Process is one of the principle elements of any product

The principle elements of any product are materials, processes, forms and appearance, each influenced by numerous factors within three broad areas of concern. Marketing analysis and brand understanding help to determine what the product should or could be like in an ideal situation, technical constraints reflect controlling standards and realistic investment costs and commercial viability assesses the potential for sales and profit. The response of clients, designers, manufacturers and users depends on their perception and evaluation of the importance of any particular factor, which will of course, not necessarily be the same as each other.

The product design wheel.

The product design wheel, illustrated at the picture, gives some indication of the complexity of interrelationships between people, materials and processes involved in creating a product. The tangible and intangible constraints are relevant to the production of a single brick, a brick wall or a whole building, weighted from imperative through preferable, desirable, optional, immaterial, undesirable and definitely not! Interpretation and perception of these constraints depends on the individual’s relationship within the process. For example, consider the likely differences in the desires or expectations of the client and the designer against the demands of technology and manufacture with respect to materials and value for money. As the product design is developed, there will be some agreement, but at many points there will be conflicts, differences of opinion and differences in value judgments, inevitably necessitating compromises. The essential fact, however, is that every element imposes its own possibilities or constraints on the way in which the product has been, or can be designed.

Elements can be described as factors or requirements of performance or in many cases can be considered from both points of view. For example:

-the time taken for a particular ink to become touch dry after being placed on the paper is a known factor, whereas

-an economical minimum time for any ink to become touch dry to suit the technology of the printing process is a performance or production requirement.

This is a significant distinction as in the first case the selection of the ink determines the timing of the process, whereas in the second case the process dictates which inks are suitable. Clearly such decisions have a ‘knock-on’ effect as other elements are considered.