COVER STORY
EcoSystems, IoT & the Future of Product Design
The rise of interconnected smart devices is not only changing how we live, it is changing how we design and develop our products. The availability of a steady flow of user feedback from products in the field eventually will make every product a beta product, providing data that will impact the next iteration of that product or service.
By Robert Grace
2016 IDSA AWARDS
IDSA Design Contest Yields Awesome IDEAs
The Industrial Designers Society of America hosted its 36th annual awards ceremony recently, honoring the best of the best from among this year’s crop of more than 1,700 entries. We look at some Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) winners that really caught our eye — and those of the judges.
By Robert Grace
DESIGN SOFTWARE
Sophisticated Software is Helping to Reshape Plastic Part Design
From established industry standards such as SolidWorks to newer niche products such as the BlowView blow molding simulation software from Canada, design software is getting smarter and playing an ever-more vital role in the product development process.
By Geoffrey Giordano
TECHNICAL PAPER
Simple Product Design Errors Can Lead to Big-time Costs
The former longtime engineering director of Motorola Solutions breaks down the true costs associated with seemingly simple design errors during the product development process. The numbers might shock you.
By Vikram Bhargava
A TOY STORY
Playing with Plastics: Material Trends in Children’s Toys
Materials suppliers are working hard to provide safe, sustainable, user-friendly, affordable materials for use in the next generation of toys. We explore what Lego, Hasbro, Mattel and Green Toys are up to.
By Jennifer Markarian
MATERIALS UPDATE
3D Printing is Making Some Material Advances
Additive manufacturing, aka 3D printing, offers seemingly limitless options for manufacturing complex and fascinating (albeit low-volume) products. But it has been limited by a very finite palette of available plastics materials suitable for the various additive manufacturing processes. Some companies are working hard to change all that.
By Jon Evans
QUESTION EVERYTHING …
Plastic Part Design: To Use Ribs or Not to Use Ribs
In this latest installment of the series called “Question Everything … If Injection Molding Means a Lot to Your Business,” consultant John Beaumont explores the truths — and fallacies — surrounding the intelligent use of ribs in plastic part design.
By John Beaumont
PLASTICS MAKE IT POSSIBLE
Toward a Deeper Measure of Sustainability
The ACC this month looks at the increasing adoption of an approach called Sustainable Materials Management, which assesses all lifecycle aspects of materials, packaging and products, from extraction to disposal, to come up with a more meaningful measure of sustainability.
By The American Chemistry Council
INSIDE SPI
The FLiP Files: Annina Donaldson
In the latest in its blog series profiling up-and-coming young professionals in the plastics industry, SPI chats with Annina Donaldson, president of the Florida operations of Maxi-Blast Inc.
By SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association
DEPARTMENTS
Energy-Saving Tip
By Dr. Robin Kent
Industry News
Briefs from around the industry look at recent developments by MAS, Plastic Technologies Inc., Rapid Granulator, Huntsman Advanced Materials, Sun Plastech, Wittmann Battenfeld, Engel and Branson Ultrasonics.
Industry Patents
By Dr. Roger Corneliussen
Industry Events
Market Place
Advertisers Index
About the cover:
Mattel’s once simple, innocent Barbie doll has become a “smart” toy, connected to the cloud and capable of interacting with (and capturing data about) its owners. This cover image and diagram is courtesy of Dubberly Design Office (www.dubberly.com) in San Francisco.
