Conference Agenda

The goal of traditional supply chain spare parts management is to maintain a minimum level of spare parts inventory whilst still being able to fulfil demand and maintain customer satisfaction. Much research has been undertaken to optimise product flow and optimise stock levels generally requiring transporting spare parts to the point of use from a centralised storage location. While moving from a decentralised to a centralised network can lower costs and improve service performance it will have a negative impact on the environment due the increase in transportation needs.

It has been recognised that Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies have the potential to positively disrupt the supply chain by reducing the requirement to hold and transport stock, produce cost and lead time savings, while also guarding against supply chain disruption. This paper reports on the outcomes of a joint research project conducted between Bournemouth University (BU) and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) to identify specific areas where additive manufacturing could be implemented into the organisation to have a positive impact on the supply chain and promote responsible innovation in their component design. The RNLI is a charity which operates using donations from members of the public and believe it imperative to produce efficiency across all areas of the organisation, and to spend money in the most effective ways.

The project has analysed a number of engineering components alongside the RNLI’s supply chain data which has led to the development of two educational case studies which promote the benefits AM could offer the RNLI and the wider industry. The two specific components investigated were the ‘Mast Latch Handle’ and the ‘Sea Water Inlet Strainer’. The ‘Mast Latch Handle’ is an aluminium part manufactured traditionally from a stock piece of material. The ‘Sea Water Inlet Strainer’ is a component used on a variety of different lifeboat class’s, to stop debris from entering the engine cooling system. It is currently fabricated from a wrapped stainless steel sheet and two stainless steel flanges either end. Both case studies detail the redesign of the parts for AM providing equivalent or better performance, reduced weight, reduced cost and significantly shorter lead times.

The project successfully demonstrated the advantages that additive manufacturing could have on the RNLI and their values. With the use of additive manufacturing, the RNLI now understand that they could achieve consolidated part reductions, reduced lead times, less material waste, weight reductions and reduced transportation. Using AM would lead to business and environmental advantages for the organisation.

The project has resulted in AM being implemented as a focus into the RNLI engineering team time plan. Additive manufacturing is now at the forefront when new and existing engineering designs are conceived, and a manufacturing process is selected.

Further work is required such as upskilling RNLI engineering teams on designing for AM, and on the execution of the AM process, followed by the implementation of an AM facility on site in RNLI Poole Headquarters.

In order to respond to rapid changes in society and the economy, it is expected to develop human resources who understand the social issues of the SDGs, can proactively propose solutions and possess skills based on conventional knowledge-oriented education. In Japan, the SDGs are being addressed in the education sector; many high schools have started to offer classes on the SDGs. However, promoting education on the SDGs is a huge challenge for teachers in the existing high school education system, as there are no clear teaching methods or educational materials. In particular, there are no good methods for educating students on how to discover social issues from familiar places and more in-depth. Teachers urgently need to know how to support students in this relatively new education process.

This study aims to focus on the part of social issue discovery in the process of SDG education for high school students using design thinking and to propose a support method that can help teachers solve the problems they are facing so that high school students can discover better and deeper social issues.

Using the SDGs Challenge Project of Japan Fukusho High School as a case study, 27 high school teachers from various domains such as language, society, and arts were educated on the SDGs for third-year high school students in 2021. A questionnaire survey of teachers was conducted on the difficulties in identifying social issues in this context, and a questionnaire survey of 314 students was conducted after the class. In response to the results, support proposals were made according to the educational process to be carried out in 2022. A questionnaire of 22 teachers in charge in 2022 who received this support and a questionnaire of 301 students were conducted, the results of which were compared with those of the previous year to analyze the effectiveness of the support methods and to make support proposals for teachers so that students can better identify social issues.

The 2022 teacher questionnaire showed that more teachers are confident about education on social issues and that many teachers think that the educational tools are effective. Total support for the education process is needed. Specifically, it was found that preliminary support such as workshops on understanding design thinking and understanding SDGs, a support system to facilitate teaching, as well as a reflection after the project and improvement of instructional materials based on the content of the questionnaire, are needed.

This study evaluated the worksheets used in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Challenge Project from the students’ perspective, and identified requirements for teaching materials to help students who are unfamiliar with design-based learning learn about the SDGs. We analysed students’ and teachers’ feedback in worksheet surveys. The findings revealed that the ideation process was the most difficult aspect for high school students. The reported reasons were categorised as originality, idea diversification, idea convergence, consistency with problems, feasibility, specificity, iterability, complexity, and procedure. Teachers mentioned that students did not sufficiently focus on problem identification, causing subsequent difficulties in the ideation process. Teaching material should meet the following requirements: (1) demonstrating methods for diversification and convergence of ideas to specify scaffolding, (2) clear goal setting in the problem identification process, and (3) iterability to allow for change according to the design process.

Philippe Bihoux, in his 2014 work, L’Âge des low tech: vers une civilization techniquement soutenable suggests that developing increasingly high-tech solutions to address the sustainability crisis is a hopeless cause [1]. Instead, an appreciation of energy sobriety and material conservation as we move to embrace low-tech developments would yield more impactful results.

Internationally, design courses offer a range of approaches to teaching and embedding sustainability theory amongst their student body. From focusing on behaviour change [2], and imparting knowledge on sustainable design and manufacturing approaches [3] to a focus on developing product solutions which encourage improved product lifespans [4] there are many worthwhile pedagogies which can be imparted to our students.

Low-tech approaches to sustainability require designers to question assumptions held about users’ energy needs through the lens of energy sobriety. Their solutions should reduce technological intensity and complexity whilst encouraging a commons approach to the implementation of a solution.

This paper investigates and discusses a project-based learning approach to sustainability design education which focuses on Bihoux’s ideas around sobriété and low-tech development to challenge students to solve everyday design problems with reduced technological intensity.

[1] P. Bihoiux, The Age of Low Tech, English Tr. Bristol, United Kingdom: Bristol University Press, 2014.

[2] C. Boks and J. Z. Daae, “Design for sustainable behaviour in design education,” in Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education: Design Education for Future Wellbeing, EPDE 2012, 2012, no. September, pp. 611–616.

[3] A. T. Butt, E. W. Causton, and M. A. Watkins, “Embedding Sustainability in the Engineering Curriculum: a Complimentary Approach To Performance Engineering and Sustainable Design,” in Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education, E and PDE 2022, 2022, no. September, pp. 9–14, doi: 10.35199/epde.2022.24.

[4] C. Green, “Thinking Beyond the Product Moment: Addressing Issues Around ‘Keeping,’” in Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education, E and PDE 2022, 2022, no. September, doi: 10.35199/epde.2022.103.

Nepal has been facing waste management problems for a long time. This is especially true for cities, but also increasingly for rural areas. Improper treatment, lack of organization and management of solid waste (SW), contributes to pollution and toxic emissions, which inflict harm to both the human health and the environment. This study responds to the question on how solid waste management systems (SWMS) in rural areas of Nepal can be improved. Rural regions of Nepal are dealing with profound sustainability challenges related among others to the rapid expansion of tourism and fast changing infrastructure. The theory part of the study discusses SWMS and related terminology and concepts and investigates SWMS practices in Nepal, both on a general basis and in a rural mountainous region. Literature shows deficiencies of the entire SWMS in Nepal, for example in form of inadequate communication between the government and local stakeholders, including the lack of participation possibilities for managing waste in residential areas. In rural mountainous areas, frequently visited by tourists, a huge waste problem is the lack of waste bins. This problem is met practically by applying a participatory design approach (PDA) for designing a waste bin with residents and local stakeholders. The waste bin solution is functional, sustainable, and contextualized for a village in Lower Mustang, Annapurna Region, Nepal. The aim of the study was twofold, to make a feasible solution and to create awareness among designers, local stakeholders, and decision-makers about the current situation, including more systemic design possibilities for future development. The project/practice part contains field research within SWMS in rural areas of Nepal by applying PDA and other design tools/methods. Primary research, data collection and investigation are conducted by visiting the designated location, including other nearby affected areas. The project is part of a Nepal – Norway collaboration (SAMAJ) which exchanges Master students from design and planning from both countries. The goal of the SAMAJ project is to meet the SDGs with help of sustainable design for everyday and in different cultural settings. Applying insights from theory concepts in a real-life settings allows students among others to apply and test participatory design methods, and understand the divergence of design theory and practice.