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DEVELOPMENT OF TRICYCLE PRODUCTION (DTP) IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Annemiek G.C. van Boeijen Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology Delft, The Netherlands

BACKGROUND

There are over 500 million more or less disabled people in the world today; 80% of them are living in developing countries. As a consequence of disease, accident or war many of these, mostly poor, people have partly or completely lost their freedom of movement. This seriously hampers their opportunities in education, (finding) work and participation in social life. They are house bound and are completely dependent on other people. The possession of a tricycle can give a large number of them the possibility to travel to the city for selling tickets or going to work.

A tricycle is a hand operated vehicle, that is propel- led by means of a chain- or cranklever mechanism and is suitable for driving long distances, under bad road conditions and for the transportation of goods. All over the world small workshops in developing countries produce these tricycles, in many different designs. These tricycle designs need improvements: they are often uncomfortable for the user, not suitable for the local situation and difficult to produce. Imported tricycles from Western countries are often too expensive and not suitable for use under the average conditions in developing countries. Usually, they also lack spare parts which makes repair difficult or impossible. The DTP project has been carried out by the Centre for International Cooperation and Appropriate Technology (CICAT) in cooperation with the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering (FIDE), both of the Delft University of Technology (DUT), for, and in cooperation with four organizations in Asia. The project was executed in the period from December 1992 up to May 1995 and was funded by the International Aid Foundation (SHIA), through the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA).

TARGET GROUPS

At the start of the project two target groups were formulated:

1 The tricycle producing organizations

2 The tricycle users

At first, the project focussed on the cooperating tricycle producing organizations (in this paper called 'counterparts') and users of tricycles; The workshop for Rehabilitation and Training of the Handicapped (WORTH trust) in India, Sarvodaya Economic Enterprices Development Services (SEEDS) in Sri Lanka and McKean Rehabilitation Centre (MRC) in Thailand. The Bavi Orthopaedic Workshop (BOW), Bavi in (north of) Vietnam was partly involved. Secondly, a tricycle user targetgroup was defined as: disabled people in developing countries who cannot walk, but who can use both arms well. Most of these users might be paralysed, have a leg amputation (caused by (war)accidents or deseases) or have had polio.

OBJECTIVES AND OUTPUTS

The main objective of the DTP project was to significantly improve the (full) participation and equality of disabled people in developing countries in social and economic life. To achieve this goal, the project focussed on the improvement of hand operated tricycle designs for disabled people and the development, improvement and stimulation of the local production of tricycles in developing countries.

The following operational goals have been formulated for the project:

1 To carry out a full inventory of and comparative research on a wide scope of tricycles (being) used in both developing and industrialized countries.

2 To carry out comparative research on tricycle production processes, mainly concerning those of the cooperating organizations in the DTP project (in Thailand, Sri Lanka and India).

3 To optimalize design, test, analyze and optimize the prototypes of the parts, sub-constructions, complete tricycles and production processes, taking into consideration local workshop possibilities.

4 To optimalize the products, production processes and workshop management of the counterparts on a individual base.

5 To develop a Tricycle Production Manual. 6 To organize a counterpart exchange programme.

As expected outputs of the project, the following have been formulated:

· Survey reports on ergonomical aspects, production processes, performance of existing tricycles and workshops in developing countries

· New prototypes of parts, sub assemblies and complete tricycles as well as appropriate production processes for new prototypes

· Training of local engineers, technicians and managers on designing, testing and optimalization of products and production processes and on workshop management

· A Tricycle Production Manual, consisting of: - main features of the tricycle - 2D, 3D production drawings and exploded views (parts, sub- and total assemblies) - guidelines for the adjustment of the tricycle - other relevant production and background information

EXECUTION AND RESULTS

Planning and Approach In the project a multilateral approach has been chosen, which means that all involved organizations are aiming at joint cooperation. Although the organization and communication in such a project might be difficult, the advantage is that the organizations can share their problems and solutions, thus balancing the respective contributions of the partners. Moreover, by adopting such an approach, the final results represent a broad variety of tricycle design and production know how, leading to better opportunities for its later international dissemination among other tricycle producers.

In the project the CICAT/FIDE combination has acted as an intermediairy, also planning overall activities in several phases and providing back- ground information. During the project, the results of each phase were discussed in seminars, each planned in and organized by the counterpart's organizations.

Inventory and Programme of Requirements

During the first phase, information has been collected and analyzed in order to formulate a programme of requirements for the new tricycle. Information on user aspects, particularly ergonomics, was new for most of the (technical oriented-) participants. At a first seminar, as main problems of the existing tricycles the following were assessed: - instability during driving - bad driving efficiency, caused by wrong transmission ratio's and heavy weight - wrong dimensions and position of the seat and propulsion mechanism - difficulties production accuracy (partly caused by a lack of skills and partly by a lack of good quality of materials, tools and machines) - too high costs.

Industrial Design Engineering Training After the first seminar a product development training was organized for the participants in the project in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The main aim of the training was to introduce a systematic, incremental approach to product development, to provide the elementary procedures of problem solving and in particular to focus on mechanical engineering aspects.

Prototype Selection and Technical Drawings

The third seminar, in India, was combined with a three week workshop for the production of two prototypes of the two selected designs: a symmetric and an a-symmetric tricycle design. The whole project team agreed with the selection of the asymmetric design for further development, mainly because this design was easier to produce. Apart from these activities, research had been carried out in order to gain a better understanding of the target group of the envisaged Tricycle Production Manual. Amongst others it was found that the drawings should be preferably 3-dimensional, that pictograms would only be understandable on a realistic level and that too much textual explanation should be avoided.

Production of 0-series and User Tests In the next phase, the Dutch team completed the technical drawings and each counterpart produced and tested 5 new tricycles. In Figure 1, a sketch of the new tricycle and some of its new aspects has been given.

Figure 1. The DTP new tricycle design

The results were evaluated in the fourth, and last, seminar in Sri Lanka. First conclusions are that the design is a good compromise of many important requirements (on production, use, costs etc.). Particularly, the ergonomic aspects of the tricycle were considered to be outstanding. The high tolerances of the dimensions and the modularity of the design make the tricycle easy to produce and adjustable to local demands and wishes. Allthough the adaptation of the totally new design next to the existing tricycle design will take time, the counterparts are now seriously looking for possibilities to introduce the new design on the market. In Sri Lanka for instance, the new tricycle is being promoted with articles in local newspapers and even in television broadcastings.

THE TRICYCLE PRODUCTION MANUAL

During the last phase of the DTP project, the Dutch team worked on the development of the manual. The manual contains mainly drawings and hardly any text, in order to make the information accessible to users with different languages and levels of education. The drawings include measurements relevant for the production and assembly of each part. The dimensions of the tricycle are based on the anthropometric data of the Asian population; people with a body length of 1.50 meter up to 1.75 meter.

EVALUATION

The project has been finalized succesfully, leading to the expected outputs mentioned above. However, the new tricycle design and the associated Tricycle Production Manual should considered to be only the first steps in the stimulation of a systematic tricycle development and production in developing countries. Local and regional marketing of the new design and continuous research on its further improvement are the necessary next steps. The success of the DTP project has been based on both the selection of motivated participants and an excellent cooperation between all parties involved. In this respect the fostering of a strong commitment by the workshops's management; knowledge/ confidence building through seminars and workshops, and the involvement of universities, disabled organizations and NGO's have proven to be crucial factors for a good result. Finally, it is worthwhile mentioning that the Delft University of Technology is looking for further opportunities to disseminate the results, specifically the Tricycle Production Manual, among workshops and companies in developing countries by means of appropriate national and international organizations.

REFERENCES

1. Boeijen van, A.G.C. et al., Tricycle Production Manual. CICAT/FIDE, Delft May 1995.

2. Hotchkiss R., Independence through Mobility: a guide to manufacture the ATI-Hotchkiss wheelchair. Appropriate technology International, Washington, 1985.

3. Development of Tricyle Production in developing countries: project proposal. Centre for International Cooperation and Appropriate Technology, Delft 1991.

Mrs. Annemiek G.C. van Boeijen, M.Sc.Eng. Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering Jaffalaan 9, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands Phone : +31.15.278.2738 Fax : +31.15.278.2956 E-mail: A.G.C.vanboeijen@io.tudelft.nl