The Name of class
Introduction 1
Manufacturing Process 2
Structural Components 2
Electrical Components 4
Functional Components 4
Sustainable Industrial Systems 5
Industrial Reusability 6
Service Reusability 6
Remanufacturing 6
Solutions and Interventions 6
Modifying the Structural Size and Weight of the Current Components 7
Creation of a recycling and collection center 7
Using high quality materials for all components 7
Reuse of activities 7
Sustainability in the individual components 7
Conclusion 8
References 8
Introduction
In any manufacturing activity, there has always been the need for the implementation of an efficient materials use. These was down traditionally through recycling. As at present, the need for the development of a circular economy transcends the linear economical system. The linear system has a weakness of leading to higher energy consumption costs, higher cost of manufacturing process in terms of the labor and higher pollution to the environment of the products. The circular economy system will have deal with the optimization, the reuse, and recycling of materials at any given stage in the product design and manufacturing process. This will reduce environmental pollution effect, the cost of running the manufacturing process of the product and makes the products affordable to the buyers.
As the manager in charge of ensuring the sustainability of the manufacture of a robotic lawn mower, my main aim is to implement fully the circular economy in terms of the various components of the lawn mower. I will put emphasis on the development of the product using easily reusable components, implementation of remanufacturing and the recycling of the various parts of the equipment. Thus, this paper is going to discuss the various components of the robotic lawn mower which include the structural parts, the functional parts and the electrical parts. A discussion on the extent of the implementation of the circular economy on these components is done and the various measures to achieve industrial sustainability on these components. The implementation of the sustainable product should make the whole product cost effective, market competitive and at the same time fetch good returns to the company.
Manufacturing Process
Structural Components
These will be the main components that hold together the various components of the robot lawn mower. They include the chassis of the lawn mower on which various components are hold on, the housing of the lawn mower which protects the various components of the mower and the body of the lawn mower. They chassis of the lawn mower will be made from steel alloy making it hardy. The housing and body of the lawn mower will be made from heavy plastic which Cn withstand various stresses and strains caused and the vibrations that will be happening on the system. An example of the lawn mower made from fully plastic body is the Flymo . This makes the structural components generally continue performing without much degradation even in a low temperature or a high pressure operation process. This makes them to be easily reused components of the lawn mower.
The manufacturing process of the components of the lawn mower is shown below
Many materials will be purchased for the design of the robot lawn mower. The materials will need to be manufactured from a central company and the rest distributed to the company supplier for assembly. Most of the electrical components of the robots are assembled at the depot of the company and this will reduce the risk of damage during transportation.
The first raw materials for the production of the lawn mower are steel alloys. This can be the steel used in the manufacture of the chassis of the lawn mower and the stainless steel that will be used in the manufacturing of the cutting blades.
The second materials are the steel wires and the use of stainless steel. The subsequent materials used in the design of the robot land mower is the aluminum alloy which will offer the light weight of the whole component they can be easily recycled.
The last raw material for the design of the lawn mower is the plastics used in the various components of the lawn mower. The 5-Polypropylene plastics and others will be used for they offer recycling capacity for the design of the lawn mower. The rest of the raw materials used in the design include zinc, lead and copper for the electric wires band circuit boards and iron. The use of rubber will be on components that can be handled by the user and all these materials can easily be recycled giving a complete circular economy in the product design .
The Packaging and branding in the lawn mower will be in cartons made from corrugated cardboard sheets that will be lighter and cheaper in the production. The packaging will occur at the assembly points and the branding if the finished products will also occur there.
Electrical Components
The manufacturing of most of the electrical components happen in the third party suppliers to the company. This is because the design and manufacturing of these components is expensive and it can be made cheaper with the implementation of a economy of scale manufacturing through large scale manufacturing. The company will give the specifications of the electrical products needed to the manufacturing company in terms of the size, the output required for the system and the input to the system. The company will buy motors, switches, circuit boards and the wiring wires from different suppliers based on their expertise in these areas and will bring all these components to the company for assembly. A case scenario of the motor designed for a lawna mower is the upgrade to deal with the wet grass and leaves during the cutting. The case scenario of a lawna mower can be made using an extra drive motor to add weight, torque and speeds .
The company will also purchase batteries, and solar panels from the specialized companies. The battery will be charged and the charge stored for use during the moment the solar panel is not supplying the power. This is because at the time the robot is on the shade, there will be a lot of losses in terms of the energy dissipated. This feature assist in the creation of a sustainable power efficient system in the robot system.. The battery used are made of lithium that are high performing and can be recharged to a capacity of 0.6A. Another robotic system that will have an automatic charging system is the Flymo 1200R robotic lawn mower. The battery capacity for Flymo 1200R is 1.6Ah, battery voltage of 18V and the battery type of Li-ion and charging current of 1A. The assembly of these electrical components is done through screwing, bolting and soldering of some components.
Functional Components
There are various functional components used in the manufacture of the robot lawn mower. This include the blades, the fans, and the sensors. The blades will be used to cut the grass. Fans will be used in the ventilation of the motor and assist in the dissipation of the heat from the robot activity. The lawn mower will have PIR sensor for human detection, Ultrasonic sensor for object detection and the accelerometer that will prevent lawn operations while the lawn is being held. This will be for the safety of the lawn mower and the users. The humidity sensor will be placed facing the ground in the system. The ultrasonic sensor will be placed at the front for maximum detection while the PIR one is placed at an angle facing upwards to detect humans
These functional parts will be manufactured in the company as shown in fig 1 on product development of the lawn mower design
Sustainable Industrial Systems
Future sustainable product life cycle, there will be various sustainability examples in the use of circular economy where nothing that gets into the product life cycle is thrown away. This means all materials are endlessly recycled and for the development of a great sustainable system, there will be need to have a system to determine whether the materials should still be recycled or not. There will be also the implementation of a reduction in the usage of the materials, reusing and recycling the given materials to make the process ecofriendly. The environmental impact of the materials usage is of great importance especially in the implementation of a sustainable product life cycles.
For the sustainability of the product lifecycle in future, various aspects of the manufacturing process will be considered. This will factor in the optimization of the extraction process, the environmental impact of the said products, energy consumption of the products and the competitive advantage our lawn mower will have in this competitive market. The consideration when choosing a sustainable industrial system should consider the whole product life cycle right from raw material extraction, manufacturing, distribution and should enable material reuse and substitution. It is of great importance to consider the environmental impact of the product when looking for an effective sustainable product life cycle in this era of chemical pollution. The product should have a low carbon pollution index. It should have a low chemical emission both during the manufacturing process and in the course of its usage. The product of the future should also have a low cost implication on both the manufacturer and the user.
A high priority should be put on industrial reusability then recycling, remanufacturing and repair of the various components to make the industrial system as circular as possible.
Industrial Reusability
This will involve the reuse of the various technologies and activities within the industry in the achievement of circular economy. This will be achieved by the design of compatible components of the lawn mower that will have a capability to integrate easily with the crest of the components. The use of a circuit board that is compatible with the old ones will lead to the reuse of some of the components in the lawn mower design. This compatibility will also enable replacement of components within the industry and the ease replacement on the consumers end.
The various technologies used in the manufacturing process can also be reused. This can be by the use of the robots used in the manufacturing of the functional parts to assist in part of the manufacturing of the structural parts.
Service Reusability
The company will implement various repair centers in the world so as to serve the customers better. Customers who purchased their machines can come and rent out their machines to others, when they are not using them and generate some little income from it. The generated money will be ploughed back to the company efficiently and this centers will also serve as a center for repair of the damaged lawn mowers. Customers who need to be disposed their lawn mowers will also bring their equipment here where they will be evaluated and a very small price paid to them. This will encourage them to bring more materials that will be used to recycle, reuse or to be remanufactured and thus assist in the achievement of the circular economy.
Remanufacturing
This will be considered at the end of the each components life cycle. The damaged blades of the lawn mower will be brought back to the factory and partially manufactured. This will lead to a cheaper production of the plate although at the cost of lessening the strength of the blades. This can have a negative effect on the manufacture of the lawn mower using them thus the strength of the remanufactured plates will need to be evaluated to ensure compliance with the quality. The plates can also be used in the manufacturing of various other components used in the farm like the shears and scissors thus no waste of the materials will be realized.
The cost incurred by the plant in the set-up of a remanufacturing plant will be compensated for in future by the diversification of the various other components that the factory can engage in. The company can then sell the remanufactured products to customers at a lower cost thus will increase the revenue generators for the company.
Solutions and Interventions
There are various activities that will need to be done to achieve the proposed industrial sustainability activities. This are from the main product components optimization to the service and the way of assembly of the components. The solution to the various needs of the lawn mower manufacturing company can be in terms of the following:
Modifying the Structural Size and Weight of the Current Components
The current lawn mower is made from many metallic components like the body. The future lawn mower will have a reduced weight because of the materials that will be used. This will be by the use of heavy plastics, light metals and the miniaturization of various components like the motor, the circuit boards to reduce its overall size.
Creation of a Recycling and Collection Center
The purpose of this center is for the collection of the waste materials from the factory products and recycling them. The consumers will be encouraged to return unused components of the robotic lawnmower for recycling purposes. These materials will be analyzed and the need for recycling determined then used as raw materials in the manufacturing processes of new products
Using High Quality Materials for All Components
The blades of the lawn mower will be made from high quality steel. This will prevent faster degeneration and improve on its overall performance. The body and housing will be made from high quality plastic that will lead to the machine having a lower weight but an increased performance and durability level.
Reuse of Activities
The various activities and resources used in the manufacturing of the lawn mower will be shared. This will include the use of the same company vehicles in the transportation of the various components of the factory from one place to another. Not only will it save on the cost of hiring vehicles, bit it will also lead to the use of the same personnel in the running of some of these activities. The human labor during the manufacturing and assembly process will be used dynamically thus the cost of labor is also reduced.
Sustainability in the Individual Components
There are several steps that the company will take to implement a sustainable manufacturing system in manufacturing of the lawn mower components.
For the chassis-The short term goals will be to create a light, chassis that will lead to easier maneuvering of the robot and also will lead to less design issues in the design of the robot system. This will be achieved in the longer term through the assessment of other alloys of steel that can perform better at a lower cost than the current materials which are very expensive
The solar panel-The long term is to create a portable solar panel that can be removed from one lawn mower and placed on another one or another system to be used as an energy source. The panel should also be designed to maximize on the amount of energy the solar panel can attract thus will operate efficiently. The solar panel should be in a position to work together with the battery so that in case of a decrease in the amount of energy in the panel, the battery will start discharging its energy.
Circuit Boards-The short term goals in sustainability of the product will be to protect the circuit boards against damage by any external factor. The long term goal towards the sustainability of the circuit board design is the recycling of the circuit board after the end of the life of the product. The materials used in the circuit boards are glass fibers and cellulose papers where they are reduced in size of waste and nonmetallic parts will be separated and collected .
The blades-The long terms goals are to design the blade from a material that is removable and can be easily replaced by another one. It can also be sharpened easily as the mower rests. The blades are made from stainless steel thus will not suffer from rust and other vulnerabilities that the conventional material suffers from. The longer term will also to incorporate a mulching system where the grass will be cut into smaller pieces and used as mulch for the grass thus sustainability in the grass product produced
Conclusion
In a manufacturing plant, each component made consumes both energy, releases some carbon emission and other pollutants and will take a certain cost depending on the component. There is need for the use of a reusing the various components, recycling and remanufacturing them in order to achieve a completely circular economy. This will cut on the pollutants released to the environment by the process thus lead to a green ecological industry. In the manufacturing of a robotic lawn mower, there is need to ensure that the development of the sustainable system do not influence the productivity and the cost on the customers end. The quality and improvement on the same product should be maintained so that it retains its market competitiveness while working efficiently for the home users. The implementation of a circular economy through the reuse of the various components and the recycling of others will cut on the cost of production of the components. This finances saved could be used on the improvement of the lawn mower to make it more intelligent and more efficient to use by incorporating alternative energy saving techniques like the use of solar energy. This will also enable the effective repair of the components to the users thus the company will maintain its competitiveness in the lawn mower machine manufacturing fields. This will also ensure that a high quality product is produced without the increase in the cost of the lawn mower on the consumer’s side.
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