4.3: Scales of Production

4.3
Scales of Production
Essential idea: The scale of production depends on the number of products required.


One-off production
One-off production is where only one for a few specialist items are required. If a prototype is made then it is usually part of the realization of the product and so the next step after testing would be batch or volume production.

In one-off production a single (or very few) product (s) is designed and made to a client's specification. Labor and material costs are high, and a high level of design and manufacturing skills are needed. An example of one-off production would be a made-to-measure wedding dress or a commissioned piece of furniture.

Custom made to fit the customer or consumer

Manufacturing costs are high and labor costs are high.

Examples of one-off production

Batch production
Limited production volume - a set number of items to be produced. There is a set amount of products made or manufactured.

Batch production set quantities of a product are manufactured to order. Batch production requires a high-level of design, pattern making and sampling skills. Materials are cost-effective and manufacturing costs are lower than one-off production. 

• automation is required eg. templates
• Making products in set quantities

Garments are designed to fit a range of standard sizes and shapes. The quantity varies from a set of four cushions made by a designer or maker to 20,000 jumpers made for a department store.

Cars may be manufactured in batches

Examples of batch production

Continuous flow production
Definition: A production method used to manufacture, produce or process materials without interruption.

MASS PRODUCTION is the industrial-scale manufacture of large quantities of products, usually on a production line. Standardized production mean that it is suitable for products that rarely need to be redesigned. Mass production is used for products that are needed in very large numbers, such as socks or jeans. Often, products are made overseas where labour costs are lower. 

• high set up costs (machinery)
• low unit costs

CONTINUOUS-FLOW MANUFACTURING is when many thousands of identical products are made. The difference between this and mass production is that the production line is kept running 24 hours a day, seven days a week to maximize and stopping the production process. The process is highly automated and few workers are ever required.

Production lines

Choosing a production method
The best method of production depends on the type of product being made and the size of the market.

• One off production - service sector such as tailors or manufacturing jewellers, one off production is the best production method
• Batch production is used to meet group orders, and batch orders. Appropriate for bakery and clothes manufacturers
• Flow/continuous production is used to produce everyday standardised items such as soap power and canned drinks.

LEVELS OF PRODUCTION:

Advantages and disadvantages of different production methods

4.2f: Composites

4.2f
Composites
Essential idea: Composites are an important material in an intensely competitive global market. New materials and technologies are being produced frequently for the design and rapid manufacture of high-quality composite products. Composites are replacing more traditional materials as they can be created with properties specifically designed for the intended application.

A composite is composed of two or more materials with one acting as the matrix and the other acts as the reinforcement (fibers/sheet/particles).

Form: fibres/sheet/particles and matrix
Composites are a combination of two or more materials that are bonded together to improve their mechanical or physical properties. Composites can be investigated as a whole but breaking them down into 3 key areas is most useful to achieve a detailed understanding - form, process, and composition. 

Textiles: Fiber

• Fibers can be spun into filaments, string or rope, used as a component of a composite material or matted into sheets to make such products as fabrics, paper, or felt.
• Synthetic fibers can be produced very inexpensively and in large quantities, compared with natural fibers.



Carbon Fiber Textiles

• Woven fabrics and other reinforcements are used in conjunction with resins (the matrix) to produce composite materials which combine the strengths and overcome the weaknesses of two (or more) materials to produce very strong materials, such as carbon fiber (CF)

Sheet: Glass

• Glass is produced using silicon dioxide, sodium oxide and calcium oxide, and is generally made into sheets.
• When glass is laminated then it becomes a glass composite because there is an interlayer between the glass sheets made from PVB [polyvinyl butyral]. When the glass is shattered the interlayer keeps the glass layers bonded, preventing the glass breaking up.

Particles - Metals and Concrete

• Particle re-inforcing in composites is a less effective of strengthening than fiber reinforcement.
• Particulate reinforced composites achieve gains in stiffness primarily, but can also achieve increases in strength and toughness & wearability in terms of concrete composites.
• Particulate reinfoced composites find applications where strength, toughness, nad hadness may need to be increased.

Matrix -Carbon fiber

• There is a reson that a material like carbon fiber can be strong and lightweight at the same time. It is related to the atoms that make up these materials and the way that these atoms bond together.
• As with all composites there are two categories of constituent materials, matrix and reinforcement. The matrix for carbon-fibre is an epoxy resin that surrounds and supports the reinforcement materials ie the woven CF fabric.

Carbon fiber polymer structure

Process: weaving, moulding, pultrusion and lamination

Weaving 

• Woven carbon fiber is most suitable for applications requiring a high strength-to-weight ratio.
• Carbon fiber is stiff and strong but remains very light. Replacing steel in many applications, its up to 5 times stronger and up to two thirds lighter. Further to its incredible strength and weight properties carbon fiber products offer distinct aesthetic value.

Moulding

• Hand lay-up is an open molding method suitable for making a wide variety of composites products including: boars, tanks, bath ware, housings, architectural products, and many other products ranging from small to very small to very large. 



Spray-up Molding

• Production volume per mould is low and is feasible to produce substantial production quantities using multiple moulds.

Hand Lay-Up

• Spray-up is an open mold method similar to hand-lay up in its suitability for making boats, tanks, for transportation, and other items in a large variety of shapes and sizes. A chopped laminate has good conformability and is sometimes faster than hand lay-up in molding complex shapes. 

Pultrusion

• Pultrusion is a continuous process for manufacture of composite materials with constant cross-section. The term word, combines 'pull' and 'extrusion'. As opposed to extrusion, which pushes the material, pultrusion works by pulling the material.
• Raw materials are a liquid resin mixture (containing resin, fillers, and specialized additives) and flexible textile reinforcing fibers. The process involves pulling these raw materials rather than pushing, through a heated steel forming die using a continuous pulling device.

Pultrusion is a molding process where fibers are saturated with a liquid polymer resin & pulled through a heated die to form a part.

Pultrusion process

Lamination

• One of the early materials that was used as a 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 with melamine. This tougher substance 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.

Formica Laminate Sheet

Composition and structure of composites: concrete, engineered wood, plywood, particleboard, fibreglass

Kevlar, carbon reinforced plastic, laminated veneer lumber (LVL)

Volumetric Drawing Skills Projects (1)

Sketching an Everyday Object: Basics of Cube & Perspective Drawing

through shaving dimensions of a 'box' (cuboids/cubes)

Example of this art technique

For this sketching project I chose to draw a standard blender, as I wanted to explore vertical dimensions and sketch realistically; being a skill I aim to develop in this DT course. I started with basic shapes - I drew a cuboid around the blender to get an estimate of its dimensions, and perspectives (shown on the right) and then shaved away at the outlines of the cube to create an outline of my blender. I drew the initial cube in 2 point perspective, according to the angle that the blender was angled at. The right image represents the starting of the sketch; a simple cube (in my case, a cuboid).

I then added details and buttons to the blender and outlined it in pen (using the technique of 'spider lines').

Sketching an Everyday Object: Basics of Sphere Drawing

For this sketching activity I drew a glass jar to practice drawing cylinders. This sketch came from a still object in front of me, instead of a picture (like the sketch of the blender above).

I started this sketch with a simple cylinder and then started to add details and refine the sketch. I personally think that my proportions are slightly off in this sketch, maybe due to the inaccuracy of dimensions, so and so forth.

Basic foundations of cylinder

From the basic sketch of the cylinder I added the glass details of the jar and tried to make it appear more volumetric. My sketch may not have appeared as accurate because my top and bottom ellipses [of the cylinder] may not have been as accurate.

Tough Mudder Water Bottle Project: Concept Designsdesigning a water bottle for a thrilling, vigorous and intense run

Water Bottle Concept Designs

This recent design project is focused on creating/designing a bottle that encompasses the brand of the run (Tough Mudder) and ergonomic functions that will be useful to the target consumer; which in this case are runners and athletes who are participants of the run. 

I have designed 5 different bottles that are initial concepts that I am likely to develop further with materials and other aspects that has to be considered for the bottle design. The designs were started through simple cylindrical drawing, similar to the project above. The art techniques I added consisted of spider lines and adding magic markers to highlight and lift things off the page, making my design more eye-catching and interesting.

8.4: Sustainable innovation

8.4
Sustainable innovation
Essential idea: Sustainable innovation facilitates the diffusion of sustainable products and solutions into the marketplace.

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.

Complexity and timescale of sustainable innovation
Manufacturers and governments have difficulty in achieving close relationships due to differing understandings of the concepts of sustainability and the timescales necessary for its achievement and maintenance.

Complexity: Sustainable innovation relies on cooperation between different stakeholders such as the government and manufacturers. It is a complicated/ intricate process that takes a long time to implement. 

• 3 P's - people, planet, profit
• Environmental considerations
• Stakeholders 
• Environmental footprint

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 (depending on the nature of innovation).

Top-down and bottom-up strategies

Top-down strategies
Different strategies for innovation: top-down

1. Strategies are implemented from the 'top' such as global or national government initiatives.
2. Management of resources, finances, higher ups
3. It provides targets and measures for sustainability
4. When considering sustainable innovation, designers are usually more comfortable with top-down strategies as it means investment and resources are more predictable and reliable
1. eg. government legislation for environmental impact margins

At its most basic, this is the breaking down og a system into component parts. From a corporate strategy perspective, a top-down strategy means that the leadership level will determine the goals and how much each department or individual employees will contribute to meet those goals. 

• designers are more comfortable with top-down strategies as it means investment and resources are more predictable and reliable.

Difference between top-down and bottom-up

Bottom-up strategies
Different strategies for innovation: bottom-up

1. Strategies implemented from the 'bottom' such as regional or local (city or town level)
2. 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.

At its most basic, this is the piecing together of components or systems in order to give rise to a more complex system or product.  From a corporate strategy perspectives, a bottom up strategy methodology means that the leadership level will determine the overall goals, but the workforce will assist in developing the mechanisms and ideas to meet that goal;

• regional/ town level local initiatives
• generally enthusiasts for the projects
• changing of associated policies and changing political scene may lead to issues.

Government intervention in innovation

• Regulation

Setting and policing rules to avoid or limit environmental issues caused by undesirable technologies. For example, Renewable Energy Law relates to the issues of development and implementation of renewable resources.

Renewable energy law

Philippines Renewable Energy law

• Education

Providing consumers with information and guidance in the choice of products and services that are more sustainable.

Schools embrace the SDGs

• Taxes

To penalize environmentally damaging technologies and influence consumer choice of sustainable products and services.

• Subsidies

To stimulate and support sustainable innovations. Sustainable innovation can cast the company profits so governments offer financial help or tax breaks.

The US Environmental Protection Agency

Macro energy sustainability
Macro energy sustainability focuses on how a nation utlizes energy in a sustainable manner. 

• May be influenced through international treaties and energy policies, instruments for change and disincentives, and national systems changing policies when government leadership changes.
• Macro-sustainability is the area of sustainable development that focuses on how a nation, region or the entire world would establish large scale behaviours for sustainability; the Kyoto Protocol would fall into this category.

EXAMPLE: KYOTO PROTOCOL

Micro energy sustainability
Micro energy sustainability focuses on local initiatives. It can be influenced by the role of the government in raising awareness and changing attitudes, and promotion of the individual and business action towards energy sustainability. Micro energy sustainability can be influenced by;

• the government raising awareness and changing attitudes
• promotion of the individual and business action 
• local governments
• CHP - combined heat and power

Combined heat and power (Microgeneration Technologies)

Energy security
Energy security can be influenced by energy demand/supply trends and forecasting, demand response versus energy efficiency, and smart grids.

Energy security is the association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption. Access to cheap energy has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven distribution of energy supplies among countries has lead to significant vulnerabilities.

EU energy security

• Interdependence on countries for energy
• Some countries have more natural resources than others.
• Energy demand:
• The flow of energy over the course of a certain period of time is rarely constant
• there are particular periods during the night where energy use is at a minimum.
• It is important to target and predict energy patterns because overconsumption of natural resources lead to a deficit of sources for energy.
• Energy cannot easily be stored = energy wastage
• Demand and supply trends need to be predicted carefully.

Smart grid

A smart grid is a modernized electrical grid that uses analogue or digital information and communications technology to gather and act on information, such as information about the behaviors of suppliers and consumers, in an automated fashion to improve the efficiency, reliability, economics, and sustainability of the production and distribution of electricity.

8.3: Sustainable Design

8.3
Sustainable Design
Essential idea: Sustainable design is a philosophy of developing products in line with social, economic, and ecological sustainability principles.

Green design versus sustainable design

• Green design (short scale) : designing in a way that takes account of the environmental impact of the product throughout its life.
• Products that have little or no affect on the environment
• Cradle to grave approach
• Shorter (than sustainable design) therefore easier and cheaper to address environmental concerns in products
• Incremental idea generating techniques are feasible as possibly only small changes need to be made

• Sustainable design (long scale): the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of social, economic, and ecological sustainability,
• Deals with TBL (triple bottom line) sustainability, economic, environmental and social
• Cradle to cradle (life to a new life)
• Longer timescale which can affect the R&D stage of the design process, and increases costs.
• Idea generating techniques are more radical to re-think the nature of the product and how it works

Datschefski's five principles of sustainable design: cyclic, solar, safe, efficient, social
thm

He came up with 5 principles as a holistic approach to sustainable design, but not all five principles will apply to all products.

Principles of sustainable design

• 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 form only renewable energy sources that is cyclic and safe.
• Safe – By-products products of the 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 celled 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 practises, fair trade principles and natural justice.

4.2c: Glass

4.2
Glass
Essential idea: The structure of glass is not well understood, but as more is learned, its use is becoming increasingly prominent in building materials and structural applications.

Characteristics of glass
Most glass is a mixture of silica obtained from beds of fine sand or from pulverised sandstone; an alkali to lower the melting point, usually a form of soda or, for finer glass, potash; lime as a stabiliser; and cullet (waste glass) to assist in melting the mixture.

• May be brittle - tensile stress may cause glass to break
• Transparency - allows light to pass through thus allowing you to see the contents through the glass
• Strength: LOW tensile strength but HIGH compressive strength
• Hardness: high hardness, won't scratch readily.
• Non-Toxic due to its un-reactivity therefore suitable for food storage.
• Glass is non-porous (not allowing liquid or air to pass through it) and can be made incredibly smooth, making it easy to sanitize and sterilize (specifically in pharmaceutical glassware)

Applications of glass
LAMINATED GLASS: Laminated glass consists of two thin sheets of glass that have a sheet of plastic glued between them. (laminated means layers) 

Laminated glass constrains glass from shattering

TOUGHENED OR TEMPERED GLASS: Tempered or toughened glass has been heat treated - with the outside of the glass being held in compression while the inside is in tension. this is achieved by heating the glass to almost melting point and then chilling the outside of the glass with air jets while the centre remains hot and plastic.

Difference between tempered glass and float glass

PYREX: The composition of Pyrex has been altered to improve its thermal shock resistance properties, therefore expands and contracts less than soda glass.

Applications of Pyrex glass

SODA GLASS OR SODA-LIME GLASS: Most manufactured glass is a soda-lime composition used to make bottles, tableware, lamp bulbs, and windows and plate glass. This makes for a cheaper glass. 

APPLICATIONS OF GLASS

Recovery and disposal of glass
Glass can be recycled endlessly as it has been for many years.  

Recycled glass is known as cullet which is added to new raw materials to make new glass.

It reduces the energy required thus the costs in producing new glass.

When recycled the glass is separated into the same colours groups (due to chemical compounds) then are crushed .

Improves environmental concerns such as the extraction of raw materials, energy consumption, and reduced pollution.

It is continuously recyclable

Recycling process for glass

DISPOSAL: It is estimated that it takes 1 million years for glass to degrade, however it does not contaminate soil in the same way as other materials due to its chemical resistance.

RECOVERY: Off-cuts and faulty glass products are broken up (cullet) and are reused by mixing them with virgin materials to form the 'batch'.