The world has gone through the industrial revolution 1.0 to 3.0 and each revolution drove the development of the industry with major technological inventions. In the Industry 4.0 era, technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), automated production, cloud computing, cognitive computing, and big data help companies stay competitive. In response to changes in the industrial revolution, manufacturing must be further developed with product design engineering in Industry 4.0.

During BINUS Education Virtual Expo (BEVE), the Product Design Engineering Webinar discussed the role of product design engineering in industry 4.0. What are they?

Get to Know Product Design Engineering

Engineering is inseparable from technology and its development. That is why, engineering plays an important role in the advancement of technology, including computers, the internet, robots, and many more.

In modern industrial society, product design engineering plays a complex role. Product designers work to optimize the user experience and deliver solutions. In this process, designers balance user needs with business goals to help brands create consistently good products. That’s why, engineers working in the field of product design need to possess certain qualities, such as creativity, innovation, passion, ability to focus, and curiosity to find solutions to problems.

Product design engineering involves researching and developing the products we use in our daily lives. Through comprehensive research and exciting new ideas, product design engineering ultimately aims to design and develop products that customers want to buy. They also improve product design to improve the performance and functionality of existing products.

What Does A Product Design Engineer Do?

With the advent of interactive products, product design engineers also include those who create or enhance digital products. Ultimately, product design engineers ensure that users can use the products with full functionality and have the best experience using them. It is indeed a complex task to design such products.

So, their job responsibilities entail several tasks, such as:

Analyze product design needs

Before creating a new product design, product design engineers need to do extensive research on the target audience, product usage, functionality, etc. This needs to be done in order to determine what kind of product to design that will best suit customers’ needs.

Generating ideas and developing prototypes

The product design process begins with making concepts and visual themes. These concepts are then converted into working models using tools such as CAD to then become prototypes

Define the manufacturing process

Once the prototype is created, the product design engineer then decides on the right materials and manufacturing processes to create the designed product. In this case, engineers work together to develop manufacturing processes and interact with the operations team.

Evaluate the product

Product Design Engineers evaluate new products in terms of functionality, visual appeal, safety, and durability. Evaluation is done by running tests and applying feedbacks from users.

Stay Up to Date with Industry 4.0 Developments

The world of product development, manufacturing, and production is changing. With the advent of Industry 4.0, manufacturing facilities are becoming increasingly advanced with cloud computing and sensor technology connected to IoT. With these changes, it is important for design engineers to keep up with the latest technology developments.

IoT for Machine Automation

More and more companies are relying on IoT to automate machines. In the automotive industry, for example, car designs include vehicle proximity control sensors, emergency brakes, stop-and-go assistance, and 3D maps that enable data collection. The collected data is then used as feedback for designers to improve product designs in the future so that consumers get a better and safer driving experience.

Access to Data and Information

As exemplified earlier, manufacturing companies need to rely on technology-based on data collection to improve their product designs. Access to data and information during product use allows designers to continuously monitor product performance and how it is used. With this monitoring, they can then effectively redesign digital products and improve product quality.

Integrated Software Components

In order to collect information from the use of the product, it is necessary to integrate software components (sensors, GPS) connected to the physical objects. Therefore, the adoption of technology 4.0 must be accompanied by the development of software that allows for storage, sharing, and using the data for future improvement.

By staying up to date with the developments of Industry 4.0, product design engineers will bring new technologies that can improve the final products they design.