Mass Production

 

Subject Area

 Engineering and Technology
Age or Grade

 6th Grade
Estimated Length

 6-8 Class Sessions (50 min per class)
Prerequisite knowledge/skills
  • Intuition
  • Understanding how products are manufactured
  • Basic knowledge of what manufacturing is
  • Basic knowledge of how a company works
  • Basic knowledge of ways to market a product
Description of New Content

 In this Technology Unit,  the entire class will work together and become a company. The company will take on the task of researching, designing, manufacturing, and marketing a useful product (key chains is one case). Every student will participate in the design process. Once a final design has been chosen, the plans are then transferred into a CAD (computer aided design) drawing, and a 3 axis milling machine is used to mass produce the product. Three divisions will be developed (manufacturing, marketing, and quality control / assembly), each responsible for different operations. This activity is used to teach the students the basics of a real world manufacturing company. The students will not just learn about the process of manufacturing, they will also learn about: the design of products, the marketing of the product, and finally the quality control that goes into products.
Goals
  • The students will understand their "company jobs" and the jobs of their peers
  • The students will learn techniques in manufacturing such as fixturing, quality control, and Computer aided Manufacture
  • The students will see the manufacturing process from design to final product
  • The students will lean how marketing affects manufacturing
  • The students will have an understanding of the business side of manufacturing.
Materials Needed
  • Milling machine
  • engraving tool
  • Drill press (optional)
  • sand paper
  • Plastic pieces for keychain (we used 3 by 1.5 inches)
  • Mastercam Quickparts
  • Computer Aided Manufacturing Software
  • Coreldraw or another computer program to make promotional posters for the product (cause you want to try to sell the product after the unit is over)

 

Procedure

 

 

 

Opener

To open the lesson, the teacher passes out the mass production packet. He/She then will give a presentation that details the important information needed to begin the unit.  This information includes:

  • What manufacturing is?
  • What marketing is?
  • What quality Control is?
  • The inner workings of a company
  • Who a CEO is?
  • What a brand name product is?
  • What rights a customer has when buying a product?

The students will then fill out a job application and complete a pre-test.  The application is used to separate the students into groups (manufacturing, marketing, and Q/C and Assembly.  The pre-test tests the students understanding of the presentation given the first day. 

Development

Part 1  The students are asked to pick a company name and keychain design.  Every students gets to give their ideas, then the whole class will vote for the best name and the best design.  The ideas are put on the board for everyone to see.

Part 2 The students will take the final design and create a model on Coreldraw.  The teacher will then convert the Coreldraw file to a Mastercam file.  This file will be used to manufacture the key chains on the milling machine.

Part 3  The manufacturing group will manufacture the key chains.  Manufacturing the key chains includes:

  1. Creating a drilling fixture
  2. Sanding the edges
  3. Milling the design
  4. Drilling the hole

The Quality/Assembly workers will:

  1. Create testing procedure
  2. Assemble the keychains
  3. Make sure the key chains are not defective
  4. Package the key chains

The marketing division will:

  1. Make a company logo
  2. Make slogans for the company
  3. Make posters to advertise the product
  4. Make a commercial

Part 4 The company will attempt to sell all the key chains that they have made.  Each student will be given one key chain for a job well done. 

Closure

 The company will attempt to sell all the key chains that they have made.  Each student will be given one key chain for a job well done.

 

 
Evaluation

 The students are given a test on the last day of the unit. 
Extensions

 None
References Worksheets