title: Design practice through emerging digital fabrication technologies, workflows and materiality
Creators: name: Haskell, Natalie
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Industry 4.0
subject: Digital fabrication
subject: Digital making
subject: Advanced Manufacturing
subject: Additive Manufacturing
subject: Design Innovation
subject: User Centred Design
subject: Interdisciplinary practice
subject: Industrial Design
subject: 3D and Product Design

description: In the age of Industry 4.0, transformative technologies are radically changing design practice, workflow and fabrication; what outputs are designed; and in turn, the impact products and/or experiences created have on the user and ways of manufacturing. The research is focused on the role of Additive Manufacturing (AM) within Industry 4.0; industries being disrupted by these shifts, and the opportunities this presents for customised solutions. Key questions driving the research are: as emerging technologies transform ways of designing and fabricating, what opportunities does this present for more customised, personalised user experiences; for localised fabrication; for more sustainable futures (to include the relationship between sustainable materials research and the rise of Additive Manufacturing), and the role of design research to engage with these new paradigms and the impact on future design practice. The research is divided into four case studies, two focused on Design + Health and two on Industry 4.0 + Additive Manufacturing. The first two case studies utilise Additive Manufacturing for rapid prototyping and conceptual customised product design solutions across scales. These case studies identified opportunities with Additive Manufacturing and also gaps within industry to use these technologies for customised and localised solutions. In an age of rapid development of Additive Manufacturing tools that can radically enhance our ways of working and the outcomes possible (such as complexity of form, mass customisation and sustainable material use), accessibility to these tools within industry and by designers is a critical component of industry transformation in Advanced Manufacturing. When considering future design practice and the role design research can play to facilitate the uptake of new technologies within industry, the last two case studies are focused on industry integrated projects. As suggested by the World Economic Forum when discussing the rise of Additive Manufacturing in Industry 4.0, “whatever the requirements, they are non-negotiable for manufacturers, regulators and consumers … a focus on product life cycle intrinsically implies an even stronger focus on materials. The age of the application of Additive Manufacturing is in fact the age of materials.”1 The research started with Additive Manufacturing technologies identified as a means to facilitate more localised, customised and sustainable manufacturing, and ends with exploration into the future of Additive Manufacturing and the role research can play.Essentially, as we look to embrace new fabrication methods, the material-environmental and social-cultural sustainability impact are crucial considerations.2 This is supported by the CSIRO Advanced Manufacturing Roadmap (2016), which states that sustainable manufacturing and innovation (enabled through technologies such as Additive Manufacturing) are key to the future growth of Australia’s manufacturing and design industry.3 Along with the identification of the need for “improved collaboration and alignment between industry and research.”4 With the current impact of COVID-19 on supply chains, this perspective has been further enhanced by the CSIRO COVID-19: Recovery and Resilience report (2020)5, along with the recent release of the Circular Economy Roadmap for Plastics, Glass, Paper and Tyres (2021)6. As designers locally and globally, there are opportunities to respond to these issues with localised production, re-framing material use through the use of emerging technologies and Advanced Manufacturing.