Feasibility studies

• lean manufacturing

  the concept of reducing waste in manufacture.

  this can be waste in time or materials, or idle machines
• buffer zone

  an area adjacent to a point on a production line, for the temporary storage of partially completed products
• cycle time

  the amount of time it takes for a manufacturing process to be competed
• Takt Time


  - a german word meaning 'beat or rhythm'

  - used in lean manufacturing to describe the maximum amount of time in which a product must be produced to meet consumer demand
• prototype

  a functioning or non-functioning pre-production model that can be used to evaluate with potential consumers
• computer modelling in production planning

  - assess practicality of making an item.

  - allows manufacturers to test efficiency of production line

  - assess to see if there are going to be problems during manufacture
• calculating takt time

  available production time per day / customer demand per day
• feasibility studies and costings

  - spreadsheets can be used to calculate costs of production

  - direct costs - materials and labour

  - fixed costs - rent and salaries

  - cost can be compared to price - this will determine profit
• feasibility modelling in design


  - can test ergonomics

  - can test efficiency of design
• testing prototypes

  - can be functioning or non-functioning

  - allows designers to gather feedback

  - gather feedback from manufacturers - is it possible to make

  - customer feedback