Evaluation & Testing

Realised Plan of Manufacture - 1 sheet

Earlier in your project you should have created a plan of manufacture. As part of your evaluation, you could create a realised plan of manufacture (in the form of a Gantt chart works best) to show how your project actually planned out. IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU DIDN’T STICK TO YOUR ORIGINAL PLAN – you will not lose marks for this! It simply shows that you have thought about project planning during your coursework. Project planning is an important consideration in the real world of design and manufacture.

Evidence of Modification(s) – 1 - 4 sheet(s)

To help you evidence all of the steps you have taken, changes you might have had to make / modify, and also how you have overcome any of these problems, you need to record the information and ensure that you fully evidence it through clear Photos and screen shots of your Onshape / Fusion 360 work at the time. You then need to explain what the problem was, in detail, using photos to show the problem clearly to the examiner, and how you overcame the problem / modified your design to enable you to progress and complete your model. You can sketch over the top of the photos to clarify any changes you may have made or annotate the images.

You could even use the ‘NACERAP’ acronym as a strategy of evidencing your modifications.

Name the fault / modification

Appearance of the fault / modification

Cause of the fault / modification

Effect the fault / modification has on overall quality

Repair of the fault / modification or equipment

Action to be taken to correct the fault / modification

Prevention to stop it happening again

To help you to evaluate your work you should firstly return back to your Design Specification and also your Manufacturing Specification and compare / test your final model against it. Has your finished solution met the statements you set out in your specifications? Try to answer each bullet point statement that you made in your Specifications and comment on how well your finished model has met it. If you have changed something then explain why. You should be honest and critical (if necessary) about your work.

Your evaluation should also include problems that you have encountered during the Designing and Manufacturing stages of production. Have you had to change your design due to manufacturing restrictions? Has it changed because something was not possible? Has it turned out as you expected or did using the machine make you have to alter or change something? What are your overall feelings about your work? Do you like your finished design? Why? Do you think the design is an improvement than some of the existing products that you analysed earlier on your project? Why? Do you think some of the features of your work improve upon existing features of products you researched? Do you think that your design works i.e. aesthetics, scale, form Etc? What would you have to change if your work was going to be mass-produced? Why? An outstanding example is shown below.

Your evaluation should include lots of photographic evidence (and CAD as well). This helps the examiner to see what you are describing and what you have made. It also allows you to point areas out that you wish to describe / modify / change etc. through the use of annotation and arrows. You could also set up a ‘scene’ whereby your model is placed in ‘situ’ to give an added sense of realism. An excellent example is shown below. You could do this with AR also and is a great way to virtually test your design work.

Testing – 1 – 2 Sheets

A requirement of highest standard Evaluations is that your product has been tested and then you evaluate your findings. You could also test your final model / prototype by asking others’ opinions through the form of a questionnaire. Alternatively, you could ask your original Client / User (group) their thoughts of your final product as you may have originally started your project asking them what they wanted. If this is the case, then the best testing you can do is to revisit that person and ask questions about how well your product meets their requirements. Ask their opinions of the size, scale, colour, materials, comfort, form, function etc, etc. Present you results in the form of graphs with an explanation. This helps to show testing and evaluative comments.