Manufacturer tasks students to reuse rejects
A STAFFORDSHIRE manufacturing firm has completed a project encouraging design students to find innovative ways of reusing factory rejects.
Clive Durose, which manufactures stairparts for the domestic and trade markets, developed the concept in conjunction with Staffordshire University.
The project required first year product design students to devise clever and unique uses for factory rejects. The rejected products – spindles which didn’t meet quality control standards, mostly due to timber imperfections – have no real use or commercial value to the company.
The idea was conceived by Clive Durose product & market development manager Ellie Moss, who herself studied product design before joining Clive Durose on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the university.
She said: “As a manufacturing company, we are bound to have rejects due to our tight quality control and we have no real use for them. The idea for the project came about partly through the company’s close ties to Staffordshire University and partly to solve the small problem of unused rejected spindles. We wanted the students to really express themselves; come up with something unique and individual while also introducing them to a real life design and manufacturing company.”
The students were given six weeks to develop their ideas and at the end of the project presented their final concepts to the company design team and to Mr Durose himself. Some of the ideas included children’s toys, lamps, stools and even pub games.
“Lots of the design ideas we saw from the students were well thought out in terms of design, manufacture and also customer demand. They considered the process of manufacture, keeping waste to a minimum and also identified suitable markets for the products, such as children’s toys or as commercial gifts. Overall I was very impressed and hope that the students gained plenty from the project,” he said.
