Enterprise

Enterprise: the ability to identify business opportunities and take advantage of them

Crowdfunding:: businesses present an idea on a platform to a large audience, with the audience choosing what to invest in

Virtual marketing and retailing:: advertising and selling on the internet

Cooperatives:: a business that is owned and run by its workers or members

Fair trade:: a scheme ensuring that farmers in LICs get a fair price for their produce

Industry

Automation:: the use of automatic equipment in manufacturing

Automation was developed:: during the Industrial Revolution

Industrial robots:: carry out various tasks

Advantages of automation and robotics:: increased efficiency, increased productivity, fewer errors, greater accuracy, lower labour costs, can perform dangerous tasks

Disadvantages of automation and robotics:: expensive to set up, expensive to maintain, leads to job losses; no human judgment, operators must be highly skilled

CAD:: software allowing users to design and model products

CAM:: manufacturing technique where computers execute CAD designs

Advantages of CAD:: more accurate than hand drawings, enables extensive testing and amendment, allows several designers to work on the same project, offers 3D models

Disadvantages of CAD:: can be difficult to learn, needs lots of computer storage, expensive software

Advantages of CAM:: highly accurate, faster, more efficient, can be used in conjunction with CAD, can operate 24 hours a day

Disadvantages of CAM:: expensive equipment, requires maintenance, leads to job losses

Flexible Manufacturing Systems:: computer numerical control machines working alongside a production line

Just-in-time manufacturing: stock is only ordered when needed

Advantages of JIT: reduces warehouse costs, reduces risk of stolen stock, reduces risk of damaged stock, stock is less likely to go out of date, helps cash flow

Disadvantages of JIT: lost economies of scale, lack of stock if delivery delays occur, increased transport costs, little room for production mistakes

Environment

Life cycle assessment:: used to assess the environmental impact of a product at every stage of its life

Extracting, producing, and processing raw materials:: how much energy use, if production damages the environment, if raw materials adhere to environmental standards

Manufacture:: how much energy is needed to make the product, how much pollution, how much waste

Distribution and Packaging:: what materials are used in packaging, how much packaging, how much pollution

Use: how will using affect the environment, how much energy will the product use, does the product produce waste, does the product produce polluting substances

Disposal: how easy will it be to dispose of, how much waste will disposal cause, how much pollution will disposal cause

Fossil fuels:: the burning of fossil fuels during manufacture releases CO2, which causes global warming

Global warming:: higher global temperatures are causing lots of environmental consequences

Pollution:: harmful chemicals or substances in the environment

Continuous improvement:: when manufacturers constantly make small improvements to their products or processes

Honda’s Green Path: a course of action to reduce the environmental impact of products

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

Sustainability

Sustainability:: meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Finite resources: non-renewable, cannot be replenished as fast as it is consumed

Non-finite resources:: renewable, can be replenished faster than it is consumed

Products must be disposed of once they have come to the end of their lives. Historically, this was done at landfill sites, but this can cause pollution.

Burning of waste: alternative to landfill, creates more greenhouse gases

Recycling: old products are broken down and reused to make new products

The 6 R’s

Rethink: considering how the product can be made in a more sustainable way

Refuse: not using unsustainable or unethical resources or processes

Repair: creating products that can be fixed easily, extending their life cycle

Reduce: limiting the amount of resources used

Recycle: considering how the product can be made from recycled materials or can be recycled

Reuse: considering how the product can be used again

People

Technology push:: new materials or techniques become available, enabling designers to create new and exciting products

Market pull:: consumer demands affecting product development

The rise in automation has lead to fewer manufacturing jobs and more skilled and service jobs.

Culture and Society

Different societal groups have different needs, which must be considered when designing.

It is important to focus on your target market, but you must not alienate or offend other groups by doing that.

Fashion impacts products and purchasing habits. Trendy products sell better faster, and uncool products do not sell. The internet is accelerating the coming and going of trends.

Those with physical disabilities or the elderly can often find products hard to use. However, adaptations can easily be made with a little creativity.