NOTES

• Old technology:

  • Early man began to invent tools to aid everyday life
  • Even in the Stone Age, ‘modern’ technology changed the way people lived
• The industrial revolution c.1780:

  • The late 1700s saw the invention of steam powered machines and early automation
  • The start of a social and economic change that began to improve living standards for the masses
  • Came through employment, movement of people and goods, mills, mines and agriculture
• Automation:

  • Robotic automation of manufacturing processes offers significantly greater consistency, accuracy, reliability and productivity than human workers
• Automated milking machines:

  • Cows now take themselves off for milking and queue up to be milked by robots at their own will
  • Radio tags in their ears monitor when each cow enters the machine, sensors guide robotic arms to collect milk and record their level of milk production
• Barcodes in supermarkets:

  • Before barcodes were introduced in the 1980s, products were manually priced and counted for stock control
• Universal Product Code version ‘A’ (UPC-A) - can only represent numeric digits


  used in EPOS systems and warehousing

  
• Code 128 - can represent letters and numbers


  used in transport and shipment tracking

  
• New and emerging technologies have influenced change in:

  • Personnel, job roles and hierarchical structure
  • Physical space and layout of the workplace
  • Systems, processes and workflow
• Design of the workplace:

  • Workflow is essential to health, safety and efficiency
  • A production line must flow logically from one stage to the next
  • Automation and new technologies may require change to production flow
• production line

  A) utting

  B) achining

  C) ainting

  D) ssembly

  E) espatch

  
• Low oil supplies:

  • The depletion of oil reserves is hastening change and development of replacement technologies to fuel our industries, homes and transport
• Electric vehicles:

  • The EV market is expanding rapidly

  Success is dependent on:

  • national and international charging networks
  • battery technology
  • a change in driver mindset
• Product innovation:

  • A new invention or idea requires a considerable investment to make it a commercial success
  • No matter how good an idea is, it can still fail if its development and execution is not right
• New materials and technology:

  • Graphene is a honeycomb lattice carbon structure only one atom thick
  • It is 200 times stronger than steel, very flexible, conducts heat and electricity, and is almost transparent
• Developing ideas:

  • Innovation such as 3D printing has the potential to change product development everywhere
  • This fuels a cycle of new ideas, new businesses new jobs
  • 3D printers can produce solid objects, intricate hollow artefacts and moving parts that actually work
• Printing body parts:

  • 3D bioprinting is being used to create new, living organs
  • Skin tissue, livers, and joint cartilage have already been ‘printed’ and successfully transplanted
• Small enterprises Inc.:

  • Small businesses can use new technology to compete with their larger competitors
  • Computer technology has enabled individual designers to access the leading industry design tools
  • Production technology has meant that widgets can be made on demand, avoiding the costs of holding stock
  • Communications technology has enabled remote working so small teams can be formed across the globe
  • Social media has provided access to vast audiences on minimal marketing budgets
  • Crowdfunding provides opportunity for significant start-up investment capital
• Crowd funding at POD Point:

  • Crowd funding enables organisations to raise investment from individuals who believe in their idea
  • POD Point supply electric vehicle charging solutions to individuals and organisations across the UK
  • In 2015, they launched an online crowd funding campaign
• Virtual marketing includes:

  • Search Engine Optimisation to increase page ranking
  • Email marketing
  • Social media and
  • Viral campaigns
• Co-operatives:

  • Co-operatives are organisations or businesses that are owned and run by its members
  • Members will also share profits
  • Examples are often local, but can be national businesses
• Fairtrade:

  • Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in less economically developed countries
  • Farmers also receive a Fairtrade Premium to invest in their communities