![]() Today, plastics are disposed of in several ways including recycling, landfilling, incineration, composting and littering. This means that as we use more and more plastic, we will also discard an ever growing amount of plastic that will last for centuries. One of the values of plastics for packaging and manufacturing articles is the strength and durability of the material, however, after use this durability means that the plastics remain after use and continue to accumulate in the environment indefinitely. Plastic items are a critical part of modern society and they are used in almost every aspect of our lives. The results of this research could be used to guide educational institutions in regard to curricula for industrial design courses so that future graduates may more effectively fulfil industry requirements. Another troubling finding was that industrial designers were generally not perceived as being suitable to manage product development groups. It was found that overall, industrial designers were not regarded highly by organisations as a source of new product ideas. The results indicate that industrial designers underperformed in five functional areas that could be considered fundamental to the service normally provided by industrial designers and they have not exceeded expectations in any of the functions included in the survey. However, the data also suggests the design profession has still some way to go to adequately grasp its full professional potential, particularly in the area of product development management. This literature suggests that design will become the next competitive 'weapon', and become a central part of organisational strategy. In general, the data obtained in this research confirms views expressed in the literature that describes current changes in the manufacturing industry. It was concluded that lean manufacturing is being adopted by Australian manufacturers and that lean manufacturing is impacting on the role of the industrial design. Manufacturing organisations were categorised into three groups: lean manufacturers, emerging users of lean manufacturing and non-lean manufacturers. The surveyed organisations represented a broad cross-section of Australian manufacturers by size, location and industry. ![]() ![]() The number of surveys returned was 134, representing a 60.9 percent response rate. The survey was distributed to 220 manufacturing organisations undertaking product development in Australia. A survey was conducted to gather data on organisation demographics, the role of the industrial designer, production techniques and product development. The aim of this research was to determine the extent of use, by Australian manufacturers, of lean manufacturing techniques, and the current and future implications for industrial designers. ![]()
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