As a part of system design this system design project was done by the students of Symbiosis Institute of design. Student :Akshay Roongta -Product Design Now in the context of design education, this may be a good reference work done few years back.I hope this is a useful self-learning content for you all.

1. Systems Design
Delivery aids for postman
Guides:
Mr.Vikram Mitra
Mrs. Shetall Natuu
Mr.Anirudh Natuu

2. Systems Design 2
Index
Acknowledgements ...................................................... 3
Research ...................................................................... 4
Brief ............................................................................. 9
Conceptualisation ......................................................... 10
Prototypes .................................................................... 33
User Feedback .............................................................. 34

3. Systems Design 3
Acknowledgements
First and foremost I would like to thank the institute for giving us the oppurtunity and the support to work on this project.A big thank you to my project guides, Mrs.
Natuu, Mr. Mitra and Mr. Natuu who were always looking over my shoulder through the process. Mr. Sapkal and Mr. Parag Sen for their constructive criticism in the
juries. Mr. Jarodia and Mr.Walunje without whom are research would not have been possible and my teammates, Ritika, Rikta and Kaushik whose constant support
and encouragement got me through the project.Thanks to Jamalbhai,Akhilbhai, Sutar Sir, and Sanjay Sir for helping me churn out such great prototypes.And last,
but not the least my classmates for their words of encouragement and criticism.

4. Systems Design 4
Research
Sequential Model
Phase One: Pre-Delivery
Creation of bundles
- mail is put in order
- slip for accountable mail
- sorting of accountable mail
- Segregation according to beat: Strategy
- Separate bundles
- requirement for extra bags
- quick Lunch
Loading
- attachment of ready bags
- Deviation: Postmen on foot
Besides understanding the structure of the Post Office and the mail flow, the first major part of research for me was understanding and hopefully experiencing the
sequence a postman follows in his daily routine. In this case, after research I realized that there are basically three phases to the delivery of mail. In the first phase of
Pre-Delivery, the postman receives mail according to his beat at his desk from the Grade 4 employee and he sorts the mail into bundles which is an intrinsic part of
the process.The bundles are prepared according to the order in which they are going to go to the buildings and volume of mail.They also fill out slips for account-
able mail.The mail is then mounted on the vehicle (cycle/motorbike) usually with shoddy, indigenous solutions.

5. Systems Design 5
Phase Two: Delivery
Accountable Mail
- the postman is very careful
- the receiver signs the slip
- In business places the receiver stamps
And then signs
Ordinary Mail
- slips mail into crevices or cracks when a
Slot for mail is not provided
- In case of bulk mail in business places, the
Inward clerk sorts and delivers
- Noting of undelivered mail
- Money order register
- signed receipts from registered mail are
Put in the outward mail
Phase Three: Post-Delivery
In the second phase, Delivery, they go out and deliver the mail. In this case, I have separated the explanation into Accountable mail and ordinary mail.With account-
able mail, the postmen are very careful, as they are personally held accountable for undelivered mail. In the case of ordinary mail, the postman might very simply just
slip the mail in through crevices and cracks in doors where letter slots do not exist.

6. Systems Design 6
Routes
Fakirbhai
To understand the process of delivery, I accompanied two postmen on their rounds, one on a motorcycle and one on a cycle.The first Fakirbhai was on a motorbike
and he explained to me that the two or three postmen who were on the bike were given routes that were far from the post office and they can do a circuit there
and get back.

7. Systems Design 7
Anna
Anna, who was on a cycle, strategised a path in such a way that he started very close to the post office and was able to do a full circuit and end up very close to the
post office.

8. Systems Design 8
Letter Sizes
To design anything for the postman meant that I had to study and survey letter sizes to understand some sort of size that was an average for letter sizes.The size
that was finally decided upon was 8”x12” as the largest sized letters 10”x12” were very rare and the excess was usually folded over the bulk of the bundle.
10”
12”

9. Systems Design 9
Brief
To design carrying aids for the postman
1. Bag
- for low and high volume days
- for postmen who deliver on foot, by cycle and motorbike
2. Bundle System
- can serve at the sorting station
- how does it fit into the bag
- adjustable capacity
- carrying while on the move
The brief that I arrived on after the research, did not include redesigning the cycle because the research revealed that the postmen were expected to buy the cycle
on their own where the post office simply helped in financing the cycle. Since the postman owned the cycle, I decided that instead of tinkering with the cycle, I
would try and create a bag that fit in well with the cycle. So the final brief then was:

10. Systems Design 10
Conceptualization
1.
2.
Two minor issues that I had to deal with, that manifested themselves in the two ideas below were of security and a better system for taking delivery of accountable
mail. In image 1, the concept was that the lock would be an RFID based lock which locked magnetically and the key (coupled RFID) was worn by the postman as a
ring. In image 2, the long printout slips were replaced by a digital PDA that takes the sign of the user and in terms of transfer of information is far more efficient.

11. Systems Design 11
Attaching to the cycle - I
3.
As mentioned in the brief a huge issue was how the postman attached the bag to the cycle.The possible solution was to attach loops in such a way that the bag
would sit on any of the tubes.The handlebar or the crossbar.Also it was critical that the handle be detachable.

12. Systems Design 12
Attaching to the cycle - II
4.
A continuation of the earlier idea and also based on the observation that the postman who was always pushed for space should apply an idea that motorcycle riders
have been using for a long time.That of saddle bags. In this case as well, the loops are optimized in such a way that they sit on a carrier.

13. Systems Design 13
Guide rail Bag - I
5.
Starting work on the main problem, that of the bag, it became clear that the standard bag didn’t cater to the capacity of a postman’s daily load.Trying to think
beyond a bag, I came up with the idea of a frame in which the bundles, (designed separately but in parallel), would sit.This idea was derived from the idea of a PLC
(Programmable Logic Controller) sitting on a guide rail on a CNC panel.

14. Systems Design 14
Guide rail Bag - Bundle concept
6.
Further development of the guide rail idea meant that I started detailing how the bundle (a unit in which a certain quantity of letters might sit) would attach on
to the bag and any ideas that could be developed further from that. In this case, it seemed prudent to have two magnetic coupling parts, the male section on the
bundle and the female section on the guide rail.A possible development of the idea is that an accessory can be designed that enables the postman to carry on his
belt, in a variety of manners.

15. Systems Design 15
Guide rail Bag - II
7.
I started developing the bag, and it was very apparent that I had to work keeping the dimensions in mind. So having decided the bundle size as 8”x10”x5”, I start-
ed work on the bag assuming that the postman needed between 3 - 6 bundles to be carried everyday. The first orientation of the bag, was with the bag holding at
least 4 bundles and expandable to 5 bundles. Here the idea was that the postman would carry only one bag for his load.

16. Systems Design 16
Guide rail Bag - III
8.

17. Systems Design 17
Guide rail Bag - IV
9.
After consultation with my guides, I realized that the previous concept had a major flaw that the bag was becoming to bulky. So I broke the load up into two parts.
3 bundles in two bags.The idea was that the strap was designed in such a way that, one bag is carried on the shoulder as a messenger bag and the other one on
the back like a backpack. In image 9, two different orientations were tried.Where the first orientation was taken forward, for further work.

18. Systems Design 18
Guide rail Bag - V
10.
Deciding on the orientation I put in another mechanism so that when mounted on the cycle’s handlebar the postman doesn’t have accessibility issues.The mecha-
nism which simply tilts the whole bundle compartment in such a way that the angle is easier to access, is done by simply joining surfaces in an intelligent manner.

19. Systems Design 19
Guide rail Bag - Mock up
11. 12. 13.
The concept was refined as mentors pointed out that there was no need for a guide rail concept and simple pockets would suffice.To understand and test this new
idea and also to get a feel for the dimension and the tilting mechanism a mock up was built and tested.

20. Systems Design 20
Clip Bundle - I
14.
Starting work on the bundles, a friend suggested the simple idea of using a clip to hold the letters.Taking the idea forward I created a simple metal clip with a
spring in the centre so that it can take greater capacity of letters.There was a problem with this concept as one would have to use both hands to open the clip up.

21. Systems Design 21
Clip Bundle - II
15.
To solve that problem the middle spring was removed and two flaps were added with springs in the hinges and small extrusions to aid in moving the flaps.The idea
was that buy pushing the extrusions one could access the letters and on letting go the letters get locked. The problem here was that the second flap was not re-
quired as it could be a simple straight surface and still function quite well.

22. Systems Design 22
Clip Bundle - III
16.
After removing the extra flap this is what the clip concept looked like but a problem that was pointed out here was that this did not cater to lower capacity of letters
and needed some minimum of letters to function.

23. Systems Design 23
Clip Bundle - IV
17.
To solve the issue mentioned above, the rigid side was made into a movable part with a ratchet hinge so that it can have variable capacity

24. Systems Design 24
Cartridge Bundle
18.
In this concept the idea was that the bundle also becomes a sorting accessory on the table, such that letters sit on the accordion still ridges and then slot in the
process shown and fit like a cartridge into the bag.

25. Systems Design 25
Flap Bundle - I
19.
This was an idea that basically replaced the twine that is being used currently to tie the letters together with a designed accessory that was made of nylon.The con-
cept is simple and needs the bundle device to have nylon and Velcro, such that it stretches a little over the letter and holds the letters.Accordion style ridges have
also been provided so that, the bundle can be used at the desk for sorting.

26. Systems Design 26
Flap Bundle - II
20.
Developing the previous concept, I came up with the idea of integrating accountable mail and ordinary mail in a single unit.The separators are color coded, blue for
ordinary (hence greater space), and green for accountable.Also a pocket was provided in the centre for holding the slips for accountable mail.

27. Systems Design 27
Flap/Strap Bundle - III
21.
In an attempt to create something much simpler, this concept was modified from the previous one, where a simple elastic band with Velcro and a plastic separator
would become the bundle accessory.

28. Systems Design 28
Flap/Strap Bundle - Final
22.
On developing the idea as the final concept, the idea was further simplified, and the final concept turned into a simple plastic device that has Velcro, both, to hold
the letters as well as for the hand.

29. Systems Design 29
Flap/Strap Bundle - 3D Modeling
23. 24.
The concept was taken further into 3D modeling as can be seen in image 23. In image 24, one can see the exploded view for the plastic component, such that the
parts can be injection molded without worrying about undercuts as well as giving an interesting pattern as the parting line.

30. Systems Design 30
Flaps Bag
25. 26. 27.
While the bundle concept was being finalized, I was also working on alternate concepts for the bag. Here I came up with the concept of a bag that is like an amal-
gamation of 3 bags, layered in such a way that as you finish a bundle, you fold that compartment away to gain access to the next compartment. Repeating the
process until you are left with the last hard case compartment.The transition from 3 compartments to single compartment can be seen from image 25 to image 27.

31. Systems Design 31
Rotating Bag
28.
This bag basically works on the idea of rotating along an axis so that one can gain access to the bundles. In this case the axis is at the centre of an equilateral
triangle.

32. Systems Design 32
Crate Bag
29.
In this concept, the same bag is easily adapted for usage by both the postman on foot, and on cycle.The postman on foot carries it using the shoulder strap, with
the blue part against his body. He unlocks the bag and holding the handle can access the bundles that are stowed away in the pockets.A postman, attaching it to
the cycle attaches the red section to his cycle and on unlocking it, the blue section falls to reveal the bundles that are accessed like a shelf. The same straps can be
used by the postman on foot to carry the bag on his shoulder, by simply removing the straps from the loops.

33. Systems Design 33
Prototypes
The final concept, once chosen was prototyped.The fabric prototyping was done by professional bag makers where as the bundle’s plastic component was simulated
in MDF and HIP by me in our workshop.As can be seen two straps had to be added to the bag, to restrict the angle up to which the bag would open when on the
postman’s shoulder.

34. Systems Design 34
User Feedback
30. 31.
The postmen were quite delighted with the prototype.The feature of the manner in which it attaches to the cycle is very desirable for them.An issue that Annabahi
(seen in the pictures below) continuously pointed out was the fact that the bag opened in front and not from the top like the current bag. I believe that this is an
issue of adaptability to the new method and workflow, which is a change but one that they would need some time to adapt to.

35. Systems Design 35
Postman on foot Postman on motorbike

36. Thank You
Mr. Jarodia (PMG)
Mr.Walunje
My project guides
Annabhai
Nilesh Sir
Masterji
Sutar Sir
Sanjay Sir
Fakirbhai
Kaushik
Rikta
Ritika
& my classmates