| PDF FILE - CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE WORKSHEET |
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Select a desk tidy from the two designs shown below. |
| SELECTED DESIGN: Desk Tidy 'A' |
| Name a suitable material for the manufacture of your selected desk tidy: |
| Polyvinylchloride (PVC) |
| What properties does your selected material have, that make it suitable for use in the manufacture of the desk tidy? |
| Polyvinylchloride (PVC) is a THERMOPLASTIC. It is a tough material which can be purchased as a hard material or alternatively a flexible form. It can be welded or bonded with an adhesive. It has a range of uses including water pipes, raincoats, long play records, coating on electrical wires and many more. It can be shaped and formed through injection moulding. |
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| A prototype / one off, is to be manufactured. What is a prototype / one off? |
| A Prototype is the first attempt at manufacturing a new product. A prototype is often referred to as a working model. |
| Why is a prototype often manufactured before a new product goes on sale to the general public? |
| A prototype is used to test how a new product works and to find how it can be improved. Prototypes are often used to test public reaction to a new design. It helps determine if the new product will be successful in the market place. |
| The desk tidy is to be manufactured as a batch of twenty. What is Batch Production? |
| Once a prototype has been tested and has been
successfully evaluated, the product is ready for full scale manufacture.
This often involves manufacturing hundreds or thousands of the same
product. A batch of a hundred or a batch of a thousand may be required.
Each individual product, within a batch, should be exactly the same. Batch manufactured products include: cars, furniture, electrical goods, clothing, newspapers and books. |
| MORE INFORMATION ON SCALES OF PRODUCTION |
| Single Item / Prototype Production - Example 1 |
| Single Item / Prototype Production - Example 2 |
| Batch Production - Example 1 |
| Batch Production - Example 2 |
| Batch Production Exercise |
| Continuous Production - Example 1 |
| Continuous Production - Example 2 |
| Production Methods - Lesson Starter |
| CLICK HERE FOR RESISTANT MATERIALS INDEX PAGE |