Introduction
The Smartphone is the most used mobile communication device globally. It involves most of current innovation and creativity in its design. The technology used by most Smartphone manufacturing industries is of high quality hence various Smartphone models exist.
Product mix plans
Product mix is the variation of products offered by the manufacturer to the market for sale. In this case, it is the variety of Smartphone brands as well as makes available in the market for sale. In planning the product mix, a competitive manufacturing process which consists of; potential market study, meeting of consumers’ need, production planning and organization, Smartphone designing as well as using resources rationally must be the principal objective. The planning of the smart phone mix has to consider the following elements:
(a) Product line- which consist of a collection of cell phone types manufactured by the firm;
(b) Product item- this is the specific brand, model or else size of Smartphone to be manufactured by the company;
(c) Product length- this is the number of smartphones to be offered in a given product line. In considering these three elements, product positioning strategy has to be used because it helps in bring out a favorable difference features of the Smartphone when compared to other communication devices.
Smartphone design
Designing of a Smartphone consist of the following phases:
Conceptualizing and prototyping phase- this is where the idea of the Smartphone is born through numerous sketches as well as wireframes creation by using features and interface options, for example, touch screen or keypad only(Kraemer, Linden, and Dedrick, 2011). The primary objective of sketches is to regulate the final Smartphone’s weight, portability as well as its size. Since the goal of every phone is to be portable as well as compact thus making this phase is the most demanding. From several sketches, the designing team has to choose the design to be used as prototypes for making a readable list. The function of a prototype is to give visualization on how the final Smartphone will look like. These prototypes have to be made from re-usable materials such as plastics or Styrofoam.
Parts and software determination phase- depending on the descriptions defined at the conceptual phase, various electronics can be employed at this stage. This is because every part of the Smartphone is controlled by the electronics, for instance, information displaying, calls placing as well as information sending process. The main circuit components are; displaying screen, a battery in addition to printed circuit board. These are controlled by software that is designed by various programmers at this phase.
Material determination period- at this stage, the materials to be used in the construction, as well as fabrication phase, are defined. This should be in line with the conceptualization features. Other factors to be considered are:
1. Material cost,
2. Availability of the materials,
3. Durability of the materials to be used(Coe,2014)
4. Environmental effects the material poses.
The following materials are to be used in manufacturing a Smartphone; (a) metals- these make up about forty percent of the phone. Parts such as circuit board and battery are to be made of metal; (b) plastic- this also makes about another forty percent of the phone. It is used to make the entire body of the Smartphone as well as part of the circuit board; (c) ceramics and other materials- these fill the remaining twenty percent. They include liquid crystal that is used to make LCD screen.
The construction as well as fabrication phase- this is the final stage in designing of the Smartphone. Every part of a Smartphone is made separately and then assembled. Initially, the casing is created from plastic through injection molding process. This is followed by making a printed circuit board that has to be loaded with compatible operation system. The second stage involves placing the circuit board in the casing using several eyeglass screws. Components such as microphone, speakers, screen, keypads as well as the antenna are also added at this stage. The Smartphone is finally tested using its battery by checking if the buttons are functioning.
Smartphones shipping to middlemen
This involves Smartphone document preparation. These includes serial numbers of the phones, manufacturing date, company name as well as the logo, order number and the name of the middlemen. All these are done during packing process before delivering for shipping. The cost of shipping the bulk of smartphones can be met by either the manufacturer or the middlemen depending on the agreement.
- Coe, N. (2014). Missing links: Logistics, governance and upgrading in a shifting global economy. Review of International Political Economy, 21(1), 224-256.
- Kraemer, K., Linden, G., & Dedrick, J. (2011). Capturing value in Global Networks: Apple’s iPad and iPhone. University of California, Irvine, University of California, Berkeley, y Syracuse University, NY. Retrieved from: http://pcic. merage. uci. edu/papers/2011/value_iPad_iPhone. pdf. Consultado el, 15.
