The impact of new and emerging technologies on industry, enterprise and production techniques and systems, including unemployment, workforce skill set, funding routes and the scales of production.

What this dot point is asking

This is Edexcel key idea 1.1, which opens Topic 1 core content. Edexcel wants you to apply technical knowledge of the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of new and emerging technologies. This page covers three of the named areas: industry (1.1.1), enterprise (1.1.2) and production techniques and systems (1.1.8). In Section A you meet these as short open-response questions and as extended-open-response (Evaluate or Discuss) questions that reward a balanced view rather than a list. A separate page covers the people, culture, society and environment areas.

Industry

Edexcel lists four industry impacts under 1.1.1, and you should be able to discuss each as both an opportunity and a cost.

• Unemployment: automation and robotics replace repetitive, dangerous or heavy manual jobs, which can cause job losses, but also create roles in programming, maintenance and quality control.
• Workforce skill set: the jobs that remain demand higher and different skills, so employers must retrain staff and recruit specialists, raising the value of a highly-skilled workforce.
• Demographic movement: new industries draw workers toward technology hubs and cities, changing where people live and putting pressure on housing and infrastructure.
• Science and technology parks: dedicated sites cluster research, start-ups and manufacturers together, sharing facilities and knowledge to speed up innovation.

Enterprise

Edexcel names four enterprise routes under 1.1.2 that bring new products to market:

• Privately-owned business: an individual or small group funds and runs the venture, keeping control and profit but carrying the financial risk.
• Crowd funding: many backers pledge small sums online, which raises capital without a bank loan and tests demand before manufacture.
• Government funding for new business start-ups: grants and loan schemes lower the barrier to entry for new firms and encourage innovation in priority areas.
• Not-for-profit organisations: social enterprises and charities reinvest any surplus into a cause rather than paying shareholders, often tackling needs the market ignores.

New technologies make enterprise cheaper and faster: 3D printing gives low-cost prototypes, online retail and social media reach a global market without a shop, and crowd funding platforms validate an idea before mass production.

Production techniques and systems

• Standardised design and components: using common parts and sizes cuts cost, eases assembly and repair, and lets one component serve many products.
• Just-in-time (JIT): materials arrive only as needed, cutting storage cost and waste but relying on a dependable supply chain.
• Lean manufacturing: systematically removing waste (of time, material, motion and stock) to raise efficiency.
• Scales of production: choosing one-off, batch, mass or continuous depends on the quantity, the budget and how identical the items must be.

These systems raise efficiency and consistency but bring high set-up costs and reduce low-skilled jobs, the classic trade-off Edexcel wants you to weigh.