfM), designers should be able to integrate computers from the earliest stage of design. This requires knowledge and experience of the manufacturing processes available to ensure integration is efficient and effective. Through the integration of computers, the rate of production can be increased and errors in manufacturing can be reduced or eliminated, although the main advantage is the ability to create automated manufacturing processes.
The integration of computer control into manufacturing can streamline systems, negating the need for time-consuming activities, such as stocktaking, but also reducing the size of the workforce.
CIM
A system of manufacturing that uses computers to integrate the processing of production, business and manufacturing in order to create more efficient production lines.
Programmable computer based manufacturing system
Typically, it relies on closed-loop control processes, based on real-time input from sensors
Elements of CIM:
Design (CAD) – the product is designed within the CAD software, tested and the necessary G-Code, materials, and other data is generated.
Planning – the computer system and database (contains design and production data) helps to plan the most efficient production process.
Purchasing – with the design and production the computer system can employ a JIT approach in purchasing the necessary materials.
Cost accounting – is the budgeting of the production process, receipts, and all things financial.
Inventory control – responsible for tracking the materials, products, again JIT can be employed.
Distribution – is receiving materials and the distribution of products to warehouse or vendors.
CIM and scales of production
It is costly to set up
Therefore it is better suited for large scale production such as batch, volume or mass
Advantages and disadvantages of CIM in relation to different production systems
Scale of Production | Advantage | Disadvantage |
One – off or small scale |
| |
Batch, Volume or Mass |
|
|
Mass Customization |
|
|
Advantages and disadvantages of CIM in relation to initial investment and maintenance
Advantages:
System is constantly monitored so if there is a breakdown: the type and location of breakdown is easily identified making maintenance easier
reduces cost of maintenance
After the high initial greater profits will be achieved
Disadvantage:
high initial capital costs/investments due to computers, robots, training of personnel
maintenance is complex, requires highly skilled employees
International Mindedness
A CIM system allows for efficient global workflow and distribution.
Theory of Knowledge
Technology has a profound influence in design. How have other areas of knowledge been influenced by technology?
Quality Management
Designers should ensure that the quality of products
is consistent through development of detailed manufacturing requirements. They also need to focus on the means to achieve it. The importance of quality management through quality control (QC), statistical process control (SPC) and quality assurance (QA) reduces the potential waste of resources.
The implementation of quality management strategies requires a critical and complete understanding of the needs of a product. To ensure efficiency and efficacy, these measures need to be designed into the product and its production system.
Quality control (QC)
Tolerances are defined at the design stage of the machinery. Parts not within tolerance need to be reworked or scrapped.
Continuous monitoring ensures that the machines perform to the predetermined standard/quality.
Ensures that process inputs, such as speed, temperature, pressure, etc, are monitored and adjusted.
Quality control at the source eliminates waste from defects as workers are responsible for the quality of the work they do.
Able to get the same results over time
Quality assurance (QA)
This covers all activities from design to documentation.
It also includes the regulation of the quality of raw materials, assemblies, products and components, services related to production, and management and inspection processes.
It is the maintenance of the entire system from design to purchasing to packaging that meets quality requirements.
QA | Process orientated | Pro-active | Prevent defects |
QC | Product orientated | Reactive | Find defects |
Statistical process control (SPC)
This is a quality control tool that uses statistical methods to ensure that a process operates at its most efficient.
This is achieved through measuring aspects of a component to ensure that it meets the required standard throughout its production in order to eliminate waste.
International Mindedness
Effective quality management can have major benefits for the environment.
Theory of Knowledge
There are commonly accepted ways of assuring quality in design. How do other areas of knowledge ensure the quality of their outputs?
Economic Viability
Designers need to consider how the costs of materials, manufacturing processes, scale of production and labor contribute to the retail cost of a product. Strategies for minimizing these costs at the design stage are most effective to ensure that a product is affordable and can gain a financial return.
The economic viability of a product is paramount for designers if they are to get their product into production. Understanding how to design a product to specification, at lowest cost and to the appropriate quality while giving added value, can determine the relationship between what a product is worth and how much it costs.
Cost-effectiveness
The most efficient way of designing and producing a product from the manufacturer’s point of view.
Costs that the manufacture is likely to incur, such as, capital costs (machinery and factory), R&D, Marketing, energy, overheads, taxes, profits, storage etc
Value for money
The relationship between what something, for example a product, is worth and the cash amount spent on it
The consumer decides if it was well worth spending the money on something.
It is an individual judgement and different people will value something differently.
Costing versus pricing
In production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something.
Pricing is the process of determining what a company will receive in exchange for its product or service. The potential profit.
More examples include labor, manufacturing costs, costs relating to availability and procurement of materials, profits and taxes, size and weight of product for storage and distribution, resources, distribution and sales.
Fixed costs
The costs that must be paid out before production starts, for example, machinery. These costs do not change with the level of production.
Fixed costs, indirect costs or overheads are business expenses that are not dependent on the level of goods or services produced by the business, i.e., not reliant on output.
More examples include, scale of production, complexity of product, skills, quality control, type of advertising and marketing, R&D, capital costs, overheads, labor (directly related to production output).
Variable costs
Variable costs are costs that change in proportion to the goods or service that a business produces, i.e. reliant on output.
These costs are incurred once production starts.
These include, materials (processed and raw), utilities (electricity, water etc), wages, storage, distribution.
Fixed costs and variable costs make up the two components of total cost.
Cost analysis
It is a tool used to determine the potential risks and gains of producing a product.
It is used by manufacturers to determine the break-even point for a product and can be used to create multiple scenarios for a product.
It allows the feasibility of a product to be established.
Break-even
It is the point of balance between profit and loss. It represents the number of sales of a product required to cover the total costs (fixed and variable).
The break-even level or break-even point (BEP) represents the sales amount—in either unit or revenue terms—that is required to cover total costs (both fixed and variable). Total profit at the break-even point is zero. Break-even is only possible if a firm’s prices are higher than its variable costs per unit.
Break Even Point
Calculating Product Price
Designers must consider encomium feasibility of their designs.
When companies calculate the price of their products they use Pricing Strategies described below.
Often more than one strategy would be used.
The below strategies can be used in conjunction with the Price Setting Strategies listed in topic 9.3: Marketing mix.
Price Setting Strategies include: cost-plus pricing, demand pricing, competitor-based pricing, product line pricing, psychological pricing.
Pricing strategies
Price-minus
The market demand determines the product pricing (selling price) before manufacturing begins.
Then all commercial costs (manufacture, profits, etc) are determined and the company works within these constraints.
Retail price
It is the recommended retail price (RRP) suggested by the manufacturer (MSRP) that the retailer should sell the product for.
It is to standardize prices
Some retailers will sell below the RRP to lure customers.
Wholesale price
The cost of a product sold by the wholesaler.
The product costs more than the manufacturer but less than the retailer.
Typical manufacturing price
It is the total costs (variable and fixed) to manufacture the product. Divide the total manufacturing/product costs by the total products/items produced to get the average cost/price per unit.
Once total costs are determined then a profit margin is added.
The goal is to maximize profit.
Target cost
It is desired final cost of a product is determined before manufacturing begins.
This is based on the competing pricing.
Profit is then removed to determine initial cost.
The product is design or designed to meet it
Wikipedia on target costing
Return on investment (ROI)
Receiving a profit (return) on money invested into the product or service.
Usually expressed as a percentage.
The higher the ROI the better return
Unit cost
The costs a company incurs to produce store and sell one product (item).
This is calculated as an average cost.
These include fixed and variable costs
Sales volume
It is the amount of products sold in a specified time period during regular working operations of a company.
They can be annual, quarterly, etc sales
Can also be based on demographics, geographic regions, etc
Financial return
It is the profits generated from a sale or investment into a company.
Activity: Calculation of prices based on the listed pricing strategies.
International Mindedness
The cost effectiveness of a product can determine whether it can enter economically diverse national and international markets.
Theory of Knowledge
The retail price of a product is partly based on evidence of its potential position in the market. What counts as evidence in various areas of knowledge?
Chapter 7: Resource Management and Sustainable Production
Resource and reserves
Renewable resources are natural sources that can replenish themselves over time. These may include forms of energy or commodities such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and tidal energy.
Some renewable resources, like wind and solar power, are considered inexhaustible, while others, such as timber, require careful management to maintain their sustainability.
Renewable resources are typically characterized by lower carbon emissions and minimal impact from human activities. However, the implementation of renewable resources often involves higher costs compared to non-renewable alternatives.
Non-renewable resources, also referred to as finite resources, are those that cannot renew themselves at a sufficient rate to support sustainable economic extraction.
Examples of non-renewable resources include coal, petroleum, natural gas, fossil fuels, minerals, ores, timber, and nuclear energy. These resources exist in fixed and limited quantities, rendering them exhaustible.
Non-renewable resources generally produce higher carbon emissions but are more cost-effective to implement compared to renewable resources.
Reserves denote the quantities of a natural resource that have been identified and quantified in terms of quality and availability.
Projections of energy reserves are typically based on geological and engineering data. However, certain reserves may be currently inaccessible due to economic or technical constraints, as is the case with the extraction of oil sands, which remains economically unviable under current market conditions.
Renewability pertains to the ability of a resource to replenish itself over time or to exist in an inexhaustible supply.
Examples of renewable resources include timber from trees and fresh drinking water. The conservation of these resources and the advancement of technologies to enhance energy efficiency are essential to ensuring long-term sustainability.
The impact of development on the environment is a critical consideration, particularly when multinational corporations extract resources from various countries or regions.
Such activities can have profound social, ethical, and environmental implications for local populations.
One of the foremost challenges of the 21st century for designers is the development of renewable and sustainable resources. This challenge involves navigating the economic and political significance of material and land resources while considering factors such as initial set-up costs, conversion efficiency, sustainability of supply, social impact, environmental consequences, and the decommissioning process.
Waste mitigation strategies
The Industrial Age, marked by an abundance of resources and raw materials, led to the development of a throwaway society. As resources diminish and the impact of waste becomes increasingly apparent, sustainability has emerged as a critical focus for designers. This shift is driven by the realization that a large amount of material waste ends up in landfills, which could otherwise be utilized as resources. Waste mitigation strategies aim to reduce or eliminate materials directed to landfills through various approaches, including prevention, monitoring, and innovative handling of waste.
Strategies for Waste Reduction
Re-use: Involves the use of the same product in the same or different context. For example, reusing water bottles, plastic bags, glass bottles, and clothes helps to extend the lifecycle of these items and reduce waste.
Repair: Focuses on the reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing structure or device. By mending or servicing faulty equipment, the lifecycle of products such as washing machines, light bulbs, or car parts can be extended, reducing the need for replacement and minimizing waste.
Re-engineering: Involves redesigning components or products to enhance their characteristics or performance, such as speed and energy consumption. A common example is in Formula 1 cars, where aerodynamics are improved, or lighter new materials are used to reduce waste and increase efficiency.
Recycle: Refers to the process of using materials from obsolete products to create new ones. Examples include recycling glass, paper, aluminum cans, thermoplastics, and newspapers.
Recondition: Entails rebuilding a product so that it is in an "as new" condition. This approach is typically applied to items such as car engines and tires, where components are refurbished to extend their use.
Dematerialization: Focuses on reducing the quantities of materials required to achieve the same functionality, essentially doing more with less. This involves product efficiency improvements by saving, reusing, or recycling materials and products. Examples include reducing the size of electronic devices or replacing physical products with digital versions, like using emails instead of paper or web pages instead of brochures.
Methodologies for Waste Reduction
Waste management encompasses strategies for dealing with landfill waste, incineration, and pollution, including noise and air pollution. Key methodologies include:
Development of New Materials and Technologies: This involves the creation of new biofuels, self-decomposing materials, and buildings made from recyclable materials, alongside reconditioning products and building products with a "cradle to cradle" life cycle approach.
Legislation and Consumer Awareness: Encouraging manufacturers and consumers to be more conscious of pollutants and waste, with the support of laws and regulations such as the "Clean Air Act" and "Take Back" programs. Eco-labeling schemes and standards also play a significant role in driving sustainable practices.
ISO Standards: The adoption of ISO 14000 standards helps organizations address environmental issues globally, establishing a network of national standards that tackle waste management and sustainability challenges.
Product Recovery Strategies
Recycling: Involves using materials from obsolete products to create new ones, reducing the need for virgin resources.
Raw Material Recovery: Entails separating components of a product to recover parts and materials for reuse.
WEEE Recovery: Deals with the recovery of materials and components from electrical products that pose environmental and health hazards if not properly managed.
Energy Recovery: Converts waste into energy, either through waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) processes. This includes generating electricity, heat, or fuel from the combustion of waste materials.
Standard Parts at the End of Product Life: Focuses on reducing material and energy use by limiting environmental impact throughout a product’s lifecycle. This includes using standardized parts that can be recycled or repurposed at the end of a product’s life.
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a technique used to assess the environmental impact of a product at every stage, from raw material extraction through manufacturing, distribution, use, repair, maintenance, and disposal or recycling.
Circular Economy
The circular economy promotes the use of waste as a resource within a closed-loop system, where materials are kept in use for as long as possible. This approach ensures that maximum value is extracted from resources while in use, and products and materials are recovered and regenerated at the end of their lifecycle.
External Drivers and Social Change
Social and economic factors also drive waste mitigation and sustainable practices, including:
Increasing pressure on supply chains
Evolving public opinion on environmental issues
Rising energy costs and waste charges
The implementation of "Take Back" legislation
Obligations to provide environment-related information
Adherence to international standards and eco-labeling schemes
Government subsidies and environmental competition awards
The need to address environmental requirements in consumer tests and contracts
Energy Utilisation, Storage and Distribution Waste mitigation strategies
Energy utilization, storage and distribution
Efficient energy use is an important consideration for designers in today's society. Energy conservation and efficient energy use are pivotal in our impact on the environment. A designer's goal is to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products or services using newer technologies or behavioral changes to avoid and reduce usage. For example, driving less is an example of energy conservation, while buying the same amount but with a higher mileage car is energy efficient.
Embodied energy
The embodied energy in a product accounts for all of the energy required to produce it. It is a valuable concept for calculating the effectiveness of an energy-producing or energy-saving device.
Distributing energy: national and international grid systems
The way in which electricity is distributed along the grid and the energy loss involved from small source collection and delivery, to large scale and the effect on the environment.
Local combined heat and power (CHP)
Combined heat and power (CHP) is an efficient and clean approach to generating electric power and useful thermal energy from a single fuel source. CHP is used either to replace or supplement conventional separate heat and power (SHP). Instead of purchasing electricity from the local utility and burning fuel in an on-site furnace or boiler to produce thermal energy, an industrial or commercial facility can use CHP to provide both energy services in one energy-efficient step.
Advantages of CHP include:
Reduced energy costs versus separate heat and electrical generation systems
Reduced emissions versus separate heat and electrical generation systems
Where the capture and use of waste heat is not viable, many industrial facilities may still benefit financially via distributed generation (DG)
Systems for individual energy generation
Systems for individual energy generation such as microgeneration includes the small-scale generation of heat and electric power by individuals, small businesses and communities to meet their own needs, as alternatives or supplements to traditional centralized grid-connected power. E.g. solar power, wind turbines or biogas rainwater harvesting, compost toilets and greywater treatments among others.
Quantification of carbon emissions: Measuring
record carbon emissions
discover how much is being produced
discover who/ where it is produced
track your carbon footprint
Mitigation of carbon emissions: Reducing
Humans intervention in the reduction of carbon emissions
These contribute to global warming
Resulting in melting polar caps, rising seas, desertification, provide 'Sinks' that can reabsorb carbon emissions
A 'Sink' are forests, vegetation or soils.
Batteries, capacitors and capacities considering relative cost, efficiency, environmental impact and reliability.
An electric battery is a device consisting of two or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Batteries and other electronic components (capacitors, chips, etc) have had a great impact on the portability of electronic products and, as new technologies are developed, they can become more efficient and smaller. Batteries are made from important resources and chemicals, including lead, cadmium, zinc, lithium and mercury. It’s important to understand the effects of your decisions as batteries are categorised into High, Medium and Low through the use of a sustainable lens (charging, impact on eco-system, etc).
Clean Technologies
Clean Technology
Clean technology encompasses products, services, or processes that reduce waste and require the minimum amount of non-renewable resources. It is prevalent across various industries, including water, energy, manufacturing, advanced materials, and transportation. As Earth's resources dwindle, the demand for energy-efficient solutions should be a priority for designers. The convergence of environmental, technological, economic, and social factors will drive the development of more efficient technologies that rely less on outdated, polluting methods.
Drivers for Cleaning Up Manufacturing
Manufacturers may be driven to clean up their processes due to current or impending legislation or pressure from the local community and media. The key reasons for this include promoting positive impacts, ensuring a neutral or minimized negative impact through conserving natural resources, reducing pollution and energy use, and minimizing waste of energy and resources.
Breakdown of Environmental Problems by Geographical Scale
Environmental problems caused by products can be categorized based on their geographical scale:
Local: Issues like noise, smell, air pollution, and soil and water pollution.
Regional: Problems such as soil and water over-fertilization and pollution, drought, waste disposal, and air pollution.
Fluvial: Pollution affecting rivers, regional waters, and watersheds.
Continental: Concerns including ozone levels, acidification, winter smog, and heavy metals.
Global: Challenges like climate change, sea level rise, and impacts on the ozone layer.
Legislation
The role and scale of legislation depend on the type of manufacturing and the perspectives of different countries. Legislation pushes manufacturers to clean up their processes and dictates how they respond to such laws. Governments, politicians, and businesses must consider manufacturing's environmental impact. Increased awareness of environmental issues has led to more pressure on governments to introduce or comply with legislation. These laws bind companies to environmental standards, and non-compliance can result in financial penalties.
International Targets for Reducing Pollution and Waste
International or continental agreements often set targets for reducing pollution and waste. These targets are typically discussed and agreed upon at international summits and meetings. Conflicts and disagreements can arise between countries over setting caps or limits, making it difficult to achieve agreements. Some countries may be more adversely affected by such limits, impacting their economy or corporate profits. Notable agreements include the Kyoto Protocol, Montreal Protocol, and the Carbon Trading Scheme.
End-of-Pipe Technologies
An initial approach to reducing pollutant emissions and waste creation is adding clean-up technologies at the end of the manufacturing process, known as the end-of-pipe approach. This involves treating water, air, noise, solid, or toxic wastes. Examples include carbon capture, filtration systems, composting, and catalytic converters on vehicles.
Incremental Solutions: These involve improving and developing products over time, leading to new versions and generations.
Radical Solutions: This approach involves devising completely new products by rethinking solutions from the ground up.
System Level Solutions
A system-level solution addresses pollution and waste holistically, focusing on the interrelationship of elements rather than individual parts. It helps policymakers and energy planners understand the impacts of existing and proposed legislation, policy, and plans on renewable energy development and deployment at various levels (local, state, regional, and national).
Agreements at international or continental levels set targets for reducing pollution and waste, typically discussed at international summits and meetings. Conflicts and disagreements between countries over limits can complicate achieving agreements. Some countries may be more adversely affected by such limits, impacting their economy or corporate profits.
Green Design
Green Design
The product - role of designer: The starting point for many green products is to improve an existing product by redesigning aspects of it to address environmental objectives. The iterative development of these products can be incremental or radical depending on how effectively new technologies can address the environmental objectives. When new technologies are developed, the product can re-enter the development phase for further improvement.
Green Legislation
Laws and regulations that are based on conservation and sustainability principles, followed by designers and manufacturers when creating green products. Green legislation often encourages incremental, rather than radical approaches to green design. Sustainable products provide social and economic benefits while protecting public health, welfare, and the environment throughout their life cycle—from the extraction of raw materials to final disposal.
Incremental Innovation is sometimes referred to as continuous improvement, and the business attitude associated with it is ‘inside-the-box’ thinking. A simple product may be improved (in terms of better performance or lower costs) through the use of higher performance components or materials. A complex product that consists of integrated technical subsystems can be improved by partial changes to one level of a sub-system. Incremental innovations do not involve major investments or risks. User experience and feedback is important and may dominate as a source for innovation ideas.
Radical Innovation involves the development of new key design elements such as change in a product component combined with a new architecture for linking components. The result is a distinctively new product, product-service, or product system that is markedly different from the company’s existing product line. A high level of uncertainty is associated with radical innovation projects, especially at early stages.
Timescale to implement green design
Often, legislation requires governments and manufacturers to comply over many years. This can be beneficial to companies and manufacturers as they can adopt incremental approaches to green design, therefore minimizing the cost. However, some environmental concerns, for example carbon dioxide reduction and climate change, require immediate action.
Legislation
Environmental legislation has encouraged the design of greener products that tackle specific environmental issues, for example, eliminating the use of certain materials or energy efficiency.
Incremental changes to a design and as such is relatively easy to implement, for example, legislation relating to the use of catalytic converters for cars. The timescale for implementing green design is relatively short (typically 2–5 years) and therefore cost-effective.
Consumer Pressure
The public have become aware of environmental issues through media focus on issues such as the destructive effect of chlorofluorocarbons on the ozone layer; acid rain in Northern European forests and the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. Increased public awareness has put pressure on corporations and governments.
CFCs were the ideal refrigerants during their time. They were nonflammable, non-corrosive, nontoxic, and odorless. Used consumer products during the 70s and 80s, such as refrigerators, cleansing products, and propellants. CFC’s were found to be destructive to the Ozone layer.
Drivers for green design (consumer pressure and legislation)
Drivers for green design include consumer pressure and legislation, among others. Environmental legislation has encouraged the design of greener products that tackle specific environmental issues, for example, eliminating the use of certain materials or energy efficiency. Unfortunately, many companies value short-term profit and value for shareholders over the impact of their activities on the environment. Some companies lobby governments so that they can be exempt from legislation, or to try and persuade them to ‘water down’ legislation. Sometimes consumer pressure can be just as effective as legislation. Through social media, the bad behavior of companies can be exposed quickly, reach a wider audience, and consumers can decide as a large group to boycott a company. Social media has allowed the influence of consumers to grow exponentially. This can hurt a company’s profits greatly, persuading them to clean up their act.
Design objectives for green products
Design objectives for green products will often address three broad environmental categories:
Materials
Energy
Pollution/Waste
These objectives include:
increasing efficiency in the use of materials, energy, and other resources;
minimizing damage or pollution from the chosen materials;
reducing to a minimum any long-term harm caused by the use of the product;
ensuring that the planned life of the product is most appropriate in environmental terms and that the product functions efficiently for its full life;
taking full account of the effects of the end disposal of the product;
ensuring that the packaging and instructions encourage efficient and environmentally friendly use;
minimizing nuisances such as noise or smell;
analyzing and minimizing potential safety hazards;
minimizing the number of different materials used in a product;
labeling of materials so they can be identified for recycling.
When evaluating product sustainability, students need to consider:
raw materials used
packaging
incorporation of toxic chemicals
energy in production and use
end-of-life disposal issues
production methods
atmospheric pollutants.
Strategies for designing Green Products
The environmental impact of the production, use, and disposal of a product can be modified by the designer through careful consideration at the design stage. When designing green product consideration must be made for:
raw materials used
packaging
incorporation of toxic chemicals
energy in production and use
end-of-life disposal issues
production methods
atmospheric pollutants.
Materials
How much damage is done to the environment in extracting the raw material?
How much energy is needed to process this material?
How long will this material last/will it damage easily?
Can this material be recycled?
Energy
How can I reduce the amount of energy required to manufacture this product?
How can I reduce the amount of energy required to use this product?
Pollution/Waste
What is likely to happen to this product when it is obsolete?
How can I reduce the chances of this product ending up in landfill or sent to incineration?
How can I increase the chances of this product being repaired, reused or recycled?
How can I reduce the amount of pollution given off by this product?
The prevention principle
The avoidance or minimization of hazards and waste. It aims to address the occupational health and safety concerns through each stage of the product life cycle.
A number of risk assessment tools can be used by companies to assess their operations for risk and introduce management systems to protect the health and safety of employees and minimize waste.
Knowledge based
Actual risk of causing harm can be assessed
Occurrence of damage is probable if no measure is taken
Regulation emission framework defines substantial criteria (eg. emissions thresholds)
Definition of acceptable risk is primarily science-based
The precautionary principle
The anticipation of potential problems in relation to the environmental impact of the production, use, and disposal of a product. The precautionary principle permits a lower level of proof of harm to be used in policy-making whenever the consequences of waiting for higher levels of proof may be very costly and/or irreversible.
Uncertainty
Risk cannot be calculated and is only a suspected risk of causing harm
Occurrence of damage is uncertain and cannot be predicted clearly
Regulation through procedural requirements
Social acceptance of the risk is considered
Eco Design
Eco Design
Eco-design is a more comprehensive approach than green design because it attempts to focus on all three broad environmental categories—materials, energy and pollution/waste. This makes eco-design more complex and difficult to do.
Impact of internal and external drivers for eco-design from an economic perspective
Internal drivers for eco-design
Manager's sense of responsibility
The need for increased product quality
The need for a better product and company image
The need to reduce costs
The need for innovative power
The need to increase personnel motivation
External drivers for eco-design
Government
Market demand
Social environment
Competitors
Trade organisations
Supplies
Cradle to grave
Cradle to grave design considers the environmental effects of a product all of the way from manufacture to use to disposal.
Cradle to the Gate
Cradle to cradle design is a key principle of the circular economy. Cradle to Cradle® (C2C) is a holistic approach to design popularized by Professor Michael Braungart and William McDonough. Braungart and McDonough offer Cradle to Cradle® certification to products that measure up to the standards they set. According to their website: “The target is to develop and design products that are truly suited to a biological or technical metabolism, thereby preventing the recycling of products which were never designed to be recycled in the first place.
Cradle to the Gate
Cradle to the Gate (Cradle-to-gate is an assessment of a partial product life cycle from resource extraction (cradle) to the factory gate (i.e., before it is transported to the consumer)
Life Cycle stages:
Make sure you are able to assess the environmental impact of a given product over its life cycle through LCA (Life Cycle Assessment)-Pre-production, Production, Distribution including packaging, Utilization and Disposal. The complex nature of LCA means that it is not possible for a lone designer to undertake it and a team with different specialism is required. LCA is complex, time-consuming and expensive, so the majority of eco-designs are based on less detailed qualitative assessments of likely impacts of a product over its life cycle. The simplest example is the use of a checklist to guide the design team during a product’s design development stages
UNEP Ecodesign Manual
In 1996 the United nations released an Eco-design manual also known as Design for Sustainability (D4S).
The major concerns outlined in the UNEP Ecodesign Manual were to:
increase recyclability
reduce energy requirements
maximise use of renewable resources
reduce creation and use of toxic materials
reduce material requirements of goods and services
increase product durability and reduced planned obsolescence
Design for the environment software
CAD Software that allows designers to perform Life cycle analysis (LCA) on a product and assess its environmental impact.
Product life cycle stages: the role of the designer, manufacturer and user
The roles and responsibilities of the designer, manufacturer and user at each stage of the product life cycle can be explored through LCA. LCA identifies conflicts that have to be resolved through prioritization. It is not widely used in practice because it is difficult, costly and time-consuming. It is targeted at particular product categories—products with high environmental impacts in the global marketplace, for example, washing machines and refrigerators. However, in the re-innovation of the design of a product or its manufacture, specific aspects may be changed after considering the design objectives for green products, such as selecting less toxic materials or using more sustainable sources. A product may be distributed differently or its packaging may be redesigned.
Environmental impact assessment matrix
Environmental considerations include water, soil pollution and degradation, air contamination, noise, energy consumption, consumption of natural resources, pollution and effect on ecosystems
Converging technologies
The synergistic merging of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information and communication technologies and cognitive science. A typical example of converging technology is the smart phone in terms of the materials required to create it, its energy consumption, disassembly, recyclability and the portability of the devices it incorporates.
Chapter 8: Modelling
Conceptual modelling
A conceptual model originates in the mind and its primary purpose is to outline the principles, processes and basic functions of a design or system.
Designers use conceptual modeling to assist their understanding by simulating the subject matter they represent.
Designers should consider systems, services and products in relation to what they should do, how they should behave, what they look like and whether they will be understood by the users in the manner intended.
What is the role of conceptual modelling in design?
A conceptual model originates in the mind and its primary purpose is to outline the principles, processes and basic functions of a design or system.
Conceptual models are used to help us know and understand ideas.
Concept models are useful for communicating new ideas that are unfamiliar to people.
How do conceptual models vary in relation to the context? What are some of the conceptual modelling tools and skills needed?
Conceptual models may vary in range from the more concrete, such as mental image that appears in mind, to the abstract mathematical models that do not appear directly in mind as an image.
Conceptual models also range from scope of the subject they are representing. For example, they can represent either a single model (Statue of Liberty), whole classes of things (f.e. electron) or even a vast domains of subject matter, such as physical universe.
Conceptual models are used to help us know and understand, design thinking, ideas, casual relationships, principles, data, systems, algorithms or processes.
Graphical Modelling
Sketches
Drawings
Flow charts
Physical Modelling
Card
Clay
Rapid prototype (3D printing)
Balsa wood
Blue styrofoam
Virtual Modelling
Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Surface or Solid modelling, FEA, Data modeling
What is service design?
Service design is the activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service in order to improve its quality and the interaction between service provider and customers. The purpose to design according to the needs of the customers → so the product is user-friendly, competitive and relevant.
How are conceptual models used to communicate with oneself and others?
Concept models are used to communicate ideas that might be difficult to imagine otherwise. Designers use conceptual modelling to visualise and communicate ideas by simulating what they want to design.
The advantages of using conceptual modelling are:
Shares the "Big Picture": Conceptual models provide an overview, helping everyone understand the broad scope and goals.
Accessibility: They make it easier for non-designers and non-technical people to grasp complex ideas.
Improved Communication: Conceptual models facilitate better communication with clients and users.
Feedback: They allow designers to gauge people's reactions to concepts or ideas.
The disadvantages of using conceptual modelling are:
Lack of Detail: Conceptual models may not include all the intricate details necessary for final design.
Risk of Misinterpretation: These models can be misunderstood if not properly explained.
Scale Issues: Scale models can be misleading, especially when the final product size is significantly different.
Material Emulation: It can be difficult to emulate the final choice of materials in the conceptual model, which might affect the perception of the final product.
Graphical modelling
Graphical models are used to communicate design ideas. They simplify data and present it in a way that aids understanding and further development or discussion. Designers use graphical modelling to explore creative solutions and refine ideas from the technically impossible to the technically possible, within the constraints of feasibility.
What is a graphical model? A graphical model is a 2D and 3D visualization of an idea, often created on paper or through software. They are drawings that convey the designer's idea.
Perspective drawings Perspective drawings are used to show what a product will look like when finished in a more lifelike way. This informal drawing technique focuses on the 3D view of the design, with the lines of the perspective drawing heading towards a vanishing point.
Isometric drawings Isometric drawings are used to accurately depict what a product will look like when finished. You can recognize these drawings by the angle of the object in the drawing, which is typically 30 degrees.
Orthographic Projection Orthographic projection involves drawing a 3D object from different directions—usually the front, side, and plan views are drawn so that a person looking at the drawing can see all the important sides. These drawings are particularly useful when a design is almost ready for manufacture, as they must always have at least three views.
Scale drawings Scale drawings are techniques that show an object in proportion to its actual size. They are used when something needs to be presented accurately, either for planning or manufacturing.
Sketching versus formal drawing techniques:
Sketching:
Description: Spontaneous and free-hand representation used very early in the design process, usually free-hand.
Advantages: Communicates ideas quickly among colleagues.
Disadvantages: Cannot take the idea to manufacture.
Formal drawings:
Description: Ruled out and accurate drawings used in the development phase of a design process. Represent a more resolved idea for further investigation.
Advantages: Show details of the concept, can be used for construction, are accurate, and offer different views of objects that 3D drawings cannot provide.
Disadvantages: Time-consuming, require high skill levels, and need specialist drawing equipment.
Part drawings:
Description: Provide the information to assemble a product similarly to assembly drawings, with the added benefit of a list of parts (LOP) or Bill of Materials (BOM). Drawings of individual parts help indicate which part is broken and how to repair it.
Assembly drawings (Exploded isometric):
Description: Show how parts of a product fit together, often used for model kits and flat-pack furniture. There are two types:
Fitted assembly drawing: Shows the parts put together, in 2D or 3D.
Exploded assembly drawing: Shows parts separated but in the correct relationship for fitting together, usually in 3D.
Algorithm
An algorithm, in mathematics and computer science, is a self-contained step-by-step set of operations to be performed. This is often represented using a flow chart, which visually depicts the sequence of steps and decisions involved in the process.
Physical modelling
Physical Modelling:
Definition: A physical model is a three-dimensional, tangible representation of a design or system, often referred to as an "Appearance Model."
Examples/Advantages:
Allows users to visualize the product and identify any problems easily.
Helps users understand how the product would look in a real environment.
Disadvantages:
Time-consuming to create.
Cannot be manipulated the same way as digital models.
Scale Models:
Definition: A scale model is a smaller or larger physical copy of an object, usually represented at a specific scale (e.g., 1:100).
Examples/Advantages:
Easier to overview, especially if the original design is large.
Provides an idea of how large the model will be when it is actually produced/built.
Disadvantages:
Time-consuming to create perfectly.
Difficult to show how it works beyond visual representation.
Aesthetic Models:
Definition: Developed to look and feel like the final product, used for ergonomic testing and visual appeal evaluation.
Examples/Advantages:
Useful instead of digital models for user visualization.
Helps production engineers assess feasibility.
Disadvantages:
Non-working models.
Expensive due to the need for a realistic surface finish.
Mock-ups:
Definition: Used to test ideas, either at scale or full-size, to gain feedback from users.
Examples/Advantages:
Useful for getting user feedback.
Offers a full-size representation of the product.
Disadvantages:
Less functionality than a prototype.
Can be difficult and time-consuming to create.
Functional Prototypes:
Definition: A sample or model built to test a concept or process, representing a real, working product.
Examples/Advantages:
Fully functional, used to test product functions.
Can be used to see how the product works in a real environment.
Disadvantages:
Expensive to make.
Does not take aesthetics into account.
Fidelity:
Definition: A measure of the realism of a model or simulation, ranging from low (conceptual) to high (mock-up of the idea, close to the final product).
Contexts:
Restricted, general, partial, and total user and environment.
Advantages:
Validates ideas and provides insight for development.
Instrumented Models:
Definition: Physical models equipped to take measurements for quantitative feedback.
Examples/Advantages:
Accurate measurements related to performance.
Records dynamic behavior in controlled environments.
Disadvantages:
Time-consuming and expensive to set up.
Computer-aided design (CAD)
CAD and Modelling Techniques
Computer-aided design (CAD) is used for generating, creating, developing, and analyzing designs using computer software. It enhances the whole design cycle, from data analysis to final designs.
CAD
Definition: Used for conceptual design and layout, reducing testing and manufacturing costs.
Advantages: Accurate, cost-effective design and analysis.
Disadvantages: Requires software and training.
Surface Modelling
Definition: Photo-realistic images of a product without internal data.
Advantages: Realistic images.
Disadvantages: No internal data.
Solid Modelling
Definition: Clear representation of the final product, including internal dimensions.
Advantages: Complete data for realization.
Disadvantages: Requires detailed input.
Data Modelling
Definition: Determines structure of data, including statistical models.
Advantages: Organizes and structures data effectively.
Virtual Prototyping
Definition: Uses surface and solid modelling for photo-realistic, interactive models.
Bottom-Up Modelling
Definition: Parts are created independently and assembled later.
Advantages: Independent part design.
Disadvantages: Assembly can be complex.
Top-Down Modelling
Definition: Design starts as a concept and evolves, with components designed to meet criteria.
Advantages: Integrated design process.
Disadvantages: Can be restrictive in design changes.
Digital Humans
Definition: Computer simulations of human aspects for interaction with prototypes.
Advantages: Quick iterations, accurate human requirements.
Disadvantages: High complexity.
Motion Capture
Definition: Recording of human and animal movement to create digital models.
Advantages: Reduces animation costs, natural movements.
Disadvantages: Limited to certain motions.
Haptic Technology
Definition: Provides user sense of touch through mechanical feedback.
Advantages: Improved user performance, better product design.
Disadvantages: Expensive and complex.
Virtual Reality (VR)
Definition: Simulates real situations for interaction.
Advantages: Realistic simulation.
Disadvantages: Requires VR setup.
Animation
Definition: Links graphic screens to simulate motion.
Advantages: Visual simulation of processes.
Disadvantages: Requires animation software.
Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
Definition: Simulates unknown factors in products.
Advantages: Shows structural load, aerodynamics.
Disadvantages: Requires specialized software.
Rapid prototyping
Stereolithography (SLA) (uses laser or light to set plastic liquid)
How it works: It is a form of 3D printing using a liquid bath of resin combined with an ultraviolet laser. The ultraviolet light hits the liquid, hardening it to form the structure of the object being printed. The base plate of the bath then moves down, allowing more liquid to flow over the previously hardened liquid so the same process can be repeated until the object being printed has been completed. The ‘Sweeper’ seen in the image to the right just helps even out the height of the bath every time the laser fires.
Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM)
How it works: It takes the sliced CAD data from a 3D model and cuts out each layer from a roll of material using a laser or plotter cutter. These sliced layers are glued together to form the model, which is either built on a movable platform below the machine or on locating pins when using card.
Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) (Same as school makerbot and Flashforge)
How it works: Uses an “additive” principle by laying down materials in layers. Plastic/metal is unwound from a coil and sent to an extrusion nozzle that can turn the flow on and off. The nozzle is heated to melt the material, and the nozzle moves in horizontal and vertical directions by a numerically controlled mechanism (CAM).
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) (uses laser to set plastic powder)
How it works: It is an additive manufacturing technique that uses a high-power laser (for example, a carbon dioxide laser) to fuse small particles of materials such as plastic, metal (direct metal laser sintering), ceramic, or glass powders into a mass that has a desired 3D shape.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Rapid Prototyping
Advantages:
Decrease development time
Decrease costly mistakes
Increase number of variants of product (since each printed model takes less time to produce, the time saved can be used to develop more ideas, thus increasing productivity).
Increase product complexity (more complex and difficult shapes can be modeled, which would perhaps not be possible with hand. For example, sculpting out an accurate sphere in a material).
Increase effective communication (since the model is tangible, various aspects of the design would be easier to explain to others, as compared to CAD).
Models can also be tested, which probably would only be possible through artificial simulation for CAD designs, and thus unlike prototypes, this would only give an approximate idea.
Rapid Prototyping can provide concept proof that would be required for attracting funds (easier to explain, aesthetics can be focused on).
Disadvantages:
Some people are of the opinion that rapid prototyping is not effective because, in actuality, it fails in replication of the real product or system.
It could so happen that some important developmental steps could be omitted to get a quick and cheap working model. This can be one of the greatest disadvantages of rapid prototyping.
Another disadvantage of rapid prototyping is one in which many problems are overlooked, resulting in endless rectifications and revisions.
One more disadvantage of rapid prototyping is that it may not be suitable for large-sized applications.
The user may have very high expectations about the prototype’s performance and the designer is unable to deliver these.
Chapter 9: Raw Material to Final Product
Properties of materials
Physical Properties
These properties tend to be the characteristic of materials that can be identified through testing that is considered to be non-destructive, although some deformation is required to test hardness. This exception is often why hardness is often categorized as a mechanical property.
Mass: Relates to the amount of matter that is contained within a specific material. It is often confused with weight understandably as we use Kg to measure it. Mass is constant whereas weight may vary depending upon where it is being measured.
Weight: Relies on mass and gravitational forces to provide measurable value. Weight is technically measured as a force, which is the Newton, i.e., a mass of 1Kg is equivalent to 9.8 Newtons (on earth).
Volume: Is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance solid, liquid, gas, or shape occupies or contains.
Density: Is the mass per unit volume of a material. Its importance is in portability in terms of a product’s weight and size. Design contexts include, pre-packaged food (instant noodles) is sold by weight and volume, packaging foams.
Electrical Resistivity: This is a measure of a material’s ability to conduct electricity. A material with a low resistivity will conduct electricity well. It's particularly important in selecting materials as conductors or insulators.
Thermal Conductivity: A measure of how fast heat is conducted through a slab of material with a given temperature difference across the slab. It’s important for objects that will be heated or must conduct or insulate against heat.
Thermal Expansion (expansivity): A measure of the degree of increase in dimensions when an object is heated. This can be measured by an increase in length, area, or volume. The expansivity can be measured as the fractional increase in dimension per Kelvin increase in temperature. It's important where two dissimilar materials are joined. These may then experience large temperature changes while subjected to heat.
Hardness: The resistance a material offers to penetration or scratching. Hardness is important where resistance to penetration or scratching is required. Ceramic floor tiles are extremely hard and resistant to scratching.
Mechanical Properties
Tensile Strength: The ability of a material to withstand pulling forces. Tensile strength is important in selecting materials for ropes and cables, for example, for an elevator.
Compressive Strength: Compressive strength is the capacity of a material or structure to withstand loads tending to reduce size.
Stiffness: The resistance of an elastic body to deflection by an applied force. Stiffness is important when maintaining shape is crucial to performance, for example, an aircraft wing.
Toughness: The ability of a material to resist the propagation of cracks. It is good for resisting the high impact of other objects, e.g., a hammer.
Ductility: The ability of a material to be drawn or extruded into a wire or other extended shape. Ductility is important when metals are extruded (not to be confused with malleability, the ability to be shaped plastically).
Malleability: The ability for materials to be shaped easily. The property of a substance that makes it capable of being extended or shaped by hammering or by pressure from rollers.
Young's Modulus
Also known as the tensile modulus or elastic modulus, Young's Modulus is a measure of the stiffness of an elastic material and is a quantity used to characterize materials. It is defined as the ratio of the stress (force per unit area) along an axis to the strain (ratio of deformation over initial length) along that axis in the range of stress.
Stress-Strain Diagram
The diagram illustrates the relationship between stress and strain for a material under tension.
Key Points:
Stress = Force / Cross Sectional Area
Strain = Change in Length / Original Length
Regions and Points:
Elastic Region: The straight-line region from point A to the yield point where the material can regain its original shape after the removal of the load. The stress and strain are directly proportional in this region.
Yield Point (Point B): The point beyond which the material will not return to its original shape. This marks the transition from elastic to plastic deformation.
Plastic Region: The region beyond the yield point where the material undergoes permanent deformation.
Ultimate Stress or Fracture Point: The point at which the material ultimately fails and breaks apart.
Additional Information:
The line between points A and C is not straight. In this region, strain increases faster than stress, indicating that the material will change in length faster at these points than at any other point.
At this point C the cross-sectional area of the material starts decreasing. At point D the workpiece changes its length with a little or without any increase in stress up to point E.
Point F is called the ultimate stress point or fracture point. A material is considered to have completely failed once it reaches the ultimate stress.
Measuring when a material reaches its Yield Point is called the Young’s Modulus.
Aesthetic characteristics
Some aesthetic characteristics are only relevant to food, while others can be applied to more than one material group. Aesthetic characteristics of products make them interesting, appealing, likable, or unattractive and are based completely on personal preferences. These personal views are affected by mood, culture, experience, activation of the senses, values, beliefs, etc. They are very difficult to quantify scientifically and people's reactions to taste, smell, appearance, and texture are very different.
Definitions
Taste - The ability to detect the flavour of substances such as food and poisons.
Smell - The ability of humans and other animals to perceive odors. Consider the scene in Ratatouille (film) where he experiences the taste of food in vibrant technicolor, think about how smells evoke memories, the smell of fresh bread when you enter a supermarket, food smells making you hungry, etc.
Appearance - Related to how something looks. What a product looks like. Is it colourful? Masculine? Feminine? Funny? Sexy? Sleek? Minimal? Clean? Busy? Etc. The appearance of a product appeals to different demographics such as age, gender, culture, ethnicity, etc. Shoppers place a large emphasis on colour, so does brand recognition, e.g., Coca-Cola.
Texture - The properties held and sensations caused by the external surface of objects received through the sense of touch. E.g., smoothness of kitchen work surfaces for reasons of hygiene, tiles around a swimming pool (i.e., roughened surface to prevent slipping when wet). Hard, Soft, Abrasive, Smooth. Wood has a grain pattern, metal has a cold texture.
Colour - Is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories of colours.
Optical e.g., opaque, translucent, transparent
Colour e.g., Hot, Cold, Warm, Mellow, Bright, Vivid, Cool
Effects on emotions, e.g., sense of 'warmth' and 'coldness' i.e., 'warm' red/orange/yellow 'cool' violet/green/blue. The use and application of such knowledge in the designed environment, e.g., decoration, symbols, artefacts.
Smart Materials
Smart materials have one or more properties that can be dramatically altered, for example, viscosity, volume, conductivity. The property that can be altered influences the application of the smart material.
Piezoelectricity
How it works/what it can do:
Piezoelectricity is a term that is derived from the Greek meaning for piezo, squeeze or pressure where electricity is generated when piezoelectric material is deformed. The pressure acting upon the material it gives off a small electrical discharge.
Design contexts where properties of smart materials are exploited:
When a piezoelectric material is deformed, it gives off a small electrical discharge. When an electric current is passed through it, it increases in size (up to a 4% change in volume). These materials are widely used as sensors in different environments. Piezoelectric materials are used in the airbag sensor on a car as it senses the force of an impact on the car and sends an electric charge to activate the airbag.
Shape memory alloy (SMA's)
How it works/what it can do:
Metals that exhibit pseudo-elasticity and shape memory effect due to rearrangement of the molecules in the material. Pseudo-elasticity occurs without a change in temperature or electrical voltage. The load on the SMA causes molecular rearrangement, which reverses when the load is decreased and the material springs back to its original shape.
Design contexts where properties of smart materials are exploited:
They can be used to make products for durable and harder to break, i.e., glasses frames. The shape memory effect allows severe deformation of a material, which can then be returned to its original shape by heating it.
Photochromicity
How it works/what it can do:
Material that can be described as having a reversible change of colour when exposed to light. One of the most popular applications is for colour-changing sunglasses lenses, which can darken as the sun light intensifies. A chemical either on the surface of the lens or embedded within the glass reacts to ultraviolet light, which causes it to change form and therefore its light absorption spectra.
Design contexts where properties of smart materials are exploited:
Welding goggles/mask, cool tee shirts, "reactor light" sunglasses.
Magneto-rheostatic Electro-rheostatic
How it works/what it can do:
Electro-rheostatic (ER) and magneto-rheostatic (MR) materials are fluids that can undergo dramatic changes in their viscosity. They can change from a thick fluid to a solid in a fraction of a second when exposed to a magnetic (for MR materials) or electric (for ER materials) field, and the effect is reversed when the field is removed.
Design contexts where properties of smart materials are exploited:
MR fluids are being developed for use in car shock absorbers, damping washing machine vibration, prosthetic limbs, exercise equipment and surface polishing of machine parts. ER fluids have mainly been developed for use in clutches and valves, as well as engine mounts designed to reduce noise and vibration in vehicles.
Thermoelectricity
How it works/what it can do:
Thermoelectricity is, at its simplest, electricity produced directly from heat. It involves the joining of two dissimilar conductors that, when heated, produce a direct current. Thermoelectricity circuits have been used in remote areas and space probes to power radio transmitters and receivers.
Design contexts where properties of smart materials are exploited:
Nest was co-founded by former Apple engineers Fadell and Rogers in 2010 and foray into the home and household monitoring devices. The temperature monitors uses thermocouples to drive a thermal signal to provide data. The products form part of the interface to create smart systems that are remotely driven through smartphone apps.
Metals and metallic alloys
Extracting metal from ore
The Earth's crust contains metals and metal compounds such as gold, iron oxide, and aluminium oxide, but when found in the Earth, these are often mixed with other substances. To be useful, the metals have to be extracted from whatever they are mixed with.
A metal ore is a rock containing a metal, or a metal compound, in a high enough concentration to make it economic to extract the metal. The method used to extract metals from the ore in which they are found depends on their reactivity. For example, reactive metals such as aluminium are extracted by electrolysis, while a less-reactive metal such as iron may be extracted by reduction with carbon or carbon monoxide. Thus the method of extraction of a metal from its ore depends on the metal's position in the reactivity series:
Aluminium Extraction
Aluminium ore, most commonly bauxite, is plentiful and occurs mainly in tropical and sub-tropical areas. Bauxite is refined into aluminium oxide trihydrate (alumina) and then electrolytically reduced into metallic aluminium.
Steel
Blast Furnace using oxygen furnace and the electric arc furnace contribute to high rates of steel reusability.
Grain size
Metals are crystalline structures comprised of individual grains. The grain size can vary and be determined by heat treatment, particularly how quickly a metal is cooled. Quick cooling results in small grains, slow cooling results in large grains. Grain size in metals can affect the density, tensile strength, and flexibility.
The smaller the grains in the metal, the higher density the metal is. Higher density means lower flexibility and sometimes tensile strength. The tensile strength and flexibility will also depend on how the metal is tempered normally. The rate of cooling and the amount of impurities in the molten metal will affect its grain size:
Gradual cooling – a few crystals are formed – large grain size
Rapid cooling – many crystals are formed – small grain size
Reheating a solid metal/alloy allows the grain structure to re-align itself.
Directional cooling in a structure is achieved by selectively cooling one area of a solid.
The effect of impurities (or additives) in a molten metal can induce a large number of fine grains that will give a stronger and harder metal. This addition must be carefully controlled as too many impurities may cause an accumulation at the grain boundaries, which will weaken the material.
Modifying physical properties by alloying, work hardening and tempering
Alloying is an alloy is a mixture of two elements, of which one is at least a metal:
e.g., Carbon and Iron is Steel. Copper and Zinc (two metals) create Brass
Adding in different (materials) to metals to ultimately create a harder and strong metal.
Work hardening or cold working is the strengthening of a metal by plastic deformation. As the name suggests the metal becomes harder after the process. The metal is not heated at all. The process involves the metal passing through a set of rollers to reduce its thickness, (compressed) grains are deformed. The shape is changed, but the volume remains constant. The defects of these structures reduce the ability for crystals to move within the metal structure, becoming more resistant to more deformation as they recrystallize.
Processes include:
rolling
bending
shearing
drawing
Annealing is a heat treatment that alters the physical and sometimes chemical properties of a material to increase its ductility and to make it more workable. It involves heating, maintaining a suitable temperature, and then cooling by slowly reducing the temperature over time. Annealing is softening the metal after work hardening.
Case Hardening is hardening area processes in which the surface of the steel is heated to high temperatures (by direct application of a flame or by induction heating) then cooled rapidly, generally using water; this creates a surface of martensite on the surface. Improves hardness on the surface or case of the material while keeping the core untouched and so still processes properties such as flexibility and is still relatively soft.
Tempering is a process of heat treating, which is used to increase the toughness of metals containing iron. Tempering is usually performed after hardening, to reduce some of the excess hardness, and is done by heating the metal for a certain period of time, then allowed to cool in still air. Tempering is reducing brittleness after quenching.
Superalloys
Design criteria for superalloys:
Excellent mechanical strength and creep resistance at high temperatures
Corrosion and oxidation resistance
Creep Resistance:
Creep is the gradual extension of a material under constant force. Dependant on temperature and load.
Creep occurs as a result of thermal vibrations of the lattice. Can result in fracture of materials, superalloys to development of cavities in the material.
Oxidation Resistance:
Presence of other metals such as chromium ensures that a tight oxide film is formed on the surface.
This restricts access of oxygen to the metal surface so that the rate of oxidation is heavily reduced.
Applications of Superalloys:
Nickel-Based Alloy
Jet Engine Components (Turbine blades operate at high temperature and under extreme stress conditions. In operation, they will glow red hot; however, they must be creep resistant, fatigue, and corrosion resistant.)
Recovery and disposal of metals and metallic alloys
Car bodies and steel reinforcing recovered from concrete can be recycled into new steel.
Modern technologies are causing a significant problem:
20 million to 50 million tonnes of e-waste.
New recycling schemes directed specifically for e-waste:
Example: Samsung Washing Machine where broken parts can be taken apart and replaced with a new one.
Aluminium recycling is a huge advantage as the extraction process is so expensive/damaging to the environment; therefore, we should encourage aluminium recycling.
Classification and Types of Metals
Ferrous Metals:
Steel:
Properties: Poor corrosion resistance, tough, ductile, malleable, good tensile strength, recyclable, and relatively cheap.
Example products: Surgical tools, screws, nails, kitchen utensils, and general-purpose engineering items.
Iron:
Properties: Very ductile, strong, malleable, and long-lasting.
Example products: Basic machinery, tools, building structures, and manufacturing components of cars and automobiles.
Stainless Steel:
Properties: High initial cost, difficult to fabricate, and challenging to weld due to high carbon content.
Example products: Pipes, cutlery, and aircraft components.
Non-Ferrous Metals:
Aluminium:
Properties: Lightweight, easily worked, malleable, soft, conducts heat and electricity, and corrosion-resistant.
Example products: Aircraft manufacture, window frames, and some kitchenware.
Copper:
Properties: Conducts heat and electricity, corrosion-resistant, tough, and ductile.
Example products: Wiring, tubing, and pipework.
Tin:
Properties: Soft and corrosion-resistant.
Example products: Tin cans.
Zinc:
Properties: Forms a layer of oxide for anti-corrosion, and easily worked.
Example products: Used to make brass, steel coating (galvanizing), tanks, and anti-rust applications.
Brass:
Properties: Very corrosive, tarnishes, and conducts electricity well.
Example products: Ornamental purposes and within electrical fittings.
Timber
Characteristics of Natural Timber
Natural Timber:
Timber used directly from the tree after being seasoned (a controlled drying process). It is a composite material made up of cellulose (wood fibers) and lignin.
Greater tensile strength along the grain (fiber) than across the grain (matrix).
Classification:
Softwood:
Comes from coniferous trees with needles kept year-round.
Hardwood:
Comes from deciduous trees with broad leaves that often shed annually.
Global Distribution:
Temperate Forests: Between the tropics and polar areas, mainly in the northern hemisphere. Both hardwoods and softwoods grow.
Tropical Forests: Regions between the two tropics, generally only hardwoods are found.
Seasoning of Timber
Two types of seasoning: Artificial (Kiln) or Natural.
1. Air Seasoning:
Advantages:
No expensive equipment needed.
Small labor cost once stack is made.
Environmentally friendly, uses little energy.
Disadvantages:
Takes longer than kiln seasoning.
Requires large space.
Not always effective in modern, centrally heated buildings.
2. Kiln Seasoning:
Advantages:
Kills insects.
Precise moisture control.
Faster drying.
Achieves lower moisture content.
Defects controlled.
Disadvantages:
Expensive.
Weaker timber compared to air seasoning.
Requires skilled supervision.
High energy use.
Conversion of Timber
After felling/cutting down a tree and taking it to a sawmill:
Timber is seasoned.
Once dried, it is cut into smaller sections.
Conversion Methods:
Quartered conversion (showing two different cuts: radial boards)
Through and through conversion (tangential and radial boards)
Tangential cuts (tangent to the heart)
Bowed heart
Faults with Natural Timber
Natural woods are susceptible to movements such as:
Splitting
Cupping
Warping
Bowing
These movements can render the wood unusable.
Knots:
Formed where branches grow from the main trunk or where the bud was formed.
Can weaken timber but may be used for aesthetic purposes.
Characteristics of Natural Timber: Hardwood
Hardwood trees are mostly deciduous and characterized by broad or large area leaves.
They bear fruit such as nuts, seeds, or acorns.
Hardwood trees can take 100 years to mature.
Tropical hardwoods are not classified as deciduous but as angiosperms with similar mechanical properties of strength, hardness, and durability.
Higher density and hardness compared to softwoods.
Aesthetics of hardwoods make them desirable and often used in high-quality furniture.
Hardwoods are more fibrous and compact, leading to greater strength.
Hardwood Examples:
Beech
Colour/Texture: Light color, fine texture, straight grain.
Uses: Furniture, children's toys, tool handles. Can be steam bent and laminates well.
Teak
Colour/Texture: Golden brown, durable, highly resistant to moisture with natural oils.
Uses: High-quality furniture, outdoor furniture.
Oak
Colour/Texture: Light color, open grain, very strong, classy when treated.
Uses: Furniture, flooring, barrels.
Mahogany
Colour/Texture: Reddish-brown, easy to work with, expensive.
Uses: High-quality furniture, musical instruments.
Characteristics of Natural Timber: Softwood
Softwoods come from coniferous trees, which are evergreen, needle-leaved, cone-bearing trees such as cedar, fir, and pine.
Softwoods are often used in various construction applications and can be easier to work with compared to hardwoods.
Types and Characteristics:
Scots Pine
Colour/Texture: Light in color, straight-grained, but knotty.
Uses: DIY projects, cheap quality furniture, constructional work, simple joinery. Fairly strong and easy to work with.
Spruce
Colour/Texture: Creamy-white, small hard knots, not very durable.
Uses: Indoor work, without exposure to harsh elements. Commonly used in bedrooms and kitchens.
European Redwood
Colour/Texture: Quite strong, lots of knots, durable when preserved.
Uses: General woodwork, cupboards, shelves, roofs.
General Characteristics:
Softwoods can sometimes be harder than hardwoods. For example, Douglas Fir has higher tensile and compressive strength than many hardwoods.
Technically a hardwood, balsa wood, has mechanical weakness, low tensile strength, low hardness, and lacks toughness.
Aesthetics: Softwoods like pine are very resinous, causing resin to leak out of the timber. This resin can be sticky and messy and often appear on painted surfaces, creating a bad stain.
Exposure to sunlight can cause pine to change color, generally to a pale yellow with brown streaks.
Softwoods are prone to decaying, warping, bowing, cupping, and splitting.
Made up of tube-like cells, making them less dense and more prone to water damage if the end grain is exposed. The timber absorbs water like a sponge.
Characteristics of Man-Made Timbers
Man-made timbers are composite products that use wood lengths, fibers, and veneers, combined with an adhesive binder under heat and pressure to produce a product.
These materials offer high tensile strength, resistance to damp environments, longevity, and aesthetic properties.
Types and Characteristics:
MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard)
Properties: Smooth, even surface that can be easily machined and painted or stained. Available in water and fire-resistant forms.
Uses: Mainly for furniture and interior paneling due to its easy machining qualities. Often veneered or painted.
Plywood
Properties: A very strong board constructed of layers of veneer glued at 90 degrees to each other.
Uses: A strong board used in various construction applications due to its strength and stability.
Chipboard/Particleboard
Properties: Made from wood chips glued together, usually veneered or covered in plastic laminate.
Uses: Used for general furniture, especially where it will be covered, such as countertops and shelves.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Man-Made Timbers:
Advantages:
Availability in Large Sheets: Typically available in large flat sheets (2440 x 1220mm), making them useful for large pieces of furniture without having to join pieces together.
Good Dimensional Stability: Man-made boards do not warp as much as natural timber.
Decorative Options: Can be decorated in various ways, such as with veneers or paint.
Flexibility: Sheets of plywood and MDF are flexible and easy to bend over formers for laminating.
Use of Waste Wood: Waste from wood production can be used to make MDF, chipboard, and hardboard.
Disadvantages:
Tool Wear: Sharp tools are required when cutting manufactured boards, and tools can become easily blunted.
Joining Difficulty: It is difficult to join man-made boards using traditional construction methods, as traditional woodwork construction joints (e.g., finger or dovetail joints) cannot be used.
Flatness Issues: Thin sheets do not stay flat and will bow unless supported.
Health Hazards: Cutting and sanding some types of boards generate hazardous dust particles.
Edge Treatment: Edges must be treated and covered to hide unsightly edges and to stop water ingress. This process is called concealing edges, which helps to create an appearance similar to a solid piece of timber.
Treating and Finishing Timbers
Timber treatments and finishes are used to protect, enhance, and improve the mechanical properties of timber.
Timber Treatments:
Purpose: To improve the timber's resistance to attack and enhance its durability to a level suitable for its intended use.
Types of Attacks:
Wood Destroying Fungi: Results from moisture.
Wood Destroying Insects: Borers, white ants.
Examples: Wood preservers, creosote, stain preservers.
Timber Finishes:
Purpose: Applied to the surface of the timber to achieve aesthetics and/or functional protection.
Aesthetics: To improve the material's natural beauty.
Function: To protect from environmental impact, heat, moisture.
Process: Finished timber requires sanding with abrasive paper to close up the grain, leaving smaller gaps.
Examples: Varnish/Estapol, finishing oil, wood wax.
Timber is seasoned as part of its preparation for commercial use. This process reduces the moisture content so that it becomes workable. The remaining moisture, albeit small, means that the wood never really stabilizes and continues to swell and shrink with humidity and temperature variations.
Recovery and Disposal of Timbers
Reforestation:
Definition: The process of restoring tree cover to areas where woodlands or forests once existed.
Importance: Necessary to maintain a sustainable forest industry and prevent deforestation.
Wood Recycling:
Process: Turning waste timber into usable products.
History: Popularized in the early 1990s due to concerns about deforestation and climate change.
Benefits: Environmentally friendly form of timber production.
Prevalence: Common in countries like the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, where supplies of old wooden structures are plentiful.
Products: Recycled timber can be chipped into wood chips for power homes or power plants.
Uses for Recycled Waste Wood:
Products: Traditional feedstock for the panel board industry, animal beddings, equestrian and landscaping surfaces, play areas, and filter beds.
Glass
Characteristics of Glass
Glass is a hard, brittle, and typically transparent amorphous solid made by rapidly cooling a fusion of sand, soda, and lime.
Amorphous: Glass is an amorphous substance (a solid that is not crystalline) made primarily of silica fused at high temperatures with borates or phosphates.
Transparency: Allows light to be transmitted with minimal scattering, allowing a clear view through the material.
Chemically Inert: Lacks reactivity with other materials.
Non-toxic: Does not produce toxic breakdown products.
Brittle: Breaks into numerous sharp shards.
Biocompatibility: Continues the health of a biological environment.
Hardness: Scratch-resistant.
Aesthetic Appeal: Favourable in terms of appearance.
Electrical Insulator: Reduces the transmission of electric charge.
Cheap: Abundance of material and high-volume production in comparison to production cost.
Applications of Glass
Laminated Glass: Consists of two thin sheets of glass with an interlayer of plastic in between. It is very strong and retains shards of glass when cracked. Used in iPhone glass covers, car windshields, architectural uses, bulletproof windows.
Toughened or Tempered Glass: The outer face of the glass is in compression, and the inner side of the glass is in tension. When it shatters, it breaks into small pieces. Used for furniture like staircases and floors, and in architectural use.
Soda Glass: Has poor thermal shock (shatters when hot water is put in glass), expands quickly, is cheap to produce, and is used in drinking bottles.
Pyrex: Slow expansion/contraction, and used for cooking, test tubes, thermometers, and oven doors.
Gorilla Glass: A brand of specialized toughened glass developed and manufactured by Corning for use in mobile devices. It is designed to be thin, light, and damage-resistant.
Recovery and Disposal of Glass
Faulty and broken glass products are broken up (cullet) and reused by mixing with virgin materials to make a batch. This saves energy and also materials (virgin).
Glass does not degrade in quality in the process, so it can be repeated several times. There is very little wastage during manufacture.
Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss of purity or quality.
Plastics
Raw Materials for Plastics
Natural Plastics
Naturally occurring materials that can be shaped and molded by heat.
Example: Amber, a form of fossilized pine tree resin, used in jewelry manufacture.
Semi-synthetic Plastics
Made from naturally occurring materials that have been modified or changed by mixing other materials with them.
Example: Celluloid, a reaction of cellulose fiber and acetic acid used to make cinema film.
Synthetic Plastics
Derived from breaking down or "cracking" carbon-based materials such as crude oil, coal, or gas.
Involve chemical changes in structure, usually produced in petrochemical refineries under heat and pressure.
Example: Most present-day, commonly occurring plastics.
Raw Materials for Plastics
Modern plastics are derived from natural materials such as crude oil, coal, and natural gas, with crude oil remaining the most important raw material.
Polymers are substances made from many molecules formed into long chains.
Differences in chain bonding cause different properties in various types of polymers.
Structure of Thermoplastics
Thermoplastics are linear chain molecules with weak secondary bonds between the chains.
These secondary bonds are weak forces of attraction.
Thermoplastics can be heated and reformed because their polymer chains do not form cross-links, allowing the chains to move freely each time the plastics are heated.
Thermoplastics: Properties and Applications
Polypropylene (PP)
Properties: Light, hard, tough, impact-resistant, good chemical resistance, can be sterilized, resistant to work fatigue.
Applications: Used for medical and laboratory equipment, containers, chairs.
Polyethylene (PE)
Properties: Tough, resistant to chemicals, soft and flexible, good electrical insulator.
Applications: Widely used in various applications due to its versatility and flexibility.
HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene)
Properties: Tough, high impact strength, rigid, good electrical insulator.
Applications: Commonly used in applications requiring durability and rigidity.
ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)
Properties: High impact strength, tough, scratch-resistant, lightweight, durable, good resistance to chemicals, good electrical insulator.
Applications: Kitchenware, GoPro camera cases, toys (Lego).
PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)
Properties: Chemical resistance, high impact resistance, tough, high tensile strength, durable, excellent water and moisture barrier.
Applications: Plastic drinking bottles.
PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Properties: Good chemical resistance, weather-resistant, lightweight, good electrical insulator, stiff, hard, tough, waterproof, durable.
Applications: Pipes, rainwater pipes and guttering, window frames and fascias, electrical cable insulation.
Structure of Thermosetting Plastics
Thermosets are linear chain molecules but with strong primary bonds between adjacent polymer chains (or cross-links).
On first heating, the polymer softens and can be molded into shape under pressure. However, the heat triggers a chemical reaction in which the molecules become permanently locked together. As a result, the polymer becomes permanently 'set' and cannot be softened again by heating. Examples of thermosetting plastics are polyurethane, urea formaldehyde, melamine resin, and epoxy resin.
Material: Polyurethane
Properties:
Strong electrical insulator (resistance)
Good tensile and compressive strength
Good thermal resistance
Can be fairly hard and tough
Can be easily bonded
Can be flexible and elastic
Applications:
Wheels
Foam
Varnish
Paint and glue
Material: Urea-formaldehyde
Properties:
High tensile (tension) strength
High heat distortion temperatures
Low water absorption
High surface hardness
Weight/volume resistance
Applications:
Tableware
Worktop laminates
Buttons
Electrical casings
Material: Melamine Resin
Properties:
High electrical resistivity
Very low thermal conductivity / high heat resistance
Hard / solid
Scratch resistant
Stain resistant
Available in a range of thicknesses and sizes
Applications:
Kitchen utensils plates
Camping bowls (not microwave safe)
Kitchen utensils and plates
Laminated benchtops
Material: Epoxy Resin
Properties:
Tough
Chemical resistance (also water)
Fatigue and mechanical strength (tensile strength and compressive strength)
Electrical insulation
Temperature resistant (maintains form and strength, though some are vulnerable to light)
Can be used on metal (the adhesive)
Applications:
Construction of aircraft boats and cars
Also used in electrical circuits and general purpose adhesive
With glass reinforced plastics
Temperature and Recycling Thermoplastics and Thermoset Plastics
Thermoplastics soften when heated and harden and strengthen after cooling.
Thermoplastics can be heated, shaped, and cooled as often as necessary without causing a chemical change, while thermosetting plastics will burn when heated after the initial molding.
The non-reversible effect of temperature on a thermoset contributes to it not being able to be recycled. Heating increases the number of permanent cross-links and so hardens the plastic, so therefore it cannot be recycled.
Recovery and Disposal of Plastics
Thermoplastics:
Heat, Reshape, Cool
Thermosetting Plastics:
Landfill, Incinerate
Biodegradable Plastics:
Bury in the ground, Landfill
Nearly all types of plastics can be recycled, however, the extent to which they are recycled depends upon technical, economic, and logistic factors. As a valuable and finite resource, the optimum recovery route for most plastic items at the 'end-of-life' is to be recycled, preferably back into a product that can then be recycled again and again, and so on. The UK uses over 5 million tonnes of plastic each year, of which an estimated 24% is currently being recovered or recycled.
Recycling
Turning waste into a new substance or product. Includes composting if it meets quality protocols.
Provides a sustainable source of raw materials to industry
Greatly reduces the environmental impact of plastic-rich products which give off harmful pollutants in manufacture and when incinerated
Minimizes the amount of plastic being sent to landfill sites
Avoids the consumption of the Earth's oil stocks
Consumes less energy than producing new, virgin polymers
Encourages a sustainable lifestyle among children and young adults
Bioplastics
To reduce the problems of disposing of plastics, they can be designed to be biodegradable, known as bioplastics. These are plastics derived from renewable sources, such as vegetable fats and oils, corn starch, pea starch, or microbiota. Production of oil-based plastics tends to require more fossil fuels and to produce more greenhouse gases than the production of biobased polymers (bioplastics).
Some, but not all, bioplastics are designed to biodegrade. Biodegradable bioplastics can break down in either anaerobic or aerobic environments, depending on how they are manufactured. Bioplastics can be composed of starches, cellulose, biopolymers, and a variety of other materials.
Textiles
Raw Materials for Textiles
Fibres can be classified as being from a natural or synthetic source. A fibre is an elongated hair-like strand or continuous filament. The length exceeds more than 200 times the diameter.
Wool, linen, and cotton are short fibres, silk is a long continuous filament fibre.
Fibres can be twisted using the spinning process and converted into yarn or fibres can be used in their raw form and manufactured to create felt.
Consider absorbency, strength, elasticity, and the effect of temperature.
Manufactured from fibres, the origin can be subdivided into two sections:
Natural (organic)
Either a plant or animal origin
Examples: cotton, linen, wool, and silk
Synthetic (man-made)
Created by chemical processes
Polymer-based from oil and coal, others are from glass, metal, ceramic, and carbon
Properties of Natural Fibres
Properties of wool, cotton, and silk and design contexts in which different types of textiles are used:
Originates from plants, animals, and minerals
Are usually short fibres (staple fibres)
Can absorb moisture (e.g., sweat from skin) therefore fabrics are 'breathable'
Flammable, easy to dye, poor resilience, good conductor of electricity
Sources include cotton, wool, linen, and silk
Fibres from Plants
Cotton: Can be cool or warm to wear as fibres trap air, reducing convective heat loss. It is durable, creases easily, absorbent, dries slowly.
Linen: Stiffer handle, dries quickly, durable, very absorbent
Fibres from Animals
Wool: Absorbent, dries slowly, warm to wear, not durable
Silk: Absorbent, durable, warm to wear, soft handle
Examples of Natural Fibres
Wool
Origin: Sheep fleece, goats, alpacas, camels
End Uses: Good insulator that traps air; used in sweaters, blankets, socks, tailored suits, etc.
Cotton
Origin: Cotton boll plant
End Uses: Highly absorbent; used in nightwear, summer clothes, shirts, underwear, jeans, bedsheets, socks, towels, etc.
Silk
Origin: Silk cocoon
End Uses: High lustre; used in evening dresses, nightwear, ties, cushions, wedding dresses, etc.
Properties of Synthetic Fibres
Man-made fibres (usually from chemical resources)
Fibres produced are long and much smoother
Most are thermoplastic and will soften and harden when exposed to heat
Have low affinity for moisture, creating less 'breathable' fabrics
Sources include viscose, acrylic, nylon, and polyester
Examples of Synthetic Fibres
Nylon
End Uses: Rope, fishing filament, seatbelts, parachutes, luggage, conveyor belts, outerwear, tents
Polyester (Dacron)
End Uses: Outerwear, combined with other fibres to improve crease resistance, sportswear, hoses, sails, auto upholstery, carpets
Lycra (Spandex)
End Uses: Sportswear, combined with other fibres to improve stretch, disposable diaper, underwear
Conversion of Fibres to Yarns
In the beginning, the strands are a tangle of loose fibres
Natural fibres, except silk, will be in different lengths to symbolize the maturity of growth
Natural fibres also require cleaning and refining, and some mixing in order to homogenize the batch
The fibres are then slightly twisted and thinned out in order to produce sufficient strength for handling
Wrapping fibres around each other increases strength
The process is repeated, while lengthening the yarn
Several fibres are then called a 'single' (single strand of yarn)
Conversion of Yarns into Fabrics: Weaving, Knitting, Lacemaking, and Felting
Weaving: Undertaken on a machine called a loom with two distinct styles of thread which are interlaced together to form a fabric. Warp and weft yarns are threaded on a loom with a piece of cloth and the weft runs across from side to side.
There are different kinds and ways to produce a weave; for example, a twill weave is by alternately passing under and over one.
Knitting: Process of forming fabrics by looping a single thread (by hand with slender wires or a machine provided with knotted needles).
Made by making knots; however, the destruction of one loop threatens the destruction of the entire web, unless the meshes are reunited (because of the interlocking nature of the yarn in knitted fabrics).
Advantages include fabric can stretch, low stress on the yarn, large number of stitches per area available.
Lacemaking: Lace-work is a stitched fabric patterned with holes, and is now commonly made from cotton.
It is made by hand with a needle (called needlepoint lace) or by machines using a pin, pillow, or cushion, hence called 'pillow lace', or by a machine called a 'braid lace'.
Threads are looped, plaited, braided, and twisted together, and then backed by additional threads on an open framework.
Felting: Felt is made from animal fibres (sheep's wool, rabbit fur); however, today it can be made from man-made fibres (viscose).
The felt-making process is dependent on the kinks in the fibres and the irregularities in the surface (to see if the fibres are able to interlock together). Good wools have scales that are perfect and numerous, while inferior ones have fewer serrations (jagged edges) and are less perfect in structure.
(From wool) progressively depositing layers of cleaned and combed fibers into a large tray, each 90 degrees from each other.
Hot soapy water assists with lubrication and reduces friction, allowing the fibres to move and entangle in the scales on the fibre surface.
They then bond to form a cloth.
(Alternative) Needle felting involves combining fibres using special felting needles.
Recovery and Disposal of Textiles
Many items of clothing are manufactured and produced in developing countries. Often working conditions that many people experience who do a repetitive, low-skilled job.
Other ethical issues connected to the production and manufacture of textiles are linked to environmental issues, chemical dyes, washing, finishes, use of pesticides to grow the crops, and land usage for growing the crops and grazing for the animals.
Development of new textiles and other related technologies needs to consider the sustainability issues such as recycling and disposal.
Wastage from textiles may be categorized as either pre- or post-consumer. Pre-consumer textile waste is mostly formed of materials that are generated as by-products of production processes. Post-consumer waste mentions to clothing or household textiles that are reused or recycled instead of being disposed.
Recycling involves the reprocessing of used materials (clothing, fabric scraps, etc.) and waste from the manufacturing process.
Once all of the materials are collected, cleaned, and sorted, recyclable textile may be processed; first mechanically where the fibres are separated before being re-spinned into yarn or chemically through repolymerizing fibres to again spin into yarn.
With waste reduction, reuse, and recycling results in: Lowering purchase prices, reducing use of virgin materials, reducing disposal costs and landfill, generating less air and water pollution, keeping materials out of the waste stream, and preserving the 'embodied energy' used in manufacturing.
Composites
Composite Materials
Composite materials (also called composition materials or shortened to composites) are materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties, that when combined, produce a material with characteristics different from the individual components.
The individual components remain separate and distinct within the finished structure.
The new material may be preferred for many reasons: common examples include materials which are stronger, lighter or less expensive when compared to traditional materials. One material acts as the matrix, which can be in the form of fibres, sheets or particles with the other as the bonding agent.
Advantages:
High strength-to-weight ratio
High tensile strength
Weave of the cloth can be chosen to maximise strength and stiffness of the final component
Can be woven in different patterns to create aesthetically pleasing surface patterns
Disadvantages:
Very expensive
Requires specialist manufacturing facilities
Weaken when compressed, squashed, distorted, or subject to a high shock or impact
Small air bubbles or imperfections of the matrix will cause weak spots and reduce the overall strength
Fibres/Sheets/Particles: Textiles, Glass, Plastics, and Carbon
Laminar: Consists of two or more layers of material bonded together usually with an adhesive to form a new composite material with improved properties. The most commonly recognized laminar material is plywood.
Plywood
Manufactured from an uneven number of plies
Application where high quality, high strength, large sheet material is required
It is resistant to cracking, breaking, shrinkage, twisting, and warping
Can be used as an engineering material for architecture or lightweight stressed skin applications (marine and aviation environments)
Laminated Glass
Consists of a sandwich of two layers of glass and a polymer interlayer of Polyvinyl butyral (PVB) joined under heat and pressure in a furnace called an autoclave
When broken the PVB interlayer holds the pieces of glass together (safer) avoiding the release of otherwise dangerous shards of glass
The fracture produces a pattern of radial and concentric cracks (spider-web pattern)
Used for car windscreens
Laminar Composites
Laminates of different material joined together in a sandwich structure
Consists of a layer of thin or bidirectional fibres or metal sheet held apart by a lightweight core (foam or honeycomb-style structure)
Fibre-reinforced
Particle reinforced
Processes: Weaving, Moulding, Pultrusion, and Lamination
Weaving:
To form (fabric or a fabric item) by interlacing long threads passing in one direction with others at a right angle to them.
Molding:
Similar to injection molding, using a mix of materials. Or put under high pressure.
Pultrusion:
A continuous molding process whereby reinforcing fibers are saturated with a liquid polymer resin and then carefully formed and pulled through a heated die to form a part.
Lamination:
One of the early materials that was used as part of a lamination process was called Formica. Formica originally consisted of layers of fabric bound together with resin; later, it was made with thick pieces of paper laminated together. This toughly resistant substrate could resist heat and abrasion, while the paper opened up a wealth of possibilities for printing colors and patterns, which proved key to its success.
Spray-up:
Spray-up is carried out on an open mold, where both the resin and reinforcements are sprayed directly onto the mold. The resin and glass may be applied separately or simultaneously ("chopped" in a combined stream from a chopper gun). Workers roll out the spray-up to compact the laminate. Wood, foam, or other core material may then be added, and a secondary spray-up layer embeds the core between the laminates (sandwich construction). The part is then cured, cooled, and removed from the reusable mold.
Composition and Structure of Composites
Matrix Materials: Thermoplastics, thermosetting plastics, ceramics, metals
Design Contexts in which Composite Materials are Used
Concrete
Composition: Sand, concrete, aggregate, and water mixed together, forming a fluid mass that is easily molded into shape. Once hardened, the cement forms a hard matrix that binds the rest of the ingredients together into a durable stone-like material.
Usage: Construction (reinforced with steel) to make strong structures.
Engineered Wood
Composition: Made by binding or fixing strands, particles, fibers, veneers of boards of wood together with adhesives or other fixing methods.
Examples:
Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF)
Particle or Chipboard
Plywood
LVL: Laminated Veneered Lumber
Usage: J-joists or beams.
Plywood
Composition: Sheet material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another.
Usage: Wall paneling, flooring, and furniture.
Particleboard
Composition: Also known as chipboard, an engineered wood product manufactured from wood chips, sawmill shavings, or sawdust, and a synthetic resin or other suitable binder, which is pressed and extruded. Oriented strand board, also known as flakeboard, waferboard, or chipboard, is similar but uses machined wood flakes offering more strength.
Usage: Manufacturing of furniture and cabinetry.
Kevlar
Composition: Similar to Carbon Fibre, woven into a cloth, combined with polyester resin to be molded into various complex shapes. Known for its high strength-to-weight ratio and being five times stronger than steel.
Usage:
Body protection (e.g., bullet-proof vests, body armor)
Sporting equipment (e.g., helmets, sails for windsurfing)
Automotive parts.
Carbon Reinforced Plastic (GRP)
Composition: Made from plastic and fine fibers of glass. Also known as Fiberglass. The strands are combined with resin polymers to form extremely strong and light composite material. GRP is versatile and can be molded into 3D shapes.
Usage:
Boat hulls
Canoes
Car body panels
Chemical storage tanks
Train canopies.
Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL)
Composition: Engineered wood product that uses multiple layers of thin wood assembled with adhesives.
Usage:
Headers
Beams
Rim Board
Edge-forming material.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Composite Materials
Advantages:
Strength: Composite materials are much stronger than the original materials used. For instance, laminated glass is tougher and shatters less.
Corrosion and Chemical Resistance: Composites are highly resistant to chemicals and will not rust or corrode.
Fabrication Costs: High cost of fabrication of composites is a critical issue.
Disadvantages:
Recycling: Composites cannot be recycled easily. Most composites are thermosetting, making them hard to separate and recycle.
Scales of Production
The scale of production depends on the number of products required.
Decisions on the scale of production are influenced by the volume or quantities required, types of materials used to make the products, and the type of product being manufactured.
There are also considerations of staffing, resources, and finance.
One-off Production:
Description: One-off production is where only one or a few specialist items are required. If a prototype is made, it usually forms the basis for further testing and subsequent batch or volume production.
Advantages:
Unique, high-quality products are made.
Workers are often motivated and take pride in their work.
Disadvantages:
Very labor-intensive, so selling prices are usually higher.
Production can take a long time and can be expensive as specialist tools are required.
Economies of scale are not possible, often resulting in a more expensive product.
Batch Production:
Description: Limited volume production where a set number of items are produced.
Advantages:
Since larger numbers are made, unit costs are lower.
Offers the customer some variety and choice.
Materials can be bought in bulk, so they are cheaper.
Disadvantages:
Workers are often less motivated because the work can be repetitive.
Goods have to be stored until they are sold, which can be expensive.
Mass Production:
Description: The production of large amounts of standardized products on production lines, permitting very high rates of production per worker.
Advantages:
Labor costs are usually lower/minimal.
Materials can be purchased in large quantities so they are cheaper, providing excellent bargaining power.
Large numbers of goods are produced.
Disadvantages:
Machinery is very expensive to buy and set up for production lines.
Workers are not motivated.
Not very flexible as a production line is difficult to adapt.
Production process will have to stop when repairs are made.
Continuous Flow Production:
Description: A production method used to manufacture, produce, or process materials without interruption.
Advantages and Disadvantages: Similar to mass production with the added benefit of continuous operation without the need to stop and start.
Mass Customization:
Description: A sophisticated CIM system that manufactures products to individual customer orders. The benefits of the economy of scale are gained whether the order is for a single item or thousands.
Advantages: Mass customization uses some of the techniques of mass production. For example, its output is based on a small number of platforms or core components that underlie the product. In the case of a watch, the internal mechanism is a platform to which a wide variety of personalized options can be added at later stages of production.
Disadvantages:
Complexity in manufacturing.
Requires highly flexible production systems.
Manufacturing processes
Manufacturing Techniques
Additive Techniques:
Paper-based Rapid Prototyping: Layers of paper are cut and glued together to create a 3D shape.
Laminated Object Manufacture (LOM): Layers of material are cut and glued together to create a 3D shape.
Stereolithography: Solidification of powder using 3D printing.
Wasting/Subtractive Techniques: To remove material by cutting, machining, turning, or abrading:
Cutting: Using lasers, saws, chiseling, and drilling.
Machining: Using a router or milling machine.
Turning: Using a metal or wood lathe.
Abrading: Using sanding, filing, and grinding.
Shaping Techniques: To change the shape of the material without wasting:
Moulding: Includes injection moulding and extrusion.
Thermoforming: Heating plastics and vacuum forming, or using a strip heater to heat and bend acrylic.
Laminating: Flexi-plywood by gluing layers together over a former/shaped mould.
Casting: Includes sand casting and die casting, where materials are usually solidified after being in a liquid state.
Knitting: Used for textiles.
Weaving: Used for textiles.
Joining Techniques:
Permanent:
Welding
Brazing
Soldering
Pop riveting
Temporary (non-permanent fastening):
Fastening or joining materials mechanically using screws, rivets, bolts, pins, clips, nails, press studs, and snaps.
Advantages: Ease of disassembly without damaging materials, like installing screws.
Adhering: Gluing materials together which cannot be separated once formed.
Fusing (Welding): A permanent process involving the heating of surfaces, such as metals and plastics. Not recommended for design disassembly.
Types of Production Systems
Craft Production:
Description/Impact: This type of production makes a single, unique product from start to finish. It is labor-intensive and highly skilled, centered on manual skills. Examples include building ships, bridges, handmade crafts (furniture), and tailored clothing.
Advantages: Locally based, allowing clients to converse directly with manufacturers.
Disadvantages: This type of production is frequently slow and may require workers to have a variety of skills. It is also high in cost.
Mechanized Production:
Description/Impact: Volume production process involving machines controlled by humans.
Advantages: Less labor-intensive.
Disadvantages: Not mentioned.
Automated Production:
Automated production is the fast way of mass producing goods and services. It involves machines controlled by computers. It has several pros and cons:
Making complex decisions: Automated systems can make decisions beyond human capacity.
Speed of decision making: Automated systems can make quick decisions.
Routine, boring jobs: Many find repetitive tasks, such as working on a factory assembly line, dull and degrading, which can affect job satisfaction and maintenance of work quality.
Assembly Line Production:
A volume production process where products and components move continuously along a conveyor. Products go from one workstation to another, and components are added until the final product is assembled.
Mass Production:
The production of large amounts of standardized products on production lines, allowing very high rates of production per worker.
Labour costs are usually lower or minimal. Materials can be purchased in large quantities, providing cheaper costs and excellent bargaining power. Large numbers of goods are produced.
Machinery is very expensive to buy and set up for production lines. Workers are not motivated and not very flexible, and the production process is difficult to adapt when repairs are needed.
Mass Customization:
A sophisticated CIM (Computer-Integrated Manufacturing) system that manufactures products to individual customer orders. Benefits of economies of scale are gained whether the order is for a single item or thousands.
Provides a wide variety of personalized options at later stages of production.
Computer Numerical Control (CNC):
Refers to the computer control of machines for manufacturing complex parts in metals and other materials. Machines are controlled by a program commonly called a "G code," assigned to particular operations or processes. Codes control X, Y, and Z movements and feed speeds.
Production System Selection Criteria:
Dependent on the type of production method selected for a product. Criteria include time, labor, skills and training, health and safety, cost, type of product, maintenance, environmental impact, and quality management.
Example provided: Injection molding a product case from three parts rather than one part to make final assembly easier and quicker.
Design for Manufacture (DfM)
Design for Manufacture (DfM) means designers design specifically for the optimum use of existing manufacturing capability.
Designers need to consider designing products so they can be easily and efficiently manufactured with minimal impact on the environment.
Design for Manufacture can be a constraint on the design brief.
DfM involves Design for Process, Design for Materials, and Design for Assembly/Disassembly.
There are four aspects of DfM:
Design for Materials:
Description: This involves designing in relation to materials during processing. The selection of materials is crucial for designers. It can affect environmental impact at each stage of the product cycle, from pre-production to disposal. For example, choosing a thermoplastic may reduce environmental impact during extraction and disposal since thermoplastics are highly recyclable. Minimizing material use and using non-toxic or biodegradable alternatives can also reduce environmental impact.
Design for Process:
Description: This involves designing to enable the product to be manufactured using a specific manufacturing process, like injection molding. When designing or redesigning products, designers should consider how the manufacture of parts and components can be achieved efficiently with minimal waste. For example, injection molding is an efficient process with minimal waste produced.
Design for Assembly:
Description: This involves designing to make assembly easy at various levels, such as component to component, components into sub-assemblies, and sub-assemblies into complete products.
Design for Disassembly:
Description: This involves designing a product so that it can be easily and economically taken apart when it becomes obsolete. The components can be reused, repaired, and repurposed or recycled.
By minimizing components, assembly time can be reduced. Using standard components can decrease manufacturing time. More designers are considering how their designs can be disassembled. This means different materials can be separated for recycling, and repair or reconditioning is easier, reducing landfill waste.
Primary Characteristics of Robots
A robot is defined as an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator programmable in three or more axes, which may be fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial automation applications.
Robots have significantly impacted the labor force by replacing skilled workers with technicians who can maintain and manage large numbers of robots.
Work Envelope
The work envelope refers to the 3D space within which a robot can operate, including its clearance and reach.
This is determined by the length of a robot’s arm and the design of its axes, contributing to its range of motion.
Robots designed with flexibility can perform various tasks, while others like gantry robots move along track systems to cover large workspaces.
Load Capacity
This refers to the weight a robot can manipulate.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Robotic Systems in Production
Single-task Robots:
Advantages: Reduce the chance of error, improve learnability for the operator.
Disadvantages: Expensive relative to the outcome, long process time as only single-task robots are used.
Multi-task Robots:
Advantages: Speed up manufacturing, more efficient, variable inputs and outputs.
Disadvantages: Increased chance of error.
Teams of Robots:
Advantages: Increased efficiency and versatility, necessary for holding parts during other tasks, required for production line processes.
Disadvantages: Robots may need flexibility in orientation and task identification, more complex robots may require AI for precision guidance.
Machine to Machine (M2M):
M2M refers to communication between similar devices, essential for warehouse management, remote control, telemedicine, etc.
Components: Sensors, Wi-Fi or cellular communications, autonomic computing software.
Generations of Robots
First Generation:
Simple mechanical arms performing precise motions, needing constant supervision.
Prone to producing bad outputs if misaligned or unsupervised.
Second Generation:
Equipped with sensors, capable of synchronization without constant human supervision.
Controlled by an external control unit, but still require periodic checking.
Third Generation:
Autonomous robots with their control units, capable of operating without human supervision.
Swarms of smaller robots fall into this category, functioning efficiently as a collective intelligent system.
Chapter 10: Innovation Markets
Invention
Definition of an Invention: An invention is the process of discovering a principle which allows a technical advance in a particular field that results in a novel or new product.
Drivers for Invention/Motivation for Invention: Drivers for invention include personal motivation to express creativity or personal interest, scientific or technical curiosity, constructive discontent, desire to make money, and desire to help others. Some reasons that drive invention are:
A personal motivation to invent in order to express one's creativity or personal interest
Scientific and/or technical curiosity
Constructive discontent with an existing invention/design
Desire to make money
Desire to help others
The Lone Inventor: A lone inventor is an individual working outside or inside an organization who is committed to the invention of a novel product and often becomes isolated because they are engrossed with ideas that imply change and are resisted by others. Individuals with a goal of the complete invention of a new and somewhat revolutionary product:
Have ideas that are completely new and different
May not comprehend or give sufficient care to the marketing and sales of their product
Are usually isolated and have no backing towards their design
Have a harder time pushing forward their designs, especially in a market where large investments are required for success
Their ideas, because of how different they are, are often resisted by other employees and workers
Intellectual Property (IP): A legal term for intangible property such as "creations of the mind" such as inventions and designs that are used in a commercial setting. Intellectual property is protected by law.
Benefits of IP: Benefits of IP include differentiating a business from competitors, selling or licensing to provide revenue streams, offering customers something new and different, marketing/branding, and its value as an asset. Benefits include:
Differentiating a business from competitors
Allowing sale or licensing, providing an important revenue stream
Offering customers something new and different
Marketing/branding
Establishing a valuable asset that can be used as security for loans
Effective Strategies for Protecting IP:
Patents: An agreement from a government office to give someone the right to make or sell a new invention for a certain number of years.
Trademarks: A recognizable sign, design, or expression that distinguishes products or services of a particular trader from the similar products or services of other traders.
Copyright: A legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution, usually for a limited time, with the intention of enabling the creator (e.g., the photographer of a photograph or the author of a book) to receive compensation for their intellectual effort.
Patent Pending: An indication that an application for a patent has been applied for but has not yet been processed. The marking serves to notify those copying the invention that they may be liable for damages (including back-dated royalties) once a patent is issued.
First to Market: When a company or a person has or thinks they have an innovative idea or product, they will rush to have it on the market before anyone else. Some innovators decide not to protect their IP as an alternative strategy to ensure success by allowing them to get first to market rather than spend money on patents or waste time.
Shelved Technologies: Technology that is shelved for various reasons. Sometimes shelved technologies will be rediscovered or taken off the shelf.
Innovation
Definition of Innovation: The business of putting an invention in the marketplace and making it a success.
Reasons Why Inventions Become Innovations: Few inventions become successful innovations due to the following reasons:
Marketability: Low product demand or not readily saleable.
Financial Support: There is little monetary backing from the organization or an outsider. The invention would need more sponsors to financially aid the product.
Marketing: The process of getting products from the producer or vendor to the consumer or buyer, which includes advertising, shipping, storing, and selling. Poor marketing strategies or wrong target markets can lead to failure. The invention would need to be advertised as a product the public would want.
The Need for the Invention: Examples include alternative energy resources to combat our insatiable need for oil; however, if oil prices are low or there is a ready supply of oil, the alternative energy invention will not take hold.
Price: Affordable, cost-effectiveness, or value for money. If too expensive to purchase or manufacture, consumers may not see it worth its cost compared to its use. The product's price needs to be equivalent to the income of the specific age group that would buy the majority of the product.
Resistance to Change: People and organizations can be resistant and reluctant to change, feeling comfort and security in the familiar, thus resisting new ideas/products.
Aversion to Risk: Risk aversion is a concept in economics, finance, and psychology related to the behavior of consumers and investors under uncertainty.
Process Innovation:
Definition: Improvement in the organization and/or method of manufacture to reduce costs or benefit consumers.
Example: Automobile industry innovations such as Ford's assembly line production and Toyota's lean manufacturing.
Architectural Innovation:
Definition: The technology of the components stays the same, but their configuration is changed to produce a new design.
Example: Electric cars, Sony Walkman.
Modular Innovation:
Definition: The basic configuration stays the same, but one or more key components are changed.
Example: A new type of switch/button on a toaster. Also known as incremental design.
Configurational Innovation:
Definition: Modifying arrangements of components to improve performance, usability, and function.
Example: Toaster with new buttons, interface, dials, better heating elements, or four slots instead of two.
Radical Innovation:
Definition: Changing the paradigm of the market that the new product is produced in.
Example: The invention of smartphones changing the phone industry, Sinclair C5 electric car.
Sustaining Innovation:
Definition: Innovative ideas that are constantly updated to maintain their success. This includes new or improved products that meet consumer needs and sustain manufacturers.
Example: Evolution of the wheel from stone to modern tires.
Disruptive Innovation:
Definition: A product or type of technology that challenges existing companies to either ignore or embrace technical change.
Example: The iPod, which changed the way we managed and listened to music, and mobile phones, which liberated us from being restricted to landlines.
Innovation Strategies for Markets: Diffusion and Suppression
Diffusion:
Definition: A process where a market accepts a new idea or product. The rate of acceptance can be increased by several factors.
Examples:
Widely diffused products: light bulb, refrigerator (100%), ATM cards, Music CDs (now mp4 format).
Once widely accepted, these products often become dominant designs.
Suppression:
Definition: A process where the market actively slows the adoption of a new idea or product.
Reasons:
Difficulties competing with a dominant design.
Ambiguity over patent ownership.
Competing companies actively petitioning against a new product perceived as threatening.
Natural resistance to an unfamiliar concept.
Strategies for innovation
Act of Insight
Description: Often referred to as the "eureka moment," a sudden image of a potential solution is formed in the mind, usually after a period of thinking about a problem.
Example: Newton watching an apple fall and gaining insight into gravitation forces.
Adaptation
Description: A solution to a problem in one field is adapted for solving a problem in another field.
Example: The principle of how a hovercraft works was adapted for the hover lawn mower.
Technology Transfer
Description: Technological advances that form the basis of new designs may be applied to the development of different types of products/systems.
Example: Laser technology transferred into surgery or audio/data CDs.
Analogy
Description: An idea from one context is used to stimulate ideas for solving a problem in another context.
Example: Sonar modeled on how bats navigate and used now in ships to check depth or placement of fish.
Chance
Description: An unexpected discovery leads to a new idea.
Example: Velcro was developed when a chap walking with his dog found lots of seed pods stuck to his socks and dog. He looked under the microscope and made his discovery of the pods having many little hooks.
Technology Push
Description: Scientific research leads to advances in technology that underpin new ideas. This is where the driving force for a new design emerges from a technological development.
Example: The Sony Walkman.
Key Points:
Innovation is created, then appropriate applications are sought to fit the innovation.
Did the market ask "please give me an iPod with a download store" or a camera phone? Most likely not; so this would be a technology push.
Market Pull
Description: A new idea is needed as a result of demand from the marketplace.
Example: The car market has separate sectors for the supermini, family cars, mini-vans, executive cars, sports cars, SUVs, and so on.
Key Points:
Implemented on platforms
Platforms are open-ended and can evolve based on changing needs
Has low market-related risk because application is known
Has low technology-related risk because solution is not known
When the market asks for better safety features in a car, this would be market pull.
Strategies for innovation
The Lone Inventor
Description: The lone inventor is an individual working outside or inside an organization who is committed to the invention of a novel product and often becomes isolated because he or she is engrossed with ideas that imply change and are resisted by others.
Characteristics of Lone Inventors:
Individuals with a goal of the complete invention of a new and somewhat revolutionary product.
Have ideas that are completely new and different.
May not comprehend or give sufficient care to the marketing and sales of their product.
Are usually isolated and have no backing towards their design.
Are having a harder time to push forward their designs, especially in a market where large investments are required for success.
Their ideas, because of how different they are, are often resisted by other employees and workers.
The Product Champion
Description: An influential individual, usually working within an organization, who develops enthusiasm for a particular idea or invention and "champions" it within the organization.
Profile of a Product Champion:
Has business experience in the domain.
Can speak intelligently about the issues.
Acts as a good facilitator.
Works and plays well with others.
Accepts responsibility for the product.
Defends the team's ability to produce the product.
Is willing to make hard decisions about scope.
Treats the team as knowledgeable professionals.
Sets reasonable performance expectations.
Communicates with the team, the customer, management, sales, and marketing.
Has a willingness to learn—from everyone.
Doesn’t trust everyone; does trust the right people.
The Entrepreneur
Description: An influential individual who can take an invention to market, often by financing the development, production, and diffusion of a product into the marketplace.
Profile of an Entrepreneur:
Business acumen.
Self-control.
Self-confidence.
Sense of urgency.
Comprehensive awareness.
Realism.
Conceptual ability.
Status requirements.
Interpersonal relationships.
Emotional stability.
Roles of the Product Champion and Entrepreneur in the Innovation of Products and Systems
Sometimes, an inventor may develop skills or profiles of a product champion and/or entrepreneur. James Dyson and Thomas Edison are two examples. Edison (later it was discovered that Swan invented the light bulb) used profits from his earlier inventions to bring the light bulb to market.
James Dyson is an example of an inventor, product champion, and/or entrepreneur. He invented the cyclone technology for suction. At first, no one was interested in this radical design, so he "championed" his product until he found a Japanese company willing to take it on. Later, he used the profits to fund further improvements and novel products. He built an understanding of business.
Comparison Between Lone Inventor and Product Champion
The lone inventor may lack the business acumen to push the invention through to innovation. The product champion is often a forceful personality with much influence in a company. He or she is more astute at being able to push the idea forward through the various business channels and is often able to consider the merits of the invention more objectively.
Inventors often take the role of product champion and/or entrepreneur because:
Their product or idea is novel
Too novel or 'out there' for a company to take a risk on
Can't find a backer or company to produce it
The inventor will have to "champion" their product to different companies
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Multidisciplinary Approach to Innovation
Effective design draws from multiple areas of expertise, and this expertise can be utilized at different stages of product development. Most products are now extremely complex and rely on expertise from various disciplines. Most designs are developed by multidisciplinary teams.
Modern products such as smart phones, printers/scanners are very complex.
Requires knowledge from many disciplines.
It would be unlikely that a lone inventor would have the expertise in all the disciplines.
Most modern day designs are developed in multidisciplinary teams
Product Life Cycle
Key Stages of the Product Life Cycle: Launch, Growth, Maturity, Decline
Including examples of products at different stages of the product life cycle, including those new to the market and classic designs:
Launch: There are slow sales and little profit as the product is launched on the market.
Growth: The market gradually accepts the product, so diffusion starts and sales expand.
Maturity: Sales peak but remain steady, so maximum profit is achieved.
Decline: Market saturation is reached and sales start to reduce as well as profit.
Obsolescence: Planned, Style (Fashion), Functional, Technological
Obsolescence affects the product life cycle:
Planned: A product becomes outdated as a conscious act either to ensure a continuing market or to ensure that safety factors and new technologies can be incorporated into later versions of the product.
Style (fashion): Fashions and trends change over time, which can result in a product no longer being desirable. However, as evidenced by the concept of retro styling and the cyclic nature of fashion, products can become desirable again.
Functional: Over time, products wear out and break down. If parts are no longer available, the product can no longer work as originally intended. Also, if a service vital to its functioning is no longer available, it can become obsolete.
Technological: When a new technology supersedes an existing technology, the existing technology quickly falls out of use and is no longer incorporated into new products. Consumers instead opt for the newer, more efficient technology in their products.
Length of the Product Life Cycle Considering the Effect of Technical Development and Consumer Trends
Length of the product life cycle considering the effect of technical development.
Length of the product life cycle considering the effect of consumer trends including fashion.
Product Versioning/Generations
A business practice in which a company produces different models of the same product and then charges different prices for each model. Product versioning is offering a range of products based on a core or initial product market segments. A company can maintain a pioneering strategy and consistent revenue flow by introducing new versions or generations of a product to a market. Apple uses this strategy effectively, creating multiple versions and generations of their iPod®, iPhone®, and iPad® products.
Advantages and Disadvantages for a Company of Introducing New Versions and Generations of a Product
Advantages:
Improved consumer choice: Consumers can choose the version that suits them.
Improved consumer choice: Can choose a budget level such as Quicken tax software.
Maximize profits for the company, hopefully through increased sales.
Disadvantages:
(Not explicitly mentioned in the provided text but implied)
Higher development and production costs.
Potential market confusion with too many versions.
Rogers’ characteristics of innovation and consumers
1. The Impact of Rogers’ Five Characteristics on Consumer Adoption of an Innovation
Five characteristics identified by Rogers that impact consumer adoption of an innovation are:
Relative Advantage: The degree to which the innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supersedes.
Compatibility: The degree to which the innovation is consistent with existing values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters.
Complexity: The degree to which the innovation is perceived as difficult to understand and use.
Observability: The degree to which the results of the innovation are visible to others.
Trialability: The degree to which the innovation may be experimented with on a limited basis.
2. Social Roots of Consumerism
Issues for companies in the global marketplace when attempting to satisfy consumer needs in relation to lifestyle, values, and identity include:
Disillusionment with the system.
The performance gap.
The consumer information gap.
Antagonism toward advertising.
Impersonal and unresponsive marketing institutions.
Intrusions of privacy.
Declining living standards.
Special problems of the disadvantaged.
Different views of the marketplace.
3. The Influence of Social Media on the Diffusion of Innovation
Consumers can influence the diffusion of innovation through social media by:
Rallying support or boycotting products/systems.
Exploring crowd-funding platforms for creative products and projects such as Kickstarter, Sellaband, Seedrs, and CrowdCube.
Raising brand awareness through social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
4. The Influence of Trends and Media on Consumer Choice
Consumer choices are influenced by trends and media through various channels, including:
Advertising through magazines, television, radio, sponsorship, and outdoor advertising.
Product placement through film and television.
Product endorsement.
5. Categories of Consumers
The categories of consumers, as described in the diffusion of innovation theory, include:
Innovators: Risk-takers and the first individuals to adopt an innovation. They are willing to take risks.
Early Adopters: Hedgers who are the second fastest category to adopt an innovation.
Early Majority: Waiters who take more time to consider adopting new innovations and tend to draw feedback from early adopters before purchasing.
Late Majority: Skeptics who adopt the innovation after it has been established in the marketplace and are seldom willing to take risks.
Laggards: Slow pokes who are the last to adopt an innovation, preferring traditions and unwilling to take risks.
Graphs Illustrating Adoption
The top graph shows the number of adopters over time, illustrating how different categories adopt innovations from innovators to laggards.
The bottom graph shows market share percentage, indicating the propensity to adopt versus resistance to adopt over time for each consumer category.
Innovation, design and marketing specifications
Target Markets
When determining the target market, it is crucial to identify market sectors and segments.
Target Audiences
Differentiating between the target market and the target audience is important. When determining the target audience, consider the characteristics of users.
Establishing Characteristics of Users
Questions to consider:
Who is most likely to buy this product given its benefits?
How can the organization tap into the buying power of these consumers?
Where is the target market most likely to find out about the product?
Answering these questions helps position the product in the correct marketing and distribution channels.
Market Analysis
An appraisal of the economic viability of the proposed design from a market perspective, considering fixed and variable costs and pricing, is essential. It typically includes a summary about potential users and the market.
Market Segmentation Approaches
Geographical: Continent, country, country region, city, density, climate, population, subway station, city area.
Demographic: Age, gender, family size, occupation, income, education, religion, race, nationality.
Psychographic: Lifestyle, social class, AIOs (activity, interest, opinion), personal values, attitudes.
Behavioral: Occasions, degree of loyalty, benefits sought, usage, buyer readiness stage, user status.
User Need
A marketing specification should identify the essential requirements that the product must satisfy in relation to market and user need.
Competition
A thorough analysis of competing designs is required to establish the market need. It is essential to understand how products compare in terms of innovation, price, and marketing schemes to effectively compete.
Research Methods
Literature Search: Conducted using authoritative sources such as academic journals, books, theses, consumer magazines, government agency, and industry publications.
User Trial: A trial where members of the community who will use the product are observed using it. This usually happens in a lab environment, and participants are given tasks to perform under controlled conditions.
User research: The questioning of users about their experience using a product. Usually as a questionnaire or focus group.
Expert appraisal: Where an expert (chosen on the basis of their knowledge or experience) is asked to give their opinion.
Performance test: Where the product is tested and data is collected- crash test dummy
Design specifications
All of the requirements, constraints and considerations must be specific, feasible and measurable.
A list of requirements, constraints and considerations that a yet-to-be-designed product must fulfill.
The design specification must be developed from the design brief and research and requirements would include:
aesthetic requirements
cost constraints
customer requirements
environmental requirements
size constraints
safety considerations
performance requirements and constraints
materials requirements
manufacturing requirements
