Technology and the production of goods and services

Learning objectives

Show how machines and automation are changing the way goods are made, with computer-aided manufacture (CAM) and 3D printing as examples

Show how technology lets service businesses serve more customers with the same staff, contactless payment being one example

Weigh a change in technology from the side of the business: more output, even quality and a lower cost per unit, against the price of the equipment, the training it needs and the risk that it breaks down

Weigh the same change from the side of the employees: new skills and less repetitive work, against retraining and the threat of redundancy

Decide, with reasons, whether a business in a case study should bring in a new technology