Shaping and forming processes for metals (casting, forging, machining), polymers (injection moulding, blow moulding, extrusion, vacuum forming, rotational moulding) and timber (sawing, turning, laminating), and the tooling, accuracy and scale each suits.

A Component 01 question marked by points within a levels structure. Markers reward the process steps in order and the cost reason.

Award marks for the steps: thermoplastic granules are fed from a hopper into a heated barrel; an Archimedean screw melts the polymer and forces (injects) it under high pressure into a closed steel mould; the mould is held shut and cooled so the polymer solidifies to the cavity shape; the mould opens and ejector pins push out the part; the cycle repeats. For the scale explanation: the steel mould (tooling) is very expensive and slow to make, so the high fixed cost must be spread over a large number of identical parts to give a low unit cost. At one-off scale that tooling cost is not justified, so a cheaper process (3D printing or machining) is used instead.

A top answer links the high tooling cost to the need for high volume, which is the core economic point.

A Component 01 application question. One mark for each correct process and one for each justification.

Award marks for: the kayak is best made by rotational moulding, because it is a large, hollow, seamless one-piece product made in relatively low numbers, and rotational moulding heats powder in a slowly rotating mould so the plastic coats the inside to give a large hollow shell with low tooling cost. The drinks bottle is best made by blow moulding, because it is a small, thin-walled hollow container made in huge numbers, and blow moulding inflates a softened tube (parison) against a mould at high speed, which suits mass production of bottles.

A common dropped mark is choosing injection moulding for a hollow product; injection moulding fills a solid cavity, so it does not make a hollow one-piece shell on its own.