Demonstrate understanding of advanced manufacturing concepts and techniques MFG 6-1
Achievement Standard 1.12, AS 91055
Knowledge of manufacturing focuses on the underpinning concepts of manufacturing. This covers the systems and processes used in the production of goods.
Initially students learn about different manufacturing systems and various categories of manufacturing techniques. At higher levels the students progress to complex understanding, that also include broader concepts such as the use and availability of resources and political, social, economic and environmental factors.
Learning objective: MFG 6-1
Students will:
- demonstrate understanding of basic manufacturing concepts and techniques.
Indicators
Students can:
- explain how safety issues were addressed in a manufacturing process
- identify the impacts of new technologies and/or techniques on the suitability
of different types of manufacturing systems and increased possibilities for
quality control
- discuss how and why quality management techniques have been important in changing manufacturing practices.
Progression
Prior to level 6 students could be exploring concepts of production lines and batch production , specialisation to achieve outcomes and create simple production lines. Aspecxts of health and safety in production of outcoems in this context should also be explored as well as acceptable codes of practice.
At level 6 students will learn about different manufacturing systems and various categories of manufacturing techniques.
The Teacher Guidance section provides information that supports teachers scaffolding of learning from levels 1-8 of the curriculum. This allows for differentiation of a programme of learning.
The deliberate use of provide, guide, and support in this section signals that as students' capacity for self-management increases, teachers progressively reduce the level of scaffolding provided.
- Provide – the teacher should take full responsibility for introducing and explicitly teaching new knowledge, skills or practices.
- Guide – the students have a level of understanding and competency on which they can draw but the teacher remains primarily responsible for continuing to develop these.
- Support – the students take primary responsibility for their own learning, drawing on all their previous experiences to consolidate and extend their understanding. The teacher is supportive rather than directive.
- The Teacher Guidance also uses the term ensure to indicate when the teacher plays a monitoring role to check that conditions critical for learning are present.
Teacher guidance
To support students to develop understandings about basic manufacturing concepts and techniques at level 6, teachers could:
- provide a range of case studies to demonstrate different types of
manufacturing systems
- support students with their application of techniques used in
manufacturing
- support students to produce flow diagrams to communicate manufacturing
processes
- ensure students understand the need for differing manufacturing
systems to meet specific requirements (for example, one off, batch and continuous production).
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Contexts for teaching and learning
Learning about manufacturing can be incorporated into a teaching and learning programme where students design and create technological outcomes to meet a developed brief and use knowledge of modelling and materials/systems within this context, or linked to the implementation of a manufacturing process (refer to MFG 6-2). This objective and subsequent assessment is about demonstrating understanding and knowledge of manufacturing while not necessarily developing a manufacturing process or system or creating multiple products as a result of designing the manufacturing process.
Learning in this context also links to brief development, planning for practice, outcome development and evaluation, technological modelling and technological products and systems, where students implement a one-off solution and then can move into considering manufacturing concepts.
Key teaching points to consider
- Select a context where students will have access to information on safety issues, applied technologies and/or techniques, and quality control techniques. This information could be collected through industry visits, visiting speakers, and from online sources.
- Safety issues in manufacturing include those associated with the outcome, the workers involved in its production, and environmental impacts.
- Types of manufacturing systems include but are not limited to:
- one-off custom manufacturing of a unique single product
- batch, intermittent or short-run manufacturing - multiple copies of the same product or a single batch of a processed product
- continuous ("assembly line") manufacture
- flexible manufacture and customisation.
- Manufacturing processes may include but are not limited to: milk powder manufacture, beer brewing, meat packing and freezing, carpet manufacture, urea from natural gas, newsprint, oil refining, injection moulded plastics, electronics, fish filleting and freezing, rotationally moulded plastics, superphosphate, agricultural machinery, possum and merino yarn, marine/leisure products, niche furniture and garment manufacture.
- Simple quality control procedures and checks within the context of the manufacturing system
Choosing the context for the learning and assessment
- The teacher may specify the context for the activity in discussion with the class and/or they may allow individual students to negotiate an alternative context.
- The students may present their report in any appropriate format and medium that they have agreed with the teacher in advance. For example, they could present it as a slideshow, a display board, a written report, or a portfolio. Creating the report is an individual activity, but students may investigate the selected manufacturing process either independently, with a partner, or in a group
- To support student learning, videos showing how familiar everyday products are manufactured would be a useful resource to use.
Prior knowledge
Ensure that all students have the necessary prior learning before beginning any assessment. The following teaching points should be considered so that students understand:
- the types of manufacturing systems used
- why the manufacturing systems are used in a manufacturing process
- how they determine yield in the context of hte manufacturing of specific outcomes
- how quality control is managed in the context of hte manufacturing of specific outcomes
- why these mechanisms may be affected by social and environmental change.
Literacy considerations
Students will require support and become independent in their ability to identify, explain and discuss in the context of manufacturing.
Note the following definitions:
- to identify is to state an idea
- to describe is a statement that gives details about the outcome or idea
- to explain is to describe in detail with reasons – often including the how and why
- to discuss requires an explanation that is comprehensive, detailed, and broad and show evidence of some complexity in thinking. It may be a reasoned argument presenting a particular point of view, or a comparison and contrast between two ideas or concepts; or it may be a detailed reasoning and relationship between several complex ideas that are either in a relationship or they may be compared and contrasted.
They will also need to develop the skills such as:
- communicating their ideas and information – graphically, in an annotated format, presentations or digital formats
- undertake research and use this to inform their work through sifting, sorting and synthesising information
- using simple flow charting to explain a manufacturing process
- understanding the specialised vocabulary of manufacturing, flow charting and quality control.
Resources to support teaching and learning
General resources
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Assessment for qualifications
The following achievement standard(s) could assess learning outcomes from this learning objective:
- AS 91055 Generic Technology 1.12: Demonstrate understanding of basic concepts used in manufacturing
Key messages from the standard
Choosing a manufacturing system
When choosing a manufacturing system, consideration should be given to the possibilities listed in Explanatory Note 3. For students to be able to explain why particular types of manufacturing systems are used in different contexts, the assessor should be ensuring that the chosen contexts provide sufficient opportunity for the exploration of a range of manufacturing systems.
Manufacturing techniques
Explanatory Note 4 lists some possible categories of manufacturing techniques. Those students who discuss why particular techniques were used might compare and contrast with other possibilities.
Communicating the manufacturing process
The chosen manufacturing process must be communicated through a process flow diagram. Note that the emphasis here should be on visually showing an understanding of the flow of processes, rather than on assembling a flow chart with the correct symbols.
Yield and quality control
An analysis of a range of manufacturing processes will better enable students to describe how yield is determined and the influences on this. Yield prediction means determining the number of products that are possible from the resources available, taking into account the expected wastage resulting from faulty products.
Such an analysis of a range of manufacturing processes will also better enable students to identify and explore how quality of outcomes are controlled and the influences on this.
The influences on yield and quality control must be in terms of social and environmental change. This might include students discussing the impact of people’s changing expectations about quality, price and life expectancy of the product (social changes) and new legislation intended to protect the environmental impact on the usage and disposal of resources in production (environmental changes).
Types of manufacturing systems include but are not limited to:
- one-off custom manufacturing of a unique single product
- batch, intermittent or short-run manufacturing – multiple copies of the same product or a single batch of a processed product
- continuous (often called "assembly line") manufacture
- flexible manufacture and customisation.
The categories of manufacturing techniques may include but are not limited to – inspection, transport, storage, operation.
The nature of manufacturing may include but is not limited to – consideration of product need; resource availability; political, social and physical environments; advances in manufacturing systems and techniques.
Manufacturing processes are those undertaken to manufacture products that may include but are not limited to – milk powder, meat packing and freezing, carpet, urea, newsprint, oil, electronics, frozen fish fillets, moulded plastics, superphosphate, agricultural machinery, possum and merino yarn, boats, furniture, garments.
The contexts may be specified by the teacher or the student. However, if the student specifies the contexts then the teacher must ensure that they provide sufficient opportunity for the exploration of a range of manufacturing systems.
Within their evidence, students are required to demonstrate understanding of the following:
- Knowledge of manufacturing focusing on the underpinning concepts of manufacturing.
- The systems and processes used in the production of goods.
- Different manufacturing systems and various categories of manufacturing techniques.
- How to flow chart a manufacturing process
- The use and availability of resources and political, social, economic and environmental factors
Students require access to the understandings associated with a manufacturing process. This might include making a site visit, having a manufacturing specialist visit the classroom and/or accessing information via the Internet or videos. The assessor may decide that students focus on the same manufacturing process or that students choose an area of personal interest.
For the most up to date information, teachers should be referring to the latest version of the standards, conditions of assessment and assessment resources on TKI and the moderators reports, clarifications documents and student exemplars on the NZQA website. See links below.
Resources to support student achievement
Conditions of Assessment
Assessment resources:
Annotated exemplars
Last updated March 8, 2022
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