Monday, June 7, 2010

Designing the Engineering


Design Sequels- The original design - changes, are the often things we see, yes I'm talking about the modifications on the real conceive on the design made by a Design team. The hardcore reality in India, to be cited when working with the so called real great PSU , get you out of mind. Possibly, they're quite intelligent and intellectual , at the same time they're dumb, not really into the work they would set-up. The inclination on their work is quite minimalistic to mark, a niche possibilty of goodwill towards the culture is invisible, ever since they've breed. They're lazy, not reciprocal to the quotient of reality. The acceptance of all these deters on the viability to built the upfront and promote on the design scenario. It makes us simply go and regret with work we do.However, " who cares for the world around us !!! ", is something we have on our mind and thus we survive. WAKE UP !!! the world is getting faster, we're talking about double digit GDP. That's really a fantastic. We might be just there much sooner than expected. And we will be. But, soon to loose once we dont think about building in the steady form. Not giving the quality, caring about the reality. When atleast its about the work its not always "ME", its "WE".

As "WE", we survive for longer period of time. Else , we would disappear in no time.Design realisation with the tolerance created to value the product is very important. We need to create a value products not just products. The day sooner shall arrive and vanish the PSUs in the country. We are already facing the heat of liberalization. I hope things shall improve and a quality product shall always be appraised and improves along with the time using the latest technologies.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Curriculum of Design Education

The process of learning is quite important in a student's life. In fact the current design schools in India, boast of having the best taught syllabus and methodologies. The students taken-in for these academics are with a background of various disciplines. These students would have thought that design is a fascination and would help them become big and a name can be earned.Soon, they realize that its not their 'piece of cake'. They hardly have knowledge on engineering of the products. They are in dilemma that they have ended up in a wrong path. The money invested in the same education, they could have done an engineering degree.

Industrial Design, the curriculum of this particular facet of design can be enhanced with certain relevant subjects of engineering. Exploring more on this, the syllabus can be more appropriate and more fun instead of the routine methodological being taught as of today. The strings have to be added and refurbished not just taken for existence, they have to be changed if needed. The idea of changing a certain existing thing is not an easy process either. A lot of research goes into the exercise, treat it with a methodological approach. Understanding the certainty of the changed syllabus and its importance of being introduced has to be proven.

Indian education system has been reviving for sometime and hope the ministry would give better systems of future education options.The advising committee must be looking at different options. We have 10+X+N , where X = 2 or 3 and N is the graduation years. However, +2 or +3 plays an important role and deciding factor currently in India. The students doing their diploma are more important. They are introduced to engineering at a very young age. Its shall be good that these students can be explored, more to new subjects and electives can be introduced.The strings I have mentioned earlier could fall somewhere here. And I shall be introducing these strings soon for the future, Design - India.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Out of sight...out of mind

I 've not been blogging for a very longtime now. And I think it was a really not cool doing this. The sense of momentum always has to be there. The rappo is quite uncertain when we tend to do the uncertain things at times.

In fact, I was actually trying out new things out of my small new design lab built at home. More to buzz and keep me busy apart from my office are the new books added to the library. Few books are quite interesting to keep the tempo. However, I have decided to keep updating the blog from this Telugu New Year, i.e April 2010. A new phase of blogging with regular updates on design facets and new views , experiences.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Onio Design / Bardinsight.blogspot.com


Things evolve around the work and so the world around it. As they truly, there are always gems around the place we live too. I found a very intresting blog http://bardinsight.blogspot.com/ by Manoj Kothari, Founder-Onio Design, Pune. The blog is really awesome and the amount of information collected and analysed by him is outstanding. I shall be watching it from now. Although, I feel its a very much serendipity to see something out of Indian "designocrats" . One intresting article i found on Onio design website, research methods in India by Manoj again. Seems to me that there is quite potential in what he wrote. Its a great article and you can check it out http://www.oniodesign.com/download_pdf/Design_Research_in_India.pdf
However,these insights from the designocrats are important for upcoming designers who would like to gain knowledge from the current industry.Good work Manoj, keep bloging.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Are we for a Clerck Game?

Many designers are born today in India, the schools they are into have good number of teachers teaching about design and practise. These pupils come out of their design schools with alot of enthusiasm and once they're into the job, which they are usually claimed to be taken with a poise of being given a designers post in the companies. However, these companies which promise a very energetic and challenging jobs are not able to fulfill the space for being a designer but, the projects they take up are a mere modelling jobs or an alterations. At the end of the day the tool called 3D modeling is the only thing a designer needs to know and which is can be tamed even by a ITI or just a high school student. Do you really think that we need such a high education to tame the tool ?

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Industrial Designers' Bad Habits

In the recent past I've been to few interesting blogs on design, I found one of them citing about bad habits much emphazised, I would say not all can be called bad. However, there are few appropriate habits we industrial designers should avoid in our profession. And few of them I have listed below are a must, so that you can improve to be a better designer than others.

1. Not understanding the design brief or composing it.


2. Fail to check the concepts meet the requirements of the given brief.

3. Not paying attention to improve sketching and communication skills.

4. Fail to understand Industrial design is multi facet, multi disciplinary field.

5. No plan to a 3D construction process before doing 3D modelling.

6. Avoiding to document the work properly.

7. Obsessed with first design or intial sketches.

8. Not understanding the form- styling clues or inspirations incubated in the design are appropriate.

9. Failing to understand the brand philosophy of the company, which is not cited in the product.

10. Not sharing the knowledge and work with fellow designers, which fails to build a good relationship between them.

11. Avoiding critics, which are important to understand and improve the current design and other product features.


Its very important to avoid these, and mostly to be a Design Star.

Interview Tire Asia

Early this year , I was a speaker at an international conference session in Germany. I was introduced to a editor of an upcoming magazine. He was quite intrested in my work after my presentation. So he also wanted to take avery small interview which is yet to be published( it went off unpublished). So, I thought that it should on my blog with no exceptions.

Read the Interview.

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1.Your statement about tyre and emotion – the emotional relationship that a vehicle owner develops with the tyre – is quite an eye-opener. Are there any scientific studies to back up your argument?

RA: There have been numerous studies going on regarding the connect between products and the emotions it can generate in humans, which is commonly referred to as emotional design. A few tools have been developed recently in certain disciplines of design which can measure the depth of emotions, although such tools are still undergoing refinement. Since emotions arise out of individual perception, it is highly a subjective matter which differs from person to person. Emotional deign as a specific tool has not yet been applied in tire and its aesthetics and Apollo is the first Tyre manufacturer to take up this as one of the important tools in design.

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2.
A large number of people don’t even care to look at tyres, but when there is a flat they pour out their anger and frustration by kicking the black and round stuff that actually takes them to places safely. As that is the case generally, where does the emotional element of attachment come?

RA: Tyres has always been an uncelebrated product and they are generally viewed as purely functional products with no emotional appeal. Even though it’s the only interface between the vehicle and the road, the same is seen as more of a commodity product where the consumers are not much attached with it. Our attempt is to change this perception on the consumers’ mind. Our research is about adding value to the product in such a way that the consumers feel the tires as integral extensions to the vehicle and evoke emotions together.

I think if we can succeed in our efforts, the customer would rather feel sorry for than kick the tires when they go flat.

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3.
One of your company officials said to me that when they removed a “thrishul” symbol from farm tyre, which some sections of Indians consider as a religious symbol, the users wanted it back. Does that reflect your argument that there is an emotional bonding between the vehicle user and the tyre?

RA: The symbol on tyre was unintended for the connotations it had in the minds if the customer as it was probably perceived as a symbol of religious belief. This is particularly true when the product is successful and meets the performance expectation and then the user could often attribute this to the logo that evokes an emotion of being lucky mascot. This might sound superstitious to many, but in my opinion its more of an emotion.

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4.
How important are such symbols, like dolphin on your tyres, in the branding exercise? Do you think that this could be used as an effective marketing tool when tyres are designed for a particular market where cultural/religious/social symbols are incorporated while targeting niche segments?

RA: Since ages humans have been using symbols as powerful communication tools. The dolphin tyre is a concept product based on emotional design. It carries out to the reflective level of human emotion since it appeals to the WOW factor and also at times overrides the other levels of emotions to experience the feeling of pride. And its also strong in functional aspect of tyre engineering as it designed to hydrodynamic shape of dolphins to avoid hydroplaning on wet roads.
Usually concept tyres are just teasers or show tyres which never make to production. But we at Apollo tyres think beyond and would like our customers enjoy their ride with pride and joy (EMOTION).

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5. Apollo has taken a path-breaking decision to bring this “emotional element” to tires, and you made an excellent presentation before a receptive audience at the TireTech show in Cologne. Do you think this idea will catch up among others, particularly the Chinese, who are good at selling products specifically tailored to markets taking advantage of various social factors that are locally relevant?

RA: The idea of emotion to product design not very new. There is a possibility that this aspect in tire design was unattended, to add value to the products. The Chinese are growing very rapidly in the all markets all over the world, they will take an advantage to touch the customers feeling, however, creating a design is very easy but giving life to the product through design and adding value is completely different. Its more like, any artist can replicate the famous painting da Vinci’s, “ MonaLisa”, but does it fetch the same value of the original?

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6.
Now that Apollo is going with “emotional” attributes as a unique selling point. What are the other emotional tools that you have in the works that would be put into the market as you expand globally in an unprecedented way?

RA: Addressing emotion of the individual adds value to the products. Its helps the consumer to understand our product better. And during this process the consumer have a good feeling and stays loyal to the brand. Presently, the design is still in progress to make it to the market and certainly we would enhance the products to all the levels of emotion to have a very wide communication between the user and product.
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7.
Your argument reminds me about enculturisation wherein local sensibilities are considered vital for marketing or branding a product or service. In an increasingly globalised world corporates will have to “think global but act local.” Don’t you think that your concept of “tyre and human emotion” fits nicely with this current management mantra?

RA: The world today is a global village. A lot of cross-pollination, cultures exist. And still the true races, cultural backgrounds are very important for designing most of the products. To make your products sustainable in the competitive markets you need to practice “ THINK GLOBAL, DESIGN LOCAL”. The entire argument of supply- demand, sell-buy, falls into this particular design management mantra, so is my research.
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Dream Factory

Challenged to improve the tire production process,Apollo’s engineers took the idea one step further,creating the blueprint for their dream factory of the future
by P K Mohamed, N Pradeepkumar, Sujith Nair & Raghuraj Ananthoj,research, technology & design team, Apollo Tyres Ltd


It started one evening when a friend posed the question, “Why does your industry use such expensive equipment and complicated processes to make something as simple as a black and round load of rubber?” Another friend, the owner of a rubber plantation, joined in, saying, “Our rubber is a versatile material with great dynamic properties, but it seems like your manufacturing process is designed to downgrade the properties of the material.” A third friend, who works for an environmental non-governmental organization, joined the chorus with, “You guys need to think through your energy consumption. The amount of fuel you try to save by constantly bringing down the rolling resistance of the tire is clearly offset by the amount of energy used at the manufacturing stage.” These comments got the research, technology and design team at India based Apollo Tyres thinking about how to address these very real issues. It set itself the task of designing an ideal tire factory,one that would go beyond environmental regulations, one that would improve economy, contribute toward social responsibility, and enhance customer satisfaction, while being flexible, modular, and mobile, with efficient processes.
The team felt that, although dreams may sometimes be far-fetched, dreaming big is the only way to make some of it a reality. Tire factories have traditionally been highly labor-intensive, with special and critical manufacturing processes adding complexity, and requiring extensive human intervention. But a complete rethink and integration of various facets of the manufacturing processes and machinery selection could deliver a dream product. The philosophy would be that simpler is better, and the essence would be to do much more with less. The product and the process would be less complex, with an approach of simplifying and combining operations, and eliminating redundancies. The output of such a factory would be a dream product: structurally simple yet enduring, functionally superlative yet economical, and with an ability to exceed customer expectations.
Such a product would retain the virginity of its rawmaterials during processing and would not contain materials that were harmful or added no value. It would be built in a highly automated and precisely controlled assembly line, employing a pull system with no inventory in its entire value chain. From the processing perspective, retention of material properties is critical throughout a tire’s life-cycle, as it undergoes millions of flex cycles. It would be a minor miracle if this dream could be achieved, as no product is free from degradation through aging. However, precise control in molecular weight reduction and optimum homogeneity in compounds could deliver the best possible results. A conventional tire manufacturing process constitutes various stages, such as mixing, dipping, extrusion, calendaring, component preparation, component assembly, building, and curing.
Among these stages, mixing is very labor and energy-intensive, involving heavy equipment with high capital cost. De-linking or part removal of this area from the tire plant, and outsourcing raw material in a ready-to-use form, would reduce costs. For example, custom compounded rubber pellets could transform a plant from the conventional ‘black’ industry to a ‘white’ one, giving improved efficiency, lowest depreciation, and substantially reduced pollution levels. A tire is built as a complex composite with a multitude of components, making tire manufacturing a multistage assembly operation, with extensive human interventions potentially adding non-uniformities at every stage of the process. Reducing this complexity would be the greatest challenge, and a rethinking of tire design is essential for simplifying the structure. The number of compounds and components used in a tire could be reduced through special formulations, so that a single component could function differently in different areas by dynamically varying the stiffness properties, as per the load frequencies. Also, the tire could be made intelligent through the use of embedded chips, which would render it less dependent on tread patterns. Special compounds such as electro-active polymers could dynamically optimize the traction requirement and hence offer optimum rolling resistance and grip on all terrains. Simplifying tread geometry (non-uniformity) would naturally reduce vibrations and noise, as well as simplifying the molding process. Having simplified the product, the layout of the factory could become product-oriented rather than process dependent. This layout would seek extensions into all upstream and downstream operations; a perfect integration across the entire spectrum of the value chain, facilitating business partnerships with suppliers and customers. The factory location would follow a logistics-based topology, with suppliers brought to the input end of the plant, and finished products delivered to the customer’s doorstep.
The factory would follow a ‘satellite’ network, consisting of a central star unit, strategically located for easy access to supplies. This unit would be connected with various satellite units, which would carry out the process of tire production. The central unit would control the formulary and intellectual property-related information, and would respond to the satellite units based on a needs-based formula. The satellite units would be mobile, enabling them to reach customer locations quickly, whereas the unit would be set up for on-site production in the shortest possible time. Satellite production units would be built on the innovative 2F manufacturing system, an integrated modular manufacturing system combining the consolidation (forming) and the vulcanization (firming) processes. These are the true value processes in tire manufacturing. This system envisages ‘making the tire as it is’, with minimum deviation from forming to firming, so that tires would be perfectly uniform for performance requirements. The mobile satellite units would carry integrated modular stations for forming and firming, and a module for branding. The unit comprises essentially a multiplex feeder for compound feeding, and a special robotic arm to wrap the carcass material onto a toroidal drum.
Mold covers would be part of this module, which would firmly envelope the toroidal drum after the carcass wrapping. The compound would then be injected into the cavity to fill and insulate the carcass wrap. The mold clamping would be such that the required pressure would be developed within the structure for consolidation during injection molding.
The movable forming unit would then proceed to the firming modulefor vulcanization, using a microwave or electrical-heating method. The tire would then be transferred in the quickest time possible to the branding module, where quick laser engraving or stickers would be fused to the sidewall at ambient temperatures.
Once created, a robotic fuzzy logic arm would pick up the finished tirefor upstream delivery. With the entire process of manufacturing simplified, the chances of non-uniformities would be drastically reduced, if not eliminated. The range of quality monitoring systems, such as uniformity, balancing, and final inspection, could even be eliminated, as could the processing aids required in the compound, as there wouldn’t be any issues pertaining to tackiness or blooming, rendering the conventional recipe obsolete.
The entire manufacturing process would be environmentally friendly, based on minimal use of fossil fuels and the use of natural materials. For example, greater usage of epoxidized natural rubber and vegetable oils would replace carcinogenic petroleum-based aromatic oils. The utility of silica has already been proved, and it has exceptional advantages over carbon black in meeting the magic triangle. The green system calls for processing that is free of volatile organic compounds, and that eliminates carcinogenic materials such as nitrosamines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and naphtha based cements and solvents. All these measures would ensure a low carbon manufacturing process, in turn reducing the cost of the product. A product-oriented layout has tremendous potential to reduce waste. In a process-oriented approach, operators focus on individual production efficiency, which could act against the overall efficiency of the plant.
In this dream factory, wastes such as overproduction, inventory, transportation, processing, movement, or defects would be eliminated in the value-engineered production line, as well as wastes caused by losses of energy, time, and effort.
The factory would practice just-in-time production, whereby each processor machine would operate based on demand from the immediate customerin a pull system, reducing inventory and overproduction.
This factory is designed with foolproof systems in every operation, leaving no room for mistakes. The operation and process flow would be made foolproof to make a process or safety violation impossible. Quality would be a way of life rather than a separate entity to be practiced, and policing of it would be a thing of the past in the entire value chain, from supply to delivery. Suppliers would be empowered to self-certificate, and could participate in decision-making in relevant areas. Joint research and empowerment with customers and suppliers could be practiced for better understanding of each other’s requirements. Breaking free of orthodoxy with flexible and flatter structures, the organization could continuouslymobilize minds for innovations.
Management structures would be designed to ensure executives have freedom in implementing and testing innovations. The need to changeconstantly, in tune with market dynamics, would be a key driver.The factory envisages information technology as the greatest enabler ofefficient operations. Every operation in the factory, including utility services, machine operation, conveyors, and transportation and servicing, would be controlled by a central intelligent unit integrated with the ERP system. Extensive use of simulation would be employed in product and process design, eliminating process trials. The customer logging in for his requirement would work as the trigger for all upstream processes, extending up to suppliers.
Intelligent sensors would be used in controlling the cooling, heating, and lighting facilities, which would work only when human presence is detected or the machines need it, resulting in energy savings. Information technology would make the factory a transparent entity by enabling real-time communication. Communication channels could be individual computers, mobile phones, or electronic display boards placed in prominent places, flashing information as and when required. An operator at any station could log in his feedback to receive a reply from management in real time, decreasing the need for physical meetings, and reducing interaction costs.
The primary goal that a dream tire factory must meet is to produce acustomized product for every single customer, as and when required. Sucha factory is based on the three pillars of economy, ecology and society. It needs to function as a facility which at no point should be in conflict with anything else in its immediate community. This is a dream, but work has begun to see how much of this can be achieved, and how soon.

TIRE EXPO CONFERENCE 2008, Kòlnmesse,GERMANY


TIRE AND HUMAN EMOTION


A new piece of research will be introduced to the industry at the Tire Technology Expo 2008 conference, promising greater sales and safety. Enter emotional designThe ambivalence of consumers towards tires could soon be a thing of the past thanks to work being undertaken by Apollo Tyres in India. “We are focusing on the tire related to human emotions, creating emotional design,” states Raghuraj Ananthoj, senior executive, design and development, Apollo Tyres. “We use emotional design as a base to improve tire aesthetics, focusing on different aspects such as the graphics on the tire.”“Emotion is a physical or psychological recognition, and it needs to be addressed. People perceive something by sight, it is then calculated through the brain, and it becomes an emotion – but how can we create good emotions for a tire? There are three facets of emotional levels – the visceral level, the behavioral level, and the reflective level. Every design and product has these three levels of design, but the aesthetic response depends on the individual,” Ananthoj continues.This is an unusual piece of research, so at the Tire Technology Expo 2008 conference, Ananthoj will be illustrating his work with two case studies of how human emotion can be harnessed to optimize tire design and benefit the tire industry. “I will first take a look at asymmetric tire, and discuss how emotion design can create a different impact on how consumers perceive emotion in such a tire. The second example will discuss where form follows function – where graphics can play an important role in the case of an emergency. A safety factor such as reflective material could help, with the tire design having different aesthetics on the inside and outside walls, so people will know which is which when changing tire.“This is a very unusual piece of research for the tire industry, and I want to enhance this aspect of design, which has not been investigated before,” he enthuses. “We will be backing up our findings with statistics from the marketing department of a major US tire seller, with which we have been working closely. We have found that there are many factors that affect tire buyers. Some people are brand loyal while some look for performance. Some SUV drivers are more concerned about the subjective visceral level such as the tire tread, styling, and graphics, and we found that 90% of people who buy SUVs want a tire that reflects their character. Whether a tire can really make a styling statement in line with the character of the car is a question we will ask.”Tires created using this research are in the pipeline and will be presented at the Tire Technology Expo 2008 conference. To find out more, and to get a sneak preview of an emotional tire, attend Ananthoj’s discussion on 20 February, 2008.

interview published in TIRE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE 2008

Tire Aesthetic Design



Recently, I have been working on a research paper for tire aesthetics, and tire is quite a paradox component in the entire automobile. I had been wondering about when i started to write the paper from which part of it should be started , writing the abstract. And the fact is that Im still doing the research, during this I found tire being a black component cannot speak to show up, like it becomes blind or invisible or anyone hardly notices it. I was wondering ever this black component can talk or say or even evoke emotion?? And the answer to my reasearch is yes. I worked different things which usually give enhancement to the other products such as color, graphics, Typography, emboss etc.
All these features can be futher enhanced or categorised. One particular thing which i would like to mention apart from the sidewall design is the tread pattern of the tire. Today the world is going on advanced modes and so are the products, the tire. Trying embedd emotional design through various aspects. Evoke kind of emotion which can really be saying a wow factor, universal design pattern for motorcycles and cars; Graffiti, which can be played with different styles and showing attitudes of the tire itself. Color is different story all together when it comes to tires. Its not so easy to put color on the tire which could possibly destroy its functional qualities. But, as technology is enhancing i guess there will be a day I shall play with colors on the tires and I'm looking forward to that.