Product Design, Designing a New Vehicle - Thermoplastic Elastomers - Essay Example

Product Design Product design can be described as a process through which new products are manufactured or created to serve the needs of a customer. It involves creating new ideas from those already existing in the market and ironing them out to form a new brand of a product. Several factors are involved in designing a product with new materials (Carlson, 2010: 24). They are manufacture, which considers whether the new product can be made with the available facilities present in an industry. Sales which take into consideration the demand level of the products being produced by the customers. Purchasing which considers the raw materials specified in the production of the product in question. Cost which considers whether the company is going to incur a lot in the manufacturing process of the product or whether the available capital is there for the production process to be complete. Transport which considers the mode by which the manufactured products will availed to the customers. Last, disposal which questions the manner in which the products manufactured will be disposed from the company after being manufactured. The essay examines the design of a new product using new raw materials which advocates for environmental protection (Gruden & Berg, 2003: 169). Design Process A good design process encourages the development of better products in the market. The phases of a good design process should have a smooth transition for all major components to be integrated. Define: Companies or individuals planning to develop a new product in the market should be able to define and identify a specific need existing or not properly addressed in the targeted population before defining their new product in the market. This process involves identifying the existing needs and goals to be accomplished over a given time frame. In addition, it should explore the strategies to be used in combating the existing competition in the market (Happian-Smith, 2001: 1). Ideate: After defining the product, a company or an individual will be required to draw the concepts upon which the product will be built. The process should consist of the visual flow of the product in question and how the messages targeted for different audiences will be passed. Moreover, the process should be able to present the final outlook of the product being designed (Wang & Deb, 2011). Prototype: The process basically validates the ideate process and verifies how the product being designed will serve the different use of the users. It will also test all features to be included in the product to determine whether there are any flaws or problems that may arise in the course of the design process. This process is very significant in the design and manufacture of new products because all questions which were left an answered in the previous process or would be left an unanswered in the processes to follow are solved and effectively answered. In addition, the process allows a company designing a new product to be introduced into the market to get response of how, why and where the product should be manufactured or is important (Lefteri, 2007: 1). Build: This is the stage where the product is built from the collected data in all other processes. It also entails the completion of the product after which it can be presented to the targeted audiences. Moreover, polishing of the product is also done in this stage as it helps in visualizing whether the product has met all need of the targeted population or consumers. Analyse: This stage involves obtaining insights, user response and impact in the market. It basically involves testing the product by conducting various researches on different aspects to determine the efficacy. Designing a New Vehicle The planning stage for recycling design of the product will incorporate new parts with improved recyclability, apply the design principles to parts which will be subjected to recycling, make changes to products blueprints to further improve recyclability and give the vehicle a brand name. Over the centuries, environmental protection has been an emerging issue as globalization has forced companies to deplete natural resources with their numerous production of raw material extraction. This has forced many companies to integrate practices which protect the environment. An example is that they have strived to protect green cleaning through labeling of the new and existing products in the market. The aim of this is to ensure that the products being consumed by consumers are safe and free from any harm. Motor vehicles companies have also tried to refinish their autos by identifying substances or materials which has no negative impact on the environment. Designing a vehicle which is friendly to the environment is a need which has existed in the market for a long period without being effectively addressed. Companies designing this new kind of a product in the market will enjoy the benefit of producing vehicles at lower cost while providing quality to the targeted market. Moreover, the new product will be doing a great favor to the environment as it will be making use of waste or recycled materials. New raw materials are normally much expensive than recycled raw materials because of the process involved in the processing of the raw material. The new type of motor vehicle will work towards opening new opportunities for the company doing the production as they will be running on low costs and enjoying positive self image from the consumers. When companies manufacture their products at a lower costs than the expected costs, the prices placed on the products are bound to be favorable hence a strategy of combating the competition which exists in the market (Cresswell, 2002: 54). The components of the vehicle like the body and other areas will be made from recycled metal. This will be cheaper to the company because they will not incur major expenses in purchasing body parts which has already been manufactured or produced by other companies. In addition, recycling other used body parts to use in the manufacture of the vehicle will save the company on time issues and also expenses associated to purchasing the body parts from other stations or companies (Newbury & Lewin, 2009). A combination of solar energy and the engine will be positioned in the trunk of the vehicle to assist in reducing the levels of fuel consumptions and emission. Fuel is an expensive commodity which also depletes natural resources. Use of solar energy enables consumers and companies to achieve greater fuel economy thus protecting the environment in the process. The recycling process for the old vehicles to be used in the production of the new vehicle involves the following steps (Lewin & Borroff, 2010). Dismantling process which will involve draining fluids from the used cars other useful parts like the batteries, wheels, tires among other removed from the used vehicle. The removed parts can later be auctioned to other individuals in need of the spare parts to enhance or repair their vehicles. Crushing process involves breaking the parts of the used vehicles into small pieces through such methods like pressing, pounding or grinding it using a machine. Shredding process follows the crushing process. It involves cutting the crushed parts into small strips. Resource recovery it is the final step where the shredded parts are reconstructed into various parts of forms to be used in the manufacture of the new type of vehicle. The engine of the vehicle will be smaller in size compared to other normal vehicles because of the two alternative sources of fuel which it will be using. In addition, regenerative breaking will be designed for the vehicle to help generate electric energy which will be produced while it is in motion. In addition, several control devices will be integrated into the vehicle to enhance the ventilation of air inside, performance, exhaust by the help of modern computer which will be controlling the rate at which these elements will be working. Diagram above shows how energy will be generated from the new vehicle The features of the vehicle will allow the customer to either use the fuel energy or the solar energy. A switch will be built to allow the customer to switch to either of the two options mentioned hence allowing users to deliver the best performance for all conditions that the vehicle will be subjected to. Wire gears will be installed into the vehicle to allow the features present to shift progressively. They will be characterized by being more responsive and reliable compared to other features in ordinary cars. The headlamps will be designed with LED to reduce the amount energy while emitting bright lights for visual and traffic purposes. This will assist in saving the energy stored thus helping the user to economize money being spent from his pocket (Santin, 2007: 129). Because most customers value quality for their money, the interior design of the vehicle will be created to guarantee luxury by providing convenience and safety features to the user and other passenger within the vehicle. Variables within the vehicle will be designed to function electronically hence enabling the user to increase speed without other passengers in the vehicle noticing the change. Moreover, luxury within the vehicle will be enhanced by designing front headrests with the help of the dynamic integrated management. A premium audio system with Bluetooth phone systems, cruise control and multiple information control to enable the user enjoy his ride even in the presence of harsh weather conditions (Watson, 2011). The tires fixed in the car will be made from byproducts obtained from plants. it will be designed with microbes which have the potential of converting sugar into rubber that is environmentally friendly. This will help in saving rubber which is scarce commodity and reduce the costs incurred by companies manufacturing tires in collecting and processing the natural and synthetic rubber. Thermoplastic elastomers will be used as corner materials for corners of a vehicle’s door and other components in the engine. This is because the raw material is easy to use because of their light weight. Moreover, the manufacturing process is not demanding hence useful in saving the resources present in an area. Semiconductor materials will also be used in designing the vehicle because the computer used in controlling various elements of the car uses a large amount of energy(National Research Council (U.S.) 2012: 317). The materials will work towards saving the amount of energy used by the computers. The bumbers used on the vehicle will be recycled from other cars as they are also important in absorbing the impact of collision in case of an accident. There will be a new paint removal technique which will be used in increasing the rate at which bumbers from other cars are recycled for use by the vehicles being designed. Bibliography CARLSON, K. (2010). 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