Design Templates for Consumer Use in Customising Additive Layer Manufactured Products

This paper describes the creation of a design template for designing specific products for consumers. As an initial research design, it aims to develop an easy-to-operate design system, where consumers interact with design choices instead of operating conventional Computer Aided Design (CAD). This would help the end user, who would use the templates to "perform" aspects of the design and thereby endorse the manufacture of the products themselves. In terms of manufacturing products, several studies focus on involving consumers as much and as early as possible. Further, many studies have been concerned with Mass Customisation (MC) manufacturing combined with Product Family Architecture (PFA), which offers consumers a wide range of product choices. However, recent developments in the field of Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) have led to a renewed interest in how to manufacture customised products, and specifically, in ways that will allow consumers to create bespoke products more easily. These technologies can enhance the understanding of non-technology compliant consumers and bring the manufacturing process closer to the consumer. In time, ALM technologies might be more commonplace as a consumers' home appliance rather than as commercial or industrial manufacturing equipment. Consequently, to make ALM more reliable and easier to operate by consumers, design aspects need to be developed to be as simplistic to operate in the same manner that ALM technologies have. This research suggests a user friendly design system by utilising design templates to simplify the CAD stages before manufacturing occurs.