Product Disassembly exercise + Reflection

It's interesting to see so many materials are used to build this 1 product, The use of ABS for robust machine is an effective way, Im thinking if they use the same materials it will be easier for the users to waste it later, I also find the product very hard to disassembly in which it will impact its re-usability as it is harder to fix separate parts. I think the use of less screws and more mechanical fits would be better, in term of disassembling as well as for fixing some parts. 

Week 4- Draft posters and peer comments

Comment from Cormack representative: it's a good solution and the cap will be cheap and quick to manufacture. The cap has to be made out of polyethylene so that it can be injection moulded. 

Tutor comment: i have to show more empathy towards the users using existing packaging. Line work should be shown in the poster and show the justification of why 2kg of rice is worth to design its packaging and justification on the use of materials as well. 

Peer comments: Ning Sun: the packaging is creative, the double handle does help the user to be able to pour the rice easily. The cap does help to minimalize the use of other sealing thing such as rubber bands, the stand up pouch make it easier for the user to store the rice

Ren Zi Han: the packaging may need larger surface to the 'lift' part of the cap to make it easier for user to lift it up, other than that it is a quite innovative idea to design this packaging as the existing one will need to use scissors to open. This will make the arthritis person to open the cap more easily without the need of scissors. 

Life Cycle Analysis - Video Reflections

Video 1:
http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/products/whole-systems-and-lifecycle-thinking

Video 2:
http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/products/improving-product-lifetime

Video 3:
http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/products/lightweighting

Video 4:
http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/products/green-materials-selection

Video 5:
http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/products/energy-efficient-design

Sustainable designs should begin with identifying the big issue with the biggest impact on the environment within that whole system and life cycle. we have to identify and look closely at each steps that compile a system and analyze the processes. From the analysis, we analyze the problem and this processes can include analysis from different departments such as marketers, engineers, consumers to find out how a product is used and perform. The solution can be labelled as innovation design as the designer tackle the largest impacting issue in the system with strategies, and addressing the entire life cycle with improvements.

This is a personal rebuke for me as often we as designers only focus on 1 aspect of sustainability rather than looking at a product as a whole system. I found this video very helpful in helping me to be more thoughtful and innovative in trying to understand the problem and solve it in a more thorough ways.

The second video shows another way to increase product sustainability, in which by increasing its product lifetime. Another insight that i gained was to use the materials responsibly according to its product lifetime. For example, use recyclable, biodegradable materials for short product lifetime (food packaging) and use stronger materials for longer lifetime products. Another way to increase product lifespan is using upgrading and repairing. That way, it can minimize the waste to the landfill.

The third video conveys another way to design sustainable product is by using lightweight materials as it will be good for sustaining resources, less negative impact from production to disposal, and lower costs. Reducing the use of materials can also be done by maximizing the strength of the material/product, such creating ribs in plastics, trusses and hollow parts in steel, and other more solutions to improve the geometry of the product. However lightweight materials shouldn't be used if it means that it will be harmful for the users.

The fourth video helps us on how to select a green materials choice. The first criteria was to choose a greener material that use less energy to manufacture for example bamboo. Sustainable design means also to consider the origin of the material and its ecological impact, it is encouraged to get materials from certified suppliers, because they have the best program for sustainable resources and they conform to regulations.

The fifth video shows that sustainable design means less energy required. We can see it by trying to understand the use of energy. Sustainable design using efficient energy, saves – time, cost, material, and the product will reap higher performance.

The sixth Video shows that transport and manufacturing process has the biggest impact environmentally as it produces high wastes. The greenfly helps us to analyze the impact of a product in its life cycle.

Conclusions: There are so many ways for designers to design a sustainable product innovation. Creating sustainable products are not merely reducing the materials of the final products, but choosing better manufacturing decision and using a smarter choice of materials. The impact of sustainable design is also not merely to conserve the natural resources but the good sustainable design will improve performance too. Therefore, as designers, we have to see and analyze the problem of a product as a whole system for us to gain insight and innovation on how to improve the products sustainably.

Whole Systems and Lifecycle Thinking

Whole Systems and Lifecycle Thinking

Whole Systems and Lifecycle Thinking

Whole Systems and Lifecycle Thinking

Week 2- Rice Packaging working progress & Development

Last week, I was suggested to develop the rice packaging concept and the suggestion was to design a stand up pouch packaging for arthritis patient. I have developed an idea (and maybe improved along the journey) of a stand up pouch packaging for 2 Kg rice (which is consumed for 60 serves) that will be easier to open for the arthritis patient.

60 serve of 2 Kg of rice

The materials for the inside pouch is laminated polyethylene plastic
the benefits are: 
-its ability to stand up on a shelf for maximum sales impact through its packaging pouch design. 
-use 75% less plastic and can be flat packed for transport and disposal (lower warehouse cost)
-perfect for printing as well 

The outer layer is made out of recycled cardboard, the front part can be teared out and folded to make a box for measuring cups and the back part works as a handle/ support, making it easier for the user to pour out the rice. 

The top cap is made out of polyethylene. The cap has push cap mechanism, which results in the ease to open (rather than twisting action) it prevents the user from spilling the rice and allowing the user to reseal the packaging with easiness. 

Tutor's comment:

Can this be monomaterial rather than multimaterial?

A 2kg bag is too small to justify such extravagant use of materials.

(In our household a 1kg bag goes straight into the rice cooker, so there wouldn’t be need to re-seal. In your case it might be more sensible to have 2pcs 1kg bags which are disposable – less materials, less complexity, less rituals)

The planning for next week: 
-trying to make it monomaterial, research what has existed in the market and try to do some emphatic test for the exisiting packaging
-Designing a plastic cap that can easily lift up.

First Research and Concept Presentation (5th August 2013)

Today is the first studio research and concept presentation, Here are the presentation i have presented.

 

 

Mar: The tutor suggested me to go with the Rice packaging concept as they are innovation opportunities that i can develop for this project. Another suggestion being made was for me to consider thin film stand up pouch packaging to minimize the use of materials and flat packed for disposal. 

Progress findings:

My finding is that 2 KG of rice is to serve up to 60kg of rice. It means that it is quite worth it to design a sort of plastic cap that can make the openings easily, since most of the packaging at the moment are hard to open and require scissors to open. Another observation that i found, they use tape to re-seal the packaging and i found it very inconvenient. So i am hoping to design a cap that is easy to open at the same can seal the packaging properly to protect the content of the rice. 

Peer comments: 

Antony Chen: The idea of a push button is good, however the concept shown for the rice packaging is actually gonna take lots of materials. you should consider how to minimize the materials at the same time make it easier to people to use. I like the band-aid concept, although maybe you can make the scroller bigger to make it easier for people to scroll. 

Clement Yoong: the band-aid concept is quite innovative, however you need to consider the hygiene issue regarding the use of cutter in the packaging. Maybe for improvement you can have a bigger scroller, Rice packaging is a better choice to pursue since there are not so many good rice packaging out there. However, the use of blow moulded plastic means more expensive manufacturing.