Edexcel GCSE Design & Technology

New and emerging technologies are inventions and methods that are only just being adopted, or are still being developed: robotics and automation, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, smart and nanomaterials, and ever cheaper computer-aided design and manufacture. Each changes how products are designed and made, and so changes the businesses that make them and the people who work in them.

Effects on industry

Unemployment

When a machine can do a repetitive job faster, more accurately and without breaks, a manufacturer has a reason to replace people with it. A car assembly line with welding robots needs far fewer welders than it once did, so jobs in routine, manual work fall. New technology also creates work: someone has to design, build, programme, maintain and sell the machines, so the jobs that appear are usually different from the ones that go. The people who lose a job are often not the people who can fill a new one, which is why unemployment can rise in one town or trade even when the whole economy gains jobs.

Workforce skill set

A workforce that has used the same tools for twenty years does not automatically know how to run a CNC router or write a programme for a robot arm. Employers either retrain their staff or recruit people who already have the skills. Demand therefore rises for technical skills (programming, CAD, electronics, data analysis) and falls for skills that machines have taken over. Retraining costs money and time, and a business that cannot afford it may fall behind.

Demographic movement

Demographic movement is people moving from one area to another, and industry is one of the main reasons they do. When a factory closes, people leave the area to look for work and local shops and services lose customers. When a new technology cluster grows, people move to it, which raises demand for housing, transport and schools. Rural and coastal areas can lose young, skilled people to cities where the technology jobs are.

Science and technology parks

A science park or technology park is a site where many technology-based companies, often alongside a university or research institute, are placed together. Being close lets them share specialist equipment, recruit graduates, collaborate on research and pass new ideas between firms quickly. Start-up companies can rent small units instead of building their own premises. The disadvantages are that rents can be high, that the firms compete for the same limited pool of skilled staff, and that a park depends on a few sectors, so a downturn in one of them hits the whole site. Cambridge Science Park is a UK example.

Enterprise

Enterprise is the setting up and running of a business to make or sell products. How a business is funded and owned affects how much risk the owner takes, how quickly it can grow and what happens to the profit.

Privately owned businesses

A privately owned business belongs to an individual, a family or a small group, and its shares are not sold on the stock market. The owner keeps the profit and makes the decisions, which makes it quick to change direction. The owner also carries the financial risk, and a sole trader (one person running the business) is personally responsible for its debts. A limited company limits the owners' liability to the money they have put in, but has more paperwork. Growth is limited by how much the owner can invest or borrow.

Crowd funding

Crowd funding raises money for a product from a large number of people, each giving a small amount through an online platform such as Kickstarter. Backers usually receive the finished product or another reward in return. It lets a designer pay for tooling and a first production run without a bank loan or giving away part of the business, and a successful campaign also proves that people want the product. If the funding target is not reached the project may not go ahead, a successful campaign means a promise to deliver to every backer, and a design that has been shown publicly can be copied.

Government funding for new business start-ups

Governments offer grants, loans and advice to people starting a business, because new businesses create jobs and tax income. A start-up loan is paid back, usually at a low interest rate, while a grant is paid for a specific purpose and does not have to be repaid. Applications take time, the money is often limited to certain regions or technologies, and conditions are attached to how it is spent.

Not-for-profit organisations

A not-for-profit organisation (a charity or social enterprise, for example) makes products or provides services but puts any surplus back into its purpose instead of paying it to owners. It may receive donations and volunteer labour, and it can be trusted by customers for that reason. It may find it harder to raise investment, and it often has to balance its aim against the need to cover its costs.

Wage levels, skilled workers and apprenticeships

Automation tends to cut the number of low-skilled, low-paid jobs, while the jobs that remain or are created usually need more training and are better paid. A highly skilled workforce can command higher wages, which raises the cost of making a product in that country and is one reason some manufacturers move production to places with lower wage levels. It also makes the products the workforce makes more valuable.

An apprenticeship lets a person earn a wage while they learn a trade or technical skill, with training provided by the employer and a college or training provider. The employer gets a worker trained in exactly the skills the business needs, and the apprentice gains a qualification without student debt. It takes time before the apprentice is fully productive, and the employer carries the cost of the training and supervision.