Target Prosentation

I completed and Presented on the Puzzle Department of Target. the sales rate was $5.00 to $20.00. The materials ranged from card stock, paper, clay, and plastic. Their were two types of puzzles: traditional jigsaw puzzles, and spacial 3D puzzles. The puzzles had product themes that ranged from nature, to modern media like transformers. The puzzles were produced by die cutting process. The majority of the puzzles were made in china and designed by a company called buffalo games.

Hallmark Lawrence Production Plant

For out final Industry tour of the semester, our materials and processes class toured the Hallmark Production Center located in Lawrence Kansas. To them the greeting card is not dead, it’s very much something they are trying to keep alive. At this Hallmark manufacturing facility they produce greeting cards, envelops for cards, as well as boxes for cards. Hallmark is an international seller of cards, with their headquarters in Kansas City, Kansas. Hallmark operates a wide chain of retail stores specializing in seasonal gifts, cards, and trinkets. They also sell cards in major retailers like CVS, Walmart, Target, and Walgreens. In the recent years, many people have been embracing technology like emails, texts, and e-cards to share information, messages, and memories. Millennials are especially unlikely to buy a card. In the US, total greeting card industry revenue declined, much like other paper mediums like newspapers. “Our primary customer today is someone who’s been using our product for years and years,” says Paul Barker, vice president and general manager of Hallmark’s digital division. “But most people think of Hallmark today because of the presence we have in the analog space ... We don’t have a lot of presence in the digital space.” It sounds like Hallmark needs to reimagine themselves as a company if it wants to survive.  They will likely need designers for that change to digital. For right now though the company’s products remain very physical. They are using Paper for almost all their products, but also adding materials like ink, powdered nylon, metal, and “Flitter” (glitter for those outside the industry). Their most common paper grade they use is a “94 Bright” which is a high grade paper that is bleached. The paper often starts in rolls that are then cut into smaller sheets that are printed with card designs. The sheets of paper are then fed into a Die-cutting machine (similar to ones we have seen at Lawrence Paper Company). The process uses a die for cutting a greeting card out of sheet. The die is the term for a metal card cutter. Joining and Finishing processes ranged widely based on the design of the card. Some of the more interesting ones we saw were Foiling, Virko, and Flitter. Foiling is where Hot foil is stamped onto a card to create a shiny effect. The die is heated in the press and the foil is stamped into the card. The process can be used for wording or highlighting part of the cards design. The Virko process is the name given to the texture and colour attached to greeting cards by thermography. The cards are placed into a press, a special powdered compound is dusted onto the paper and fused by ink to the fresh ink. Raised lettering or designs are made with this process. It can also be done with powdered nylon to give the card a plastic sheen. plastisol (heat activated glue) was popular for the card, box, and envelope joining because it was not time sensitive and machines did not have to be regularly flushed out. 

Other processing included puff printing, tinting, digital printing, repousse (faux metal), and spot coating. Forming technologies included machine folding, electrostatic chamber for flocking adhesion, Die cutting  (magnesium die and brass die), and Laser cutting. My favorite process was the laser cutting on cards because they were able to reveal multiple colored images and graphics without printing. My overall impressions were good. It was a fun tour and the guides were knowledgeable, they were engineers at the plant.  Hallmark was SO 14001 certified, which is the international standard certification for improving environmental performance and procedures. It shows that a company understands the environmental consequences of its activities and has put in place a series of measures to reduce its impact on the environment. Hallmark emphasized that they use “sustainable forests when sourcing their materials.  While I don’t think the card is about to disappear, I do think that it’s going into a downward spiral.  I hope that Hallmark can find a way to connect with younger generations. 

Design & Thinking

Design & Thinking:

“How are billion dollar companies being beaten by kids in garages…?” This was a favorite quote asked in the film “Design & Thinking.” It was documentary on “design thinking” and its impact on society and businesses. The film started with asking people what “design thinking” was? When did they first hear about it? How do they use it? They asked these questions to Designers and Industry Leaders of a variety of caste and creed. The people asked in the video were all impressive people, Tim Brown (IDEO), Peter Pangaro (cybernetic lifestyles), John Pittman (Autodesk), David Kelley(Stanford D. School), Alex Osterwalder (Business Model Generation), and Jennifer Palhka (Code for America). They gave so many ranging answers to those three simple questions. The majority of the movie was cut scenes of their different answers and comments.  This made following any one of their thoughts and comments more than a little confusing. I really enjoyed the film’s demos of specific uses of Design thinking in industry. The first time I head the word “design thinking” was in the 6^th grade from a video featuring David Kelly. It was formative to my early development. For me the film did a great job at outlining the core principles of design thinking.

National Geographic Megafactories

National Geographic Megafactories

We watched a documentary called "National Geographic Megafactories." This Film gave an in-depth look at the IKEA Manufacturing Process as well an interesting history of the company. IKEA has over 332 stores in 38 countries. It also includes 42 distribution centers and around 100 suppliers. They make more money than several European countries. They have 690 Million customers visit their store last year and sold more than 800 million cubic feet of product. To supply this immense demand they need an advanced network of mega-factories. The Billy Bookshelf, for example, uses fiber board. They sell one of these shelving units every 10 seconds! There is an entire factory that only creates fiber board because of the need. IKEA seem to trying to keep up this demand in a responsible way. They use fast growing pine forests that are carefully harvested from in amounts that are not detrimental. 

El Dorado Architecture

We went to tour a company called El Dorado in Kansas City. They are a small Firm that boasts a wide range of work. Their markets and work include retail stores, houses, condos, corporate environments, furniture, theaters, public spaces, and sculptural pieces. Their style in recent years seems to use a lot of stainless, steel, and concrete with a highly modern look. Because of the owners background they do a lot of metals work, brazing, and welding in shop. In recent years they have been winning a number of design awards, (KC Magazine: 2007 Best Kansas City Architectural Firm) The part of the tour I was there for was very short and pretty much consisted of telling us that El Dorado was not a start up (it seemed like a start up) and general advice for a Design Education and Job. One of those pieces of advice (pointed statements) was how unprofessional it is to be late. I was late for the tour but felt irritated because I viewed it as not anything I have control over. I had stayed in class till it got out, skipped lunch, walked to my car, and started making the not so short drive to Kansas City.  When I arrived at the tour I just heard how “unprofessional” it is to be late and then had the tour end. The only other question I heard was regarding the startup atmosphere surrounding the company. The man giving the tour did not seem to take kindly to the question, responding with an air of exasperation at the idea it had an atmosphere of a startup. He made sure we knew that the company started in 1996 and had a lot of experience.  I was surprised at this because I thought most people had a great deal of pride in the startup business model. Everything about El Dorado oozed startup mentality. They were in a business district surrounded by startups. The staff was all extremely young. The owners started a company with their own capital, receiving no outside investment to start. They were developing a unique business model, and had an in house welding shop. They lacked a visible corporate structure, didn’t have any corner offices, instead having employees sit next to owners.  According to their website, the began when architect Jamie Darnell began taking welding classes and convinced four other, Doug Stockman, Dan Maginn, Chris Kelsey and David Murrell, to join him in taking the class. They eventually decided to start a business, and incorporated as El Dorado Inc. They leased a 10,000 square foot space at 1712 Main Street for $600 a month thanks to the kindness of an arts-supporting Crossroads developer. They used part of the space for a welding fabrication shop and the other for an architecture practice. Their Idea was that the two could function independently but also generate business for each other. Their business struggled for many years. It was difficult to find work and compete with more established firms. They struggled with branding as their combined model of architecture firm and fabricator was innovative yet confusing. By the later 2010, they eventually went to a model that said “El Dorado is an Architecture Firm.” This helped their branding and they started getting more work, winning contracts, awards, and publications. In recent years they have started going into working larger commercial projects. Because of this they are not able to use the Fabrication Shop as much, but they are stilling going well as a side part of the businesses. 

Waste = Food

Waste = Food Movie

It easy to look over the issue of trash and waste. We live in developed society where we daily purchase and consume goods, products, and services that generate waste… yet we conveniently dispose of them is trash reciprocals of every kind and shape. We don’t spend much time thinking about where this trash and waste go. We lose any concept of how much trash we create and where it goes. Because of this, it is quit shocking (and necessary) to be confronted with images and statics on the amount of waste we produce. Man is the only creature that produces landfills. Natural resources are being depleted on a rapid scale while production and consumption are rising in na­tions like China and India. The waste production world wide is enormous and if we do not do anything we will soon have turned all our resources into one big messy landfill. We are not a sustainable rate of destruction of our t environment. We watched a film called “Waste = Food” that focused on the topics of rampant waste, and the work of those to combat it. The movie presents the dire nature of the current system but also gave an inspiring look at the efforts of some companies like Nike, Herman Miller, Ford, Rohner Textile, and even industrial countries like US and China. These companies and countries are making strides to change waste disposal policies, make recycling easy, and create more responsible products. However, as stated in the film, "...less bad isn't good...". It's not enough to have one line of hemp running shoes, make a PR stunt, or build a prettier factory. The world’s community needs to be awakened to the issues and together seek a complete overhaul that changes how the whole process works. That is what people like chemist Michael Braungart and architect William McDonough are seeking to do. The movie told the story of how the two met and are now creating solutions that are changing the way the world is producing and building. Braungart introduces his concept of Waste = Food. Everything in nature (flowers, trees, birds, bears, rocks) is a renewable resource that goes back into the ecosystem creating new life: food. Unlike nature, we are mass manufacturing are products made from Styrofoam, plastic, and synthetics that do not break down nor go back into the environment; they go to landfills.  Braungart wants to see that the waste created from products and processes would become food for the “biosphere” or the “technosphere” (all the technical products we make), produc­tion and consumption could become beneficial for the planet. Another name they have given this idea is “Cradle to Cradle.” Every product in should at the end of its lifecycle, have the component materials it’s made and packaged in become a new resource for other products, or go back quickly into the environment. The ideas of Braungart and McDonough are being listened to by Governments and Businesses around the world! Much needed change is happening. We must see these changes continue.

Fun Fact : There is now "Cradle to Cradle" Certification for Businesses!

 

Phone Dissection Project:

Three ways that cellphones could be more sustainable :

1. Interchangeable Parts : if cellphones could have components that could taken off and replaced like cameras, processor, or memory. This would extend the product life cycle as people could upgrade their phone without replacing the whole thing. 
2. make cellphones for sustainable resources instead of plastics that don't break down. Could use bio plastic like PLA or PHB. 
3. incentive the the recycling of cellphones by the carrier or producer. When you want to get a new phone from sprint...you take your old phone back to sprint and get a new one. Sprint responsibly recycles the old one, using the materials to make more sprint phones.