Design Management

Design Management

The selected product for this paper is referred to as “MoneyMaker,” which is a foot pedal pumps used for irrigation in different parts of the African continent, mainly by small scale farmers. The pump relies on human energy to operate during irrigation because it lacks any automation or artificial energy source. The operator of the pump manually presses its two pedals to generate sufficient pressure that pumps water up from a well to the intended area. It is important to highlight that the product can only pump water from depths of up to 23 feet or 7 meters. Therefore, it would be inappropriate to use the pump for wells exceeding 23 feet. Its capability to operate for long hours is also limited due to the fact that it is dependent on the human effort, which cannot last for extended durations. Therefore, the efficiency and productivity of the pump can be boosted by the incorporation of an automated pumping force such as an electric motor to substitute the use of human effort to operate the pump. The inclusion of such a source of pumping energy would increase the volume of water the pump can generate over a certain time and its overall productivity due to that it does not use human effort anymore. The pump is shown in the diagram below:

Overall, the automation of the pump’s powering system will increase its productivity, profitability, and customer satisfaction. Improvisation of the pump would significantly boost the productivity of small-scale farmers in the African continent

Current Design

The pump is currently a manually operated equipment with two-foot pedals on which the operator stands to apply force to draw the water out of a well or stream. The pedals are operated in an alternating manner such that by pressing one of them downwards causes the other one to rise up, creating a sanction in the master pumping cylinders to pull water from the well. The pump is also characterized by a single inlet on the front and an outlet in the hind part. The inlet and outlet are both connected to hose pipes through which the water is pumped in and out of the cylinders. The elongated metallic stand with a T-shaped handle at the top serves as the supporting system for the operator who holds it during operation. The design of the pump can also be demonstrated as follows:

The plastic bearings serve as the pivot for the pedals during manual operation, and the pressure hose pipe transmits the pressure from the cylinders into the well to force water up the inlet pipe into the other cylinder. The foot and rubber valves in the pipes prevent water from flowing back into the well after the exertion of the pumping force. The rubber caps in the two cylinders serve as seals that prevent water from flowing out of the cylinders and ensure that it is channeled through the outlet pipe. It is also worth noting that the rubber caps serve as seals that prevent pressure from escaping from the pumping system during operation to push water out through the outlet. According to Sijali & Mwago (2008), the pump is a manual and highly portable farm equipment that is characterized by substantial energy and cost-efficiency. However, the pump’s effectiveness can be significantly boosted by its modification to include an artificially powered pumping system and increasing the number of water outlets and inlets to ensure that more water is pumped within shorter periods.

The proposed improvements will be based on the need to improve the pump’s effectiveness, output, and overall productivity for the farmer. The inclusion of an electronic power source to run the pedals, for instance, would increase the rate at which the pump operates. The electronic pumping system will increase the pump’s water output more than ten times, which would translate to time-saving and increased productivity. Despite that the incorporation of an electricity-powered pumping system would attract some high financial costs, the investment is a worth undertaking because it will amplify its output and efficiency. The improvisation will eliminate the fatigue associated with the human operation and definitely increase the output. It is expected that the improvement will work to achieve the intended goals because it has succeeded in other pumps used for different purposes. Electric pumps have been used in different scales depending on the intended goal of the user. Therefore, the inclusion of an electric power source to operate the pump will be beneficial because it increases the volume of water pumped over time and the speed with which it is pumped.

The increased rate and volume of water to be pumped will require the inclusion of additional outlets and inlets of water from the wells due to the high pump pressure or sanction expected to be generated by the electric power system. The additional outlets will be useful tools for increasing the output, return on investment and operational efficiency of the pump. The improvisation will also imply that the pump can be used for larger-scale operations compared to the single-inlet-single-outlet traditional pump. For instance, it will imply that the pump can be utilized by two or more people at the same time and to irrigate larger tracts of land.

The argument for the functionality and successful implementation of the proposed improvements can be justified by several aspects. First, the modern world is characterized by the continuous and increased adoption of different technologies and the development of more improvised items for different applications. As such, the inclusion of an electric or motorized power system to the pump will serve as a strategic approach towards building a competitive edge for the same. Moreover, the inclusion of electric power systems to pumps is not a strange development in the advent of modern technologies. The same technology has succeeded in other pump types and would also succeed in the MoneyMaker pump. The inclusion of the electric powering system to the pump would also be welcomed by the farmers who use the pump because it will be a route towards the attainment of high profits and cost minimization in their farms. For instance, the use of an electric pump will only require one person to irrigate the farm while the manual pump required more than one person to operate. The newly developed pump would also run for extended durations compared to the manually operated one, implying that the target customers will highly accept it due to the fact that it can run for more hours with more output compared to the latter. It will also be accepted due to the possibility of accruing economies of scale as a result of an increased volume of output at lower costs and over shorter durations.

References

Sijali, I., & Mwago, M. (2008). MoneyMaker Pumps: Creating Wealth in Sub-Saharan Africa [Ebook]. Kickstart. Retrieved 9 March 2020, from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/AFRICAEXT/Resources/258643-1271798012256/pumps-18.pdf.