C12 Track project budgets and costs
I have no real knowledge or past experiences with this area of the audit. For this reason I have marked this section as a '1' meaning no knowledge if any at all. During my degree in Digital Media Design we never really needed to think about budgets and costs within our set modules, I think I can imagine what this area probably entails. I hope that by the end of the course through the modules and in my own exploration I will develop this area further and understand what this means in relation to Design and Technology.
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__My initial understanding of the term 'TRACK PROJECT BUDGETS AND COSTS'
I think that this section of the audit is fairly self explanatory in terms of what it will include or may include, what I am not clear of is how it may be relevant in the classroom. At this moment in time I would say that this term means merely being aware of your budgets and your overall costs in your projects. However, is this really relevant for Design and Technology students to be conscious of? I thought that this would be more applicable if you were producing a product in batch or high volume, so manufacturing firms or big production companies will be more likely to be showing this within their work processes.
Well at this stage, this is just an educated guess as to what this means, I am sure that whilst I progress I will be able to see what it means in relation to the subject and therefore my questions will be answered.
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I think that this section of the audit is fairly self explanatory in terms of what it will include or may include, what I am not clear of is how it may be relevant in the classroom. At this moment in time I would say that this term means merely being aware of your budgets and your overall costs in your projects. However, is this really relevant for Design and Technology students to be conscious of? I thought that this would be more applicable if you were producing a product in batch or high volume, so manufacturing firms or big production companies will be more likely to be showing this within their work processes.
Well at this stage, this is just an educated guess as to what this means, I am sure that whilst I progress I will be able to see what it means in relation to the subject and therefore my questions will be answered.
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What I have learnt and what I now understand...
So far I have learnt a fair amount of new knowledge about what this section of the audit entails. It has become clear that in some respects this is only really applicable if you are mass-producing a product in industry however it is crucial to demonstrate good practice and apply these factors within you schemes of work. Therefore, regardless of whether you are mass-producing or if you are just making a one of item in school I have discovered that this is still a vital factor to consider.
I now have learnt and understand that this process helps you to limit and save materials where possible which in some respects means that as a designer you are considering sustainability issues within your work. When mass producing I understand as well that if you are producing high volumes of products you want to be able to make profit and therefore you search for the best and affordable materials for the manufacturing process. I have learnt though in books just by reading about this that when you are mass producing you would need to bare in mind things like costs of labour, and other indirect costs such as heating, lighting, wages for office staff, rents rate and the cost of sales and marketing, this obviously is going to vary depending on what kind of product you are producing and the number of components and processes you are taking in order to manufacture it the item.
(Design and Technology- resistant materials' it is a GCSE revision book and the author is called Chris Hughes. )
Another thing to consider is if you are using CAM within the manufacturing process. Although these machines are more expensive to buy, in the grand scheme of things, once they are programmed the direct costs can be lower due to minimal demand on labour costs and also wastage.
So far I have learnt a fair amount of new knowledge about what this section of the audit entails. It has become clear that in some respects this is only really applicable if you are mass-producing a product in industry however it is crucial to demonstrate good practice and apply these factors within you schemes of work. Therefore, regardless of whether you are mass-producing or if you are just making a one of item in school I have discovered that this is still a vital factor to consider.
I now have learnt and understand that this process helps you to limit and save materials where possible which in some respects means that as a designer you are considering sustainability issues within your work. When mass producing I understand as well that if you are producing high volumes of products you want to be able to make profit and therefore you search for the best and affordable materials for the manufacturing process. I have learnt though in books just by reading about this that when you are mass producing you would need to bare in mind things like costs of labour, and other indirect costs such as heating, lighting, wages for office staff, rents rate and the cost of sales and marketing, this obviously is going to vary depending on what kind of product you are producing and the number of components and processes you are taking in order to manufacture it the item.
(Design and Technology- resistant materials' it is a GCSE revision book and the author is called Chris Hughes. )
Another thing to consider is if you are using CAM within the manufacturing process. Although these machines are more expensive to buy, in the grand scheme of things, once they are programmed the direct costs can be lower due to minimal demand on labour costs and also wastage.
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When using CAM in the workshops, we have always been taught to use less material as possible. That means keeping all of your drawings close together. With this picture you can see that if this was going to be transferred ready to print on the laser cutter then I would put the design in the corner of the screen so it cuts right at on the corners of the acrylic. Also, if I was to for instance use the laser cutter to produce a batch of this design then I would insure that there are tiny gaps between each batch so that it does not waste any material. This is a good example of good practice but also a factor that can contribute to costs and your overall budgets in projects.
Even when you are modelling an idea, essentially you are consciously thinking about costs and budgets. You create a model to see if there are any faults in your design and to determine how you could manufacture it, in the hope to avoid any high costs and mistakes at a later date.
When using CAM in the workshops, we have always been taught to use less material as possible. That means keeping all of your drawings close together. With this picture you can see that if this was going to be transferred ready to print on the laser cutter then I would put the design in the corner of the screen so it cuts right at on the corners of the acrylic. Also, if I was to for instance use the laser cutter to produce a batch of this design then I would insure that there are tiny gaps between each batch so that it does not waste any material. This is a good example of good practice but also a factor that can contribute to costs and your overall budgets in projects.
Even when you are modelling an idea, essentially you are consciously thinking about costs and budgets. You create a model to see if there are any faults in your design and to determine how you could manufacture it, in the hope to avoid any high costs and mistakes at a later date.
_The key principles that I have now discovered
within this area is that manufacturing costs can be categorised into
two sections, direct and indirect costs - The direct costs include the
components which are used within the production process, and the
indirect costs are factors such as, the labour, materials and rents ect.
For my Design and Make project I did not really feel the need to produce a costing table to show in my portfolio, however I obviously understand the importance of it now. I think generally looking back at my project in Design and Make and also taking into account the overall costings. I feel that there are most likely areas in which I could cut costs down luckily whether that concerns the manufacturing process I took or even the materials I used, mind you I did manage to get the wood for free because they were offcuts in B&Q! But despite of this, in all fairness the wood was not really included in my costings was but I did think it was worth including so that I showed an understanding of it. If I was to go into mass production I would certainly need to think about things like labour costs as well and find a way to cut the cans out faster because it took an incredible amount of time and if mass-produced then this would cost more money in wages. Would I need to consider CAM? Questions like this are good for students to bare in mind when they are designing.
Below is an image that I have taken from my portfolio and it shows how I have displayed my budget and costs for the Design and Make project where I made a storage cabinet.
For my Design and Make project I did not really feel the need to produce a costing table to show in my portfolio, however I obviously understand the importance of it now. I think generally looking back at my project in Design and Make and also taking into account the overall costings. I feel that there are most likely areas in which I could cut costs down luckily whether that concerns the manufacturing process I took or even the materials I used, mind you I did manage to get the wood for free because they were offcuts in B&Q! But despite of this, in all fairness the wood was not really included in my costings was but I did think it was worth including so that I showed an understanding of it. If I was to go into mass production I would certainly need to think about things like labour costs as well and find a way to cut the cans out faster because it took an incredible amount of time and if mass-produced then this would cost more money in wages. Would I need to consider CAM? Questions like this are good for students to bare in mind when they are designing.
Below is an image that I have taken from my portfolio and it shows how I have displayed my budget and costs for the Design and Make project where I made a storage cabinet.
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Analysis of new knowledge and the next step
At first I have marked this area of the audit as a '1' meaning very little if not any knowledge at all. I feel that it is safe to say I have come to terms with what term means and because of this I have been able to develop more of an understanding in the area. Generally speaking I feel as this is only going to be applicable if I am going to mass-produce products, but I appreciate why it is important for students to understand this because in some respects it can shape and change your final product.
During my time of exploring this area, I felt that I was more successful at being able to identify common principles, for example during my time on the course, Dean and Bhav have always taught us to think about how much material we are using. Once I began to research this area of the audit I was then able to make that link and realise that these everyday processes or things that we do in the workshop and within our design processes, contribute and are linked to budgets and costs in some shape or form. I think that it is important to be able to make these links in Design and Technology for me as a learner as it enables me to understand more about what I am learning because then I able to make connections with what I have experienced myself.
I think my researching skills have also improved as I have progressed within the course, I feel as if I have finally got the hang of exploring a new and foreign area of this audit. Books and the Internet have been really helpful in my development and I would say that my understanding has developed further because of these sources but also because of my successful and effective research skills. A book that has helped me particularly with this part of the audit is called 'Design and Technology- resistant materials' it is a GCSE revision book and the author is called Chris Hughes. This book has really enabled me come to terms with areas of the audit that I had no knowledge if not any at all.
I would say that I was unsuccessful in my own cost and budgets for my own project in the Design and Make module. The cabinet included fizzy drinks cans that were cut and glued to the piece to create a pattern. Primarily I thought that I would be able to go and collect all of these cans beforehand, either in recycling bins, or at work, I knew that I was going to have to buy some cans but I did not expect that it was going to be that many. Therefore, because of poor time management perhaps and not being able to track my budgets properly I did not know the exact amount of money I spent on all of the cans I used. If my product was going to be mass-produced these are things that I would really need to be aware of.
My next step now in my development within this area is to hopefully come to terms with what it is like to be working on a fixed budget. Maybe my next module in design and make will be a good opportunity to apply this. I also would like to think about other ways that I can cut costs within my everyday processes. I could even find some cheap suppliers and manufactures that could obviously contribute to the costing of my products.
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Analysis of new knowledge and the next step
At first I have marked this area of the audit as a '1' meaning very little if not any knowledge at all. I feel that it is safe to say I have come to terms with what term means and because of this I have been able to develop more of an understanding in the area. Generally speaking I feel as this is only going to be applicable if I am going to mass-produce products, but I appreciate why it is important for students to understand this because in some respects it can shape and change your final product.
During my time of exploring this area, I felt that I was more successful at being able to identify common principles, for example during my time on the course, Dean and Bhav have always taught us to think about how much material we are using. Once I began to research this area of the audit I was then able to make that link and realise that these everyday processes or things that we do in the workshop and within our design processes, contribute and are linked to budgets and costs in some shape or form. I think that it is important to be able to make these links in Design and Technology for me as a learner as it enables me to understand more about what I am learning because then I able to make connections with what I have experienced myself.
I think my researching skills have also improved as I have progressed within the course, I feel as if I have finally got the hang of exploring a new and foreign area of this audit. Books and the Internet have been really helpful in my development and I would say that my understanding has developed further because of these sources but also because of my successful and effective research skills. A book that has helped me particularly with this part of the audit is called 'Design and Technology- resistant materials' it is a GCSE revision book and the author is called Chris Hughes. This book has really enabled me come to terms with areas of the audit that I had no knowledge if not any at all.
I would say that I was unsuccessful in my own cost and budgets for my own project in the Design and Make module. The cabinet included fizzy drinks cans that were cut and glued to the piece to create a pattern. Primarily I thought that I would be able to go and collect all of these cans beforehand, either in recycling bins, or at work, I knew that I was going to have to buy some cans but I did not expect that it was going to be that many. Therefore, because of poor time management perhaps and not being able to track my budgets properly I did not know the exact amount of money I spent on all of the cans I used. If my product was going to be mass-produced these are things that I would really need to be aware of.
My next step now in my development within this area is to hopefully come to terms with what it is like to be working on a fixed budget. Maybe my next module in design and make will be a good opportunity to apply this. I also would like to think about other ways that I can cut costs within my everyday processes. I could even find some cheap suppliers and manufactures that could obviously contribute to the costing of my products.
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_ Further development
For my design innovation project I have chosen a set brief created by the Church of England. They are looking for a designer to create a flexible, yet sympathetic to historical interiors church chair or bench.
I thought that this brief was really relevant to this area of the audit. Not only in the brief does it mention that they want the chairs to be 'affordable' but also they ideally would like the designs to specify UK manufacture as well as sustainable and locally sourced materials.
As a designer what this means is that I must take into account what materials I decided to use, they must be affordable but also sourced from the UK and consider sustainably issues. How will I come about doing this? I think by conducting some effective research it will help me to meet these requirements.
In addition, in some respects these chairs are supposed to be designed so that later on they can be mass-produced. I need to think of ways in which to insure my designs are going to be suitable and affordable for the churches budget and design chairs that are not going to include length process, a lot of skill involved which can equally create further costs. By the end of my Design Innovation project I hope to be able produce another costs table and see if I was successful enough by tracking costs and keeping to the budget. It will also be useful and interesting to see the differences between the two tables from each module.
Below is a screen shot that I have captured from my online portfolio for Design Innovation it shows the context and design brief.
For my design innovation project I have chosen a set brief created by the Church of England. They are looking for a designer to create a flexible, yet sympathetic to historical interiors church chair or bench.
I thought that this brief was really relevant to this area of the audit. Not only in the brief does it mention that they want the chairs to be 'affordable' but also they ideally would like the designs to specify UK manufacture as well as sustainable and locally sourced materials.
As a designer what this means is that I must take into account what materials I decided to use, they must be affordable but also sourced from the UK and consider sustainably issues. How will I come about doing this? I think by conducting some effective research it will help me to meet these requirements.
In addition, in some respects these chairs are supposed to be designed so that later on they can be mass-produced. I need to think of ways in which to insure my designs are going to be suitable and affordable for the churches budget and design chairs that are not going to include length process, a lot of skill involved which can equally create further costs. By the end of my Design Innovation project I hope to be able produce another costs table and see if I was successful enough by tracking costs and keeping to the budget. It will also be useful and interesting to see the differences between the two tables from each module.
Below is a screen shot that I have captured from my online portfolio for Design Innovation it shows the context and design brief.