Manufacturing and Product Design

Ben Dyer, Director, Altogether
Alison Turner, Head of Design and Technology, St Margaret Ward School
Nigel Turner, Product Development Manager, Michelin Lifestyle

Narrator: In Stoke, they’re launching the Diploma in Manufacturing and Product Design by holding a challenge day. Learners have been invited to take part in a day-long activity, aimed at showing them how the skills they have learnt in the classroom can be applied to the real world.

Ben Dyer: You’re going to think about key business areas like the needs of the customer, customer profile...

Narrator: The consortium has enlisted the help of Ben and his team from Altogether, a local company specialising in enterprise days, to help them to organise the event. Ensuring that the outcome is specific to the Diploma, such as principal learning, personal learning and thinking skills are targeted.

Ben Dyer: What we were hoping is that they would come up with a product or service, consider the finance, consider what they priced their product at and also design the actual product that they come up with.

Narrator: The learners have been challenged to design a product to allow elderly people to remain independent within their home. They’re working in teams and have been given a booklet to help them work through their idea. The activity provides a valuable opportunity for learners to exercise and develop their problem solving, team working, and effective participator personal learning and thinking skills.

Learner 1: So you have a chair that takes you around the whole house.

Learner 2: It takes you up to the bedroom.

Learner 1: That wouldn’t just single out old people though, ‘cause I’m pretty sure anybody would want to buy that, wouldn’t they?

Alison Turner: I think they’re getting quite a lot out of today. I think it’s one of those days where it takes the children out of their comfort zone and makes them think a little bit more in depth about design issues.

Narrator: The learners will have to pitch the product they have designed to a panel of real life employers who were prepared in advance of the day.

Learner 3: Our product is a watch, which is going to have a safety feature. It’s also going to have a unique top, just in case the worst comes to the worst and the sensor doesn’t work and they’re outside. They can put the watch against – it’s kind of like a door lock – they can put the watch against that.

Alison Turner: A day like today, or even on the Diploma itself, is going to allow them to think about what the employers actually want.

Nigel Turner: I think it’s a really good idea. Do you think you could expand it into a range, so you’d have watches for men, watches for women...?

Learner 4: We were thinking about aiming at more than just the elderly audience, because it could be just as handy for people rushing in from work or stuff.

Nigel Turner: I was amazed at what they've achieved. I could see the work that they put in. I could see that they worked together great as teams and the presentations were amazing. I was really impressed.

Narrator: This style of event is something that practitioners could replicate within their own classroom, tailoring it to their own needs and inviting local employers to take part. After such events, learners should be encouraged to engage in self and peer reviews of their experiences.

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