Group 27,Printer,Greg

As of now, three different screw drivers are necessary to dissect the Lexmark Z82 all-in-one printer. For the typical consumer who wishes to perform some routine maintenance on the product, this is a hassle. If th user even has all the necessary tools, it is still inconvenient to be in the middle of working on a project and discover that the tool you have at hand is not quite right for the job. A convenient design revision for the Lexmark Z82 all-in-one printer unit would be replacing all screws with clips (an example shown on the right).

An example of how these clips would look.

By getting rid of all screws, unit would be much easier to dissect. This minor adjustment would improve the serviceability of the product. Improved serviceability is a convenience customers like to see on products. This would be a societal impact because it relates to customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction leads to brand loyalty. This in turn leads to an economical impact in that Lexmark will have repeat customers and therefore make more profit.

Another way ridding of all screws would be an economic factor is that Lexmark will be spending less money on materials. By simply adjusting the injection molding molds for parts requiring connection (adding clips), all the screws can be rid of (or at least most of them). This rendition to the original design will increase profits because the product can be sold at the same price, but the cost of manufacturing would drop. Instead of requiring three different types of screws (which are costly when bought in bulk), the unit will only need these clips.

The integration of clips would mean fewer screws being purchased, which inevitably means fewer screws being manufactured. The less anything is manufactured, the better for the environment because there are always some kind of emissions that are output during manufacturing processes. Also, with less screws being manufactured, there will be less mining for materials, reducing the speed at which the planet is depleted of its raw materials. The environmental factors that occur due to this rendition will be pleasing to the public since environmental care is a big issue in todays society. This leads back to societal factors in that Lexmark could be seen as a somewhat "green" company. Many people are loyal to green companies, and that therefore will lead back to the economical factor of more consumers purchasing the product.

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