Topic 6 of 6 · Form 6
Industrial production, sustainability and enterprise
Product life cycle; planned obsolescence; the role of design in marketing; product liability and standards (SAZ, ISO); intellectual property (patents, registered designs, copyright, trademarks – administered through the Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office).
Notes for this topic 1 file, in order
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Industrial practice
Product life cycle; planned obsolescence; the role of design in marketing; product liability and standards (SAZ, ISO); intellectual property (patents, registered designs, copyright, trademarks – administered through the Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office).
Sustainability
- Life cycle assessment: raw materials, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal.
- The 6 Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle, repair, rethink, refuse.
- Design for disassembly, energy efficiency and renewable energy (solar products).
- Circular economy versus linear economy.
Appropriate technology
Technologies suited to local resources, skills and needs: treadle and solar pumps, fuel-efficient stoves, solar dryers, hand-operated grain mills, biogas digesters.
Enterprise
Identifying market opportunities, costing (materials, labour, overheads), pricing, marketing, and small-scale manufacturing; support from organisations such as SMEDCO.
Technology and society
Effects of automation on jobs, the digital divide, cultural impact of mass-produced goods, and ethical design.
Check yourself
- What is planned obsolescence?
- Name the four main types of intellectual property protection.
- Give one example of appropriate technology in rural Zimbabwe.
Show answers
- Designing products to have a limited life so that consumers replace them.
- Patents, registered designs, copyright and trademarks.
- Any one: treadle pump, solar dryer, fuel-efficient stove, biogas digester, solar-powered borehole.
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