Category Archives: Assignments

How things are made

During my research I was able to enlighten myself on the process of how several things are made but became truly fascinated by how the US Postal Stamp is made. Please click on the following link to watch a short video on the thumb size piece of paper, its value and the details involved in its production. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KETwb4MLKVI

Prior to doing this research I gave no thought as to the process of how a stamp was made. In my mind it was a simple as designing the selected image on a computer and printing just as I would print a document from my computer, except it would be a commercial printer.

The process of making a stamp is like that of printing money. It involves a complete production process that focuses on proper planning, quality control and adherence to strict security protocols to ensure the highest quality product is produced.

The US Postal System has stamps to commemorate historical events, holidays, or any other event they see fit; therefore, the process must be capable of accommodating the frequent changes. For this reason, the Flexible Manufacturing System is used during production. This system is used to accommodate the variety of stamps that are needed or the ever-changing designs that are ordered by the US Postal Service. This system allows the making of different product designs by simply reprogramming their computers and ink changes instead of major equipment changes and overhaul. This makes for a seamless transition to large-scale changes in volume, design, and capacity.

This system requires an artist to draw a design that is then loaded into a computer and colors are mixed to precision. The computerized image is then transferred to a metal plate, after which the metal plate is used to transfer the image to specially made paper designed for stamp making. During this process special marks not visible to the naked eyes are also transferred to the stamps to prevent counterfeiting. The stamps are inspected visually for any imperfections in print or security marks, and if found they are removed and set aside to be destroyed. Perfect stamps are then fed through a machine to be perforated, trimmed and package in sheets for shipment to Post Offices. Rejected stamps are not only shredded but are also loaded into incinerators to be burned.

The part of the process that surprised me the most was how much scrutiny is involved in the process of making this small piece of paper and how much value is placed on it. Stamps are inspected several times to ensure perfection in printing and security proof marks. This process ensures that the stamps are not easily counterfeited. There is also the fact that stamps are only printed in 4 private printers in the United States.

Nike

For my topic I chose to research Nike the clothing and footwear brand. I will be shedding light on their part of social responsibility and their ethical principles.

  1. According to nike.com, Nike is part of many different corporate responsibility and sustainability organizations which means they’re always active trying to do their part for society. Just recently in 2019 Nike realized that a main target or issue they were having was having a “diverse, engaged and healthy work environment” so they came up with strategies and plans to attack and change the problem. In order to change the problem according to Nike’s “Report Content” they came up with ways to “provide visibility to our diversity and inclusion process” which means they started to add more diversity to their team and created more opportunities for POC to gain employment.
  2. Nike has a main goal which is to inspire and bring change through the clothing, footwear and sports products they design. Nike believes in systematic change but they also know that they do not have control over every aspect so they try to influence others with what they do have control over (Footwear, apparel etc). On nike.com their mission statement is ” to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world.” Another way Nike is also promoting change just with this statement alone because to Nike an “athlete” is any person with a body, so they are also promoting body positivity. From what has been read on their website it seems as if Nike’s social responsibilities are mainly aimed towards uplifting communities and inspiring society to become better.
  3. Nike donates to charities and non profit organizations as well as standing up against any form of injustice. When BLM was going on Nike made sure to let the POC know that the company stood with them and not racist ( https://news.nike.com/news/nike-commitment-to-black-community .) In conclusion to Nike being a very socially responsible company I think personally if they were to hire more POC in higher positions like for designing sneakers and clothes etc their sales and business would boom even more. They’re already for the communities so them having more people who identify with them on their team would make the company more relatable to the communities and also make their business boom because they would know more of the demand so they can supply.

https://purpose-cms-production01.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/20194957/FY18_Nike_Impact-Report_Final.pdf

https://purpose-cms-production01.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/14214955/Nike_FY05_06_CR_Report_C_original.pdf

https://news.nike.com/news/nike-commitment-to-black-community