Design and innovation summary PDF

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ABOUT DIF CO. ( we are the team of engineers employed by DIF.Co) – DIF is actually the subject name DIF.Co designs, manufactures and supplies services and equipment in one-off and volume runs, as well as sourcing from other manufacturers. DIF.Co employs teams of engineers who work in cross-disciplinary teams to design products and services. They also have a number of employees with trade level qualifications who work in their workshop, manufacturing those products built in-house. The workshop is set up to work with wood, plastic, metal and fibreglass. They can do inhouse vacuum forming, screen printing, industrial sewing, metal work and machining. DIF.Co employs entry level programmers with skills in open source software and application design. They have previously outsourced development and production and will consider this with suitable justification but the preference is for in house development of innovations. Typically, for any project, DIF.Co looks at a reaching breakeven within 2 years unless the design team can justify otherwise. On a new idea, DIF.Co are wiling to invest $100, 000 if the project passes through to the development stage (iterative stage gate process). That is, they will spend this to take the project from scope to launch. This includes all costs of development including time and resources for the various groups (engineering, IT, product management, etc), as well as, overheads (senior mgt, office space, electricity, etc). It does not include any costs for each sale once the product has launched.

Upon further analysis, there was room for improvement and opportunities that can increase revenue for the customer we are selling our product to whilst providing a safe environment for commuters during this pandemic. Not only does this idea sustain itself during this pandemic but continue long after the pandemic subsides. We incorporated static and digital advertisements within our partitions. This can include promotional material for public transport, social distancing and hand hygiene information or even updates about train schedules or next station. A problem with this design aspect that can be explored and altered is to have a button for the ad screens to be switched off or adjust the brightness as per commuter choice. Another important aspect that had to be included was auto-sanitisation. This provides the opportunity for thorough sterilisation of the spaces used by commuters within trains. However, employees who normally clean the trains will need to also clean the partitions first, after which when the areas are vacant the autosanitisation can be turned on. Auto-sanitisation needs to be safely handled, therefore can only be used when the train is completely vacant to reduce human exposure to the chemicals emitted. Also to create awareness that auto-sanitisation has been activated adding LED lights in future iterations has been considered. A maintenance guide will be provided to our customer to assist in troubleshooting any errors with digital advertisements, auto-sanitisation and repairing the partitions. Also any upgrades for the digital advertisements will be processed through our request to the outsourced manufacturer. The o

The product is feasible in the context (product for Australian Covid19 risk mitigation, management or recovery designed and manufactured by DIF.Co) *

Details describing the product design and how this has been optimised for efficient and effective manufacture, assembly, maintainability, safety, useability etc. NB Describe any design iterations and rejected design options as evidence of your design optimisation.  

The design brief clearly articulates the features of your product with emphasis on innovation Where applicable, the brief makes it clear how the product has been designed with considerations of:  efficient/ effective manufacture  assembly  maintainability  safety

   o o

sustainability useability .. not all of these will be applicable to every product Design iterations and rejected design options are discussed as evidence of design optimisation with justifications for decisions * The design detail is sufficient to understand how to manufacture the product

Product Design Features The initial concept of our product was to increase the capacity within public transport especially trains, to support the government regulations of physical distancing and maintaining hygiene. The restrictions within trains has contributed to the reduction of commuters using public transport which in hand reduces revenue within the transport industry. We identified an opportunity to increase revenue for the customer we are selling our product to whilst providing a safe environment for commuters during this pandemic. Probing into this problem area our team explored the option of creating more space by inserting partitions with static or digital advertisements and an auto-sanitisation component, expanding on the idea of an existing product- bus driver partitions. The incorporation of static and digital advertisements within our partitions allows for our product to not only sustain itself during this pandemic but continue long after the pandemic subsides.

Assembly and Manufacture The concept has been designed to be modular therefore, it is easy to assemble, repair, modify or dismantle and replace components reducing maintenance time. Initially the decision was made to outsource the partitions, auto-sanitisation, static and digital advertisements which will be packaged and brought into warehouse to be installed. The reason for outsourcing is to mass produce the required materials from various manufacturers, decreasing the amount of storage space required within warehouses for the in-house processing. However, due to the available workshop and expertise offered by DIF.Co the design decision was made to complete all inhouse and then stored within the warehouses for assembly. This greatly reduces outsourcing and transportation costs despite increasing the storage space, employees required as well as the need to patent our design.

Installation and Usability The product can be easily assembled within the warehouse and installed into the trains or transported out to the customer who can install themselves with a detailed user manual with user instructions and warranty details. The manual will consist of images and texts sequencing the installation of the product, upgrade information and dates, minor repairs and alterations, cleaning and maintenance guidelines to ensure the longevity of the product. Due to the modular design, parts that are experiencing problems can be dismantled and repaired, modified or replaced by the customer or brought in.

Maintenance The product can be maintained by the customers themselves or the transport department. Within the public transport in the train sector, employees who normally clean the trains will need to additionally clean the partitions. After the partitions have been cleaned, all areas within the transport must be vacant to activate the auto-sanitisation for sterilisation of the interior space. Any major repair work, the customer can contact to have the parts transported to the warehouse for repairs or can request on site repairs depending on the workload.

Safety The partitions will utilise polycarbonate high quality plastic used in aircrafts and buildings. Polycarbonate plastic is lightweight, shatterproof, durable, easy to install, flame resistant and energy efficient, therefore highly safe to be used as partitions. Customers, employees and commuters won’t be in risk when in contact with these partitions and reduces chances of injury. Auto-sanitisation needs to be safely handled, due to the

chemicals emitted during its activation. Therefore, can only be used when the train is completely vacant reducing any human exposure to the chemicals emitted.

Design Optimisation Rejected Designs Various features of our design were explored during iterations as there was room for improvement and opportunities. -

Use of digital screens for entire partition

This concept was rejected due to the high cost of creating digital screens for the full size of every partition. Also, assessing necessity this concept will consume too much space and commuters don’t require such large screens in front of them. The cost of maintenance and longevity of the partitions with the screens are greatly impacted and do not outweigh the benefits. -

Partitions between every seat instead of rows

This idea was rejected because there would be too many partitions clogging up space and very difficult for commuters to manoeuvre through. The costs to maintain and repair partitions will be much higher as well as production costs. The cleaning of the partitions will also consume more time affecting the life-time and benefits of the product.

Design Improvements Improvements to be made in future iterations to enhance our product: -

Ad screen switch

The purpose of the ad partitions allows for the inclusion of promotional material for public transport, social distancing and hand hygiene information, updates about train schedules or external businesses to promote themselves. A problem with this design aspect that can be explored is to have a button for the ad screens to be switched on and off or adjust the brightness as per commuter choice. -

Auto Sanitisation

The auto sanitisation component consists of chemicals emitting into the air and exposure to humans can be harmful. To create awareness that auto-sanitisation has been activated the addition of LED lights will be beneficial to all commuters and employees to prevent any serious injury or harm.

The product is highly feasible to mitigate risk during Covid-19 in Australia because it increases the capacity within public transport whilst minimizing close contact between passengers. The design of the partitions inclusive of the ads as well as the auto-sanitisation component, further enhances the qualities of the product to be used effectively during and post Covid-19.

Our initial concept explored the option of creating more space in public transport through the insertion of partitions, expanding on the idea of the existing product- bus driver partitions. The concept has been designed to be modular therefore, it is easy to assemble, repair, modify, dismantle, and replace components. We also included an auto-sanitisation component which will thoroughly sterilise the spaces occupied by commuters. The only requirement is that employees who normally clean the trains will need to also clean the partitions, after which when the train is completely vacant the auto-sanitisation can be activated. This is a safety requirement that must be adhered to as it reduces human exposure to the chemicals emitted. Further to create awareness that auto-sanitisation has been activated the addition of LED lights in future iterations has been considered.

In order to maintain these various components a manual will be provided to the customer to assist in upgrades and troubleshooting any errors with digital advertisements, as well as for cleaning, repairing and maintenance methods for the auto-sanitisation and partitions components....