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AQA GCSE Product Design: 1.1 - New & Emerging Technologies

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AQA GCSE Product Design: 1.1 - New & Emerging Technologies

1.1 - New & Emerging Technologies:

Industry:

  • Industrial Revolution -

    • The late 1700s
    • Due to the development of emerging technology (steam power)
    • Before this, products were made in home workshops
    • Now, new technologies allow for products to be made faster and more economically in factories
  • Modern factories usually have access to transportation methods, e.g. good roads, railways and seaports

    • Easy to get raw materials
    • Easy to transport products
  • Shops - splitting industries into areas in factories

  • Car manufacturing shops -

    • Pressing shop
    • Axle shop
    • Body shop
    • Paint shop
    • Plastics shop
    • Casting shop

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Enterprise:

  • Crowdfunding -

    • Funding a project by raising money from large numbers of people
    • Uses the internet, e.g. social media, websites
    • People donate small amounts
    • Donations - people give money for believing in the cause
    • Equity - the money buys shares in the business
    • Debt - the money is loaned and paid back with interest
  • Co-operatives -

    • A business that is owned and self-managed by its workers
    • Workers set production schedules and determine working conditions
    • Usually have higher productivity than conventional companies
    • Usually, all shares are held by the workforce with no outside or consumer owners

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Fairtrade:

  • A movement that aims to achieve fair and better trading conditions and opportunities that promote sustainability for developing countries
  • Prevents an unfair balance of power among corporations
  • Farmers have to fight against unfair larger farms which can sell for less money
  • Allows equality and income stability
  • Millions of dollars reinvested.
  • 70% of the world's food is grown on small farms.
  • Social media promotes it.

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Sustainability:

  • Meeting present-day needs without compromising the needs of future generations.

  • Finite Resources -

    • A resource that does not renew itself quickly enough to meet the needs of future generations, e.g. coal, natural gas and oil.
    • There is no natural way to bring them back when they are gone.
  • Non-Finite Resources -

    • A resource that can replenish itself quickly enough to meet our needs, e.g. water, and plants. Also, we are using renewable energy sources e.g. solar, geothermal and wind.
  • Manufacturers need to think about the life cycle of a product and how this will affect the environment.

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Changing Job Roles:

  • CAD -

    • Computer aided design
    • Easier to design
    • You can visualise the product before creation
    • It is easy to share and collaborate with others.
    • Designs won’t be lost as easily
    • Ideas easily edited
    • Much quicker than conventional drawings
  • CAM -

    • Computer-aided manufacturing
    • Reduces human error
    • Minimises waste
  • Robots help efficiency and price but can make people lose their jobs.

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Culture

  • The values, beliefs, customs and behaviours used by groups and societies to interact with one another and the world

  • We can choose some (political) cultures but are born into some others (religion)

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Production Techniques & Systems:

  • FMS -
    • Flexible manufacturing system
    • Productive, efficient conveyor-like system
  • One-off production -
    • Where only 1 of these products is made. It’s custom-made and you cannot find another one the same.
  • CNC -
    • Computer numerically controlled
    • Efficient automation, saving time, effort and money.
  • JIT -
    • Just-in-time production
    • Companies create products when requested because they aren’t commonly requested
  • Lean manufacturing -
    • Focusing on the reduction of waste during manufacturing.
    • Save on storage (less space needed)
    • A smaller amount of unused stock
    • Less waste

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How the Critical Evaluation of New and Emerging Technologies Informs Design Decisions:

  • Planned Obsolescence -
    • Where a product has been planned so it cannot be fixed so you buy more, making money for companies.
  • Design Maintenance -
    • Functions that help a product keep working correctly throughout its life
    • e.g. changing batteries, changing components
  • Ethics -
    • Low costs usually mean that they have come from abroad meaning local jobs are lost
  • Environment -
    • Designers need to consider how to reduce their impact on the environment
  • End of Life Disposal -
    • Disposal can impact the environment
    • Recycling is good as it can be reused instead of being buried or burnt.
    • Aluminium cans are recycled by a re-melt process into ingots to be made into more cans
    • Glass bottles are reused by being sterilised and then reused.
  • Biodegradable -
    • The materials naturally break down quickly when in landfill to naturally occurring substances
    • Supermarkets make us pay for plastic bags to encourage us to reuse our bags, saving the environment.

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