Robin Roy

Sustainable product-service systems

The concept of sustainable product-service systems has emerged recently, and is distinct from the ideas of cleaner production, eco-design and design for the environment. The concept goes beyond the environmental optimisation of products and processes and requires radical and creative thinking to reduce environmental impacts by a factor of between four and 20 times while maintaining an acceptable quality of service. Sustainable product-services consider alternative socio-technical systems that can provide the essential end-use function, such as warmth or mobility, that an existing product offers. Four types are outlined—result services; shared utilisation services; product-life extension services; and demand side management. Sustainable product-service systems attempt to create designs that are sustainable in terms of environmental burden and resource use, whilst developing product concepts as parts of sustainable whole systems, that provide a service or function to meet essential needs.

Design and Innovation in Successful Product Competition

Abstract This paper presents results from a project entitled ‘MArket Demands that Reward Investment in Design’ (MADRID). Among other aims, MADRID seeks to identify the contribution of design and innovation to product competitiveness in different markets. The paper provides a conceptual analysis of the role of design and innovation in product competition. The concepts are employed to conduct an analysis of a sample of new and redesigned products using data from a previous study on the ‘Commercial Impacts of Design’ (CID). CID was a study of over 220 design and product development projects in British SMEs which had received government financial support for design. The key conclusions from this re-analysis of the CID data are: • • In commercially successful product development projects more attention had been paid than in the loss-making projects to genuine product improvements rather than just styling or cost reduction. • • Commercially successful product development projects involved a multidimensional approach to design with a focus on product performance, features and build quality and, where relevant, technical or design innovation. Loss-making projects tended to involve a narrow, often styling-oriented, approach to design with more attention paid to cost reduction than to performance, quality and innovation.

Competitive by design

This paper is concerned with the role of design in the competitiveness of manufacturing companies and reports on design management in commercially successful firms. The findings are based on a survey of design policies and practices in over one hundred British and foreign companies from several industries, ranging from furniture to electronics. The paper shows that while in theory design plays a key role in competition, influencing both “price” and “non‐price” factors, in practice many managers do not give design high priority in company strategy and product development. The commercially most successful firms were those that not only invested resources in design and managed it effectively, but had other strengths, for example in marketing and manufacturing.

Case studies of creativity in innovative product development

Case studies of individual inventor/designers were developed in order to provide an insight into the creative process and an understanding of innovative product development. The cases provide information on the motivations of creative individuals, the sources of their ideas, their approaches to developing those ideas, their use of 2D and 3D modelling at different stages of product development, their need for domain-specific knowledge, and the value of tools such as creative thinking techniques and computer-aided design. The cases also illustrate some of the difficulties faced by British inventors and designers in commercializing innovative products.

Designing low carbon higher education systems: Environmental impacts of campus and distance learning systems

Purpose – This paper aims to summarise the methods and main findings of a study of the environmental impacts of providing higher education (HE) courses by campus‐based and distance/open‐learning methods.Design/methodology/approach – The approach takes the form of an environmental audit, with data from surveys of 20 UK courses – 13 campus‐based, seven print‐based and online distance learning courses – covering travel, paper and print consumption, computing, accommodation, and campus site impacts. Results were converted into energy and CO2 emissions per student per 100 hours of degree study.Findings – Distance learning HE courses involve 87 per cent less energy and 85 per cent lower CO2 emissions than the full‐time campus‐based courses. Part‐time campus HE courses reduce energy and CO2 emissions by 65 and 61 per cent, respectively, compared with full‐time campus courses. The lower impacts of part‐time and distance compared with full‐time campus courses is mainly due to a reduction in student travel and elim...

Cutting-edge technology

In recent years there has been a growing belief that materials constitute a generic technology of revolutionary significance, ranking alongside information techno- logy and biotechnology. Our main aim is to examine the plausibility of this claim. In so doing we indicate what is distinctive about changes i n materials science and technology, and report on recent forecasts of potential change. Our second aim is briefly to discuss corporate and public policy on materials innovation i n a number of advanced countries. We present some preliminary jindings from interviews conducted with prominent UK materials producers and users. We conclude that there have been some important incremental and radical innovations i n materials technology. But because the diffusion of innovative materials and processes into different industry sectors and products has been uneven, i n terns of their current and likely future impact on the economy as a whole these changes cannot yet be described as revolutionary. The future impact ...

The commercial impacts of investment in design

A survey of 221 small and medium-sized UK manufacturers which received a government subsidy to employ a professional design consultant to help develop new or improved products or graphics showed that 60% of all projects and 90% of the implemented ones were commercially successful. Other benefits included the firms gaining design management skills and some impact on the UK trade balance. However, there is still a long way to go before industry makes full use of Britains design expertise.

Sustainable services, electronic education and the rebound effect

This paper challenges the belief that improving the efficiency of resource use will necessarily lead to lower consumption. Findings are presented of a study by the UK Open University of the environmental impacts of three higher education (HE) delivery systems. Initial analysis indicates that the distance-taught courses involve 90% less energy and CO2 emissions than the campus courses. Electronic delivery does not result in a reduction in energy or CO2 emissions compared to print-based distance learning, due to rebound effects, e.g. in use of computers and home heating. The paper concludes that to limit consumption, we need to deal with rebound effects and practice ‘sustainable consumption’.

Household ecological footprinting for active distance learning and challenge of personal lifestyles

This paper introduces a new distance learning course, “Working with our environment: technology for a sustainable future”. An inter‐disciplinary team within the Technology Faculty of the Open University developed this undergraduate course, which enrols over 1,500 students per year. One of the overall course aims is to help students understand how the use of technology to meet human material needs contributes to environmental effects. The process of producing this course, its philosophy, aims and design will be briefly discussed. At the start of the course a lifestyle environmental assessment activity, called EcoCal, is integrated within students’ study materials. The activity enables students to assess the main impacts on the environment arising from their own households’ consumption of transport, energy, food and water and production of waste. Through the use either of a printed questionnaire or publicly available software students can calculate their “ecological footprints” and then consider and model the effects of changes to their lifestyles. Through the combination of undertaking this activity and submitting an appropriate assignment, students are encouraged to think critically and creatively about their personal and household impacts on the environment and how these might be reduced. At the end of the course students are surveyed to explore whether their attitudes and behaviour have changed.

Managing design projects in small and medium sized firms

This paper presents initial results of a major study of the benejits and costs of investment in design i n small and medium-sized manufacturers. It shows that UK manufacturers which received a government subsidy to employ a professional design consultant for product, engineering, packaging and graphic design projects recovered their total investment i n an average of 15 months, as well as gaining other indirect benefits. However, problems i n using and managing the design consultants was a factor i n a quarter of the projects that were not implemented or produced disappointing commercial results. The problems most associated with project failure were inadequate briefing of the consultant and internal disagreements about the aims or value of the projects. Severe design management problems were most common i n firms with under 50 employees and especially affected firms with under 10 employees. Thus, while small firms often lack in-house specialist skills such as design, such firms require additional help an...