Engineering design (PDS) Essay Example

Belt conveyors have numerous functions in the manufacturing and production processes. The A8120 conveyor belt is the most used, due to its high resistance capacity. It is a heavy duty product and can be applied in numerous industries. The A8120 conveyor belt among others are developed in relation to the needs and requirements of the customers/ clients.

The section below provides the A8120 conveyor belt product specifications that the designer engineer should include to meet the development and implementation of the A8120 conveyor belt. This PDS presents the customer requirements, design parameters of the conveyor belt; the design information that is used in the preparation of the design specification of the product, and how to ensure products design specification meet the requirements needed. The PDS give clear steps and process used to implementing and developing the A8120 belt conveyor.

1. Performance

• The performance demanded by the customer will be considered including speed of the conveyor.

• The A8120 conveyor system speed should be variable as the main standard performance to control the production and costs of operation if not specifically designed.

• The conveyor uses electrical actuators, which ensure that it can operate at a zero pressure conveyor accumulation. The drive powers the actuators.

• The A8120 conveyor belt should meet the requirements of lowering the costs, lead times and other production/ operation line requirements.

1. Efficiency

• Efficiency is one of the main customer requirements that the product been developed should meet.

• The conveyor belt can be implemented in different industries for different manufacturing and production needs with the anticipated efficiency.

• The belt should improve the efficiency in the business operations. That is; the machine should be accurate to eliminate wastage of time through automating the customer need such as distribution or wholesaling.

• The dimensions of the product can meet the function of the belt in the industry. That is; it should be the standard size as defined by regulating bodies and standards for the product development.

3.0 Materials

• The A8120 conveyor belt material should be effective to work in all environments including the harsh environments.

• A8120 conveyor belt should be designed using high quality materials due to the anticipated functions of the product.

• The standard accepted materials are heavy duty materials to brand the product reliable and increase efficiency in the business, meeting the customer and professional requirement.

1. Size

• The size of the design should be standard to ensure it does not clamp the device; the length cannot be more than the 300mm.
  

• The height is dependent on the need of the customer and their requirements.
  

• The standard measurements of the product should be 280mm to 1230mm in 50mm increments.
  

• The standard diameter dimensions for the A8120 rollers should be 112mm. The main standard dimensions of the conveyor belt are 200-250mm long x 45-50mm high x 115-125mm wide.

1. Product

• The product must undergo Inspection and Tests processes of presenting the specification of the material prior to putting the product for sale or sent to the customer

• The results of the tests must be documented to show it meets the anticipated requirements including safety to be presented in the market.

1. Target

• The standard A8120 conveyor belt should meet the general market target goals, which include distributing, packaging, retailing and wholesaling among others.

• The targets of the product are all environments, which stipulates the materials for the standard product should be of high resistance.

• It can operates work in different environments both harsh and friendly, and produce high quality and reliable results.

1. Environment

• The product is used in an environment where the weather or working conditions are harsh, the product (conveyor belt) should be developed to stand such conditions (Maekawa, et al., 2003).

• Thus, the need for heavy duty products that can stand harsh environment

• The product should withstand temperatures of 1,200 F and 600 C

1. Safety

• To ensure the safety of the users while using the product the implementation and development of the A8120 conveyor belt should meet all inspection and tests requirements.

• The development of the product should undergo all necessary tests to ensure it is safe for use by the customer.

• The product shall incorporate the emergency buttons in either sides such as at the drive, transfer point and the tail end.

• The wires and switches of the product should be covered to eliminate all possible dangers that open wires may cause while using the product and emergency brakes.

• Other important applications to ensure the safety of the customer are anticipated through the application of the BS standards among other regulating bodies (BS 7373-3, 2005).

1. Function

• The function of the conveyor belt is directly related to the need of the customer. Therefore, prior to developing the product, one must identify the needs of the customers either for distribution or packaging to ensure the product developed meets the given customer needs.

• Other customer needs that the engineer should consider include the shape of the belt, weight, the color, and size among other specifications that the customer will propose.

1. Cost

• Cost is considered a major parameter since the A8120 are very expensive. However, the best and fair prices should be offered to the clients.

• The manufacturing process is also a major design parameter of the engineering product should meet the design processes stages, which include the initial stage, the testing stage, and documentation, which is the final stage among others

1. Quality

• The quality of a product is guaranteed through ensuring that a product technical documentation is achieved effectively.

• The documentation is relied upon since it guarantees the safety of the product, maintainability, performance and productivity of the product in the anticipated customer function.

1. Maintenance

• The maintenance costs of the product should not be high.

• The development and implementation of the product should reduce the necessary maintaining services and professional routine checks for the product. Thus, if a high quality product is used, the cost of maintenance is low.