Appliance Design - September 2008 - (Page 30) INDUSTRIAL DESIGN & HUMAN FACTORS Material Data Management Consortium created to help develop information on material strategy and has had a key role in the definition of best practice management and use of materials information. Now, Granta is working with U.K.’s National Physical Laboratory to establish the Environmental Materials Information Technology (EMIT) consortium to look at materials and their environmental impact. The software is meant to help companies develop and implement material strategies across their enterprise, including those that must manage many different locations and local procurement practices, says Arthur Fairfull, director of the Granta’s Materials Strategy Forum. In this case, the software can help them take a centralized strategic approach to materials selection and acquisition. Information obtained can then be distributed throughout the company and accessed through a Web browser. Those strategies are based on a methodology created by Mike Ashby, a professor at Cambridge University and founder of Granta Design. It enables material decisions to be made based on broad ranges of information. Ashby charts, as they are sometimes called, can highlight the subset of candidate materials on which to focus. For instance, if material properties such as tensile strength and thermal conductivity are most important, the software can create a graphic that looks at tensile strength vs. density for some 3,500 engineering materials in its database. If price is of the utmost importance, materials prices can be compared against functionality to generate what the company calls the “cost per unit of function.” If environmental impact is paramount, the soft- Thinner is Better Problem: Provide overcharge and short-circuit protection in the tight confines of today’s rechargeable battery packs. Solution: 1 Involve a Pepi sales engineer 2 Choose the right control 3 Customize to meet application needs ® The Pepi® Model V is only 0.061” thick, but provides maximum protection and minimal power drain due to low internal resistance. We have many reliable solutions that fit in small spaces. To find the one that’s right for you, call or visit our web site. www.pepiusa.com Only Pepi® thermostats and thermal protectors offer so many options in fit, configuration, cost and customization. For a close look, send for our new Disc-Type and Conductive-Type Catalogs today. www.pepiusa.com Portage Electric Products, Inc. N. Canton, OH U.S.A. salesinfo@pepiusa.com • 1-888-GO4-PEPI This material from UK based d3o is soft and flexible, but the molecular structure has been engineered to stiffen on impact and absorb energy. Source: ASM www.applianceDESIGN.com 5/15/08 9:59:12 AM 30 applianceDESIGN AD06084Port.indd 1 September 2008 http://www.pepiusa.com http://www.pepiusa.com http://www.pepiusa.com http://www.appliancedesign.com
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