Mind of a designer
SAUL WORDSWORTH, iVT INTERNATIONAL
TOP INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER JON POPE DISCUSSES THE IMPACT OF
COVID19 ON VEHICLE DESIGN, WHAT MAKES A GREAT
MACHINE AND LIFE IN LOCKDOWN
For most of us, adjusting to
the new normal means
coming through lockdown, social
distancing and presenting your
living space to strangers on Zoom.
e last of these design consultant
Jon Pope generously agreed to
earlier this month from his home in
Massachusetts.
“Since the weather has been
growing warmer, I’ve been getting
out into the woods on my mountain
bike and trying not to kill myself in
a fall,” he says. “ at and a fair
degree of procrastination.”
Pope began his working life in
industrial design back in the ’90s
and has worked with the likes of
John Deere, Volvo CE and
Mahindra. roughout his career he
has seen considerable changes,
though of course nothing like this.
How does he predict Covid-19 will
a ect the industry?
“As a result of the pandemic
I think there’s going be a lot of
change, from manufacturing to
operator interface,” he says. “With
heavy equipment a cab operator is
pretty much isolated, but there
might be more than one person
using the vehicle that day so sanitary
issues could come into play. What
if the air can stay infected for
a long time? We might well have
to worry more about air quality that
we do now, and how quickly you can
air a cab.”
Full autonomy?
e question of what kind of
vehicles might be hastened by
Covid-19 inevitably turns to
autonomy. Pope knows that the
arrival of autonomous equipment is
inevitable. “It’s coming, it’s going to
be here,” he says. But he feels there’s
a discrepancy between what’s in the
media and OEM marketing
presentations, and the reality.
“ e truth is we’re not even
close,” he says. “ ere are still a lot
of hurdles that need to be overcome.
And that’s not just for industrial
vehicles. You need to start with
automobiles, which I think will
come rst. Reliability, being exposed
to di erent environments, servicing,
all of this has to be considered. In
the heavy equipment world these
things are multiplied tenfold. In a
controlled environment, for instance
a mining situation where it’s closed
o to the public, that’s very
achievable. e problem arises with
roadside work or a construction site.
For me that’s still a long way o
because one central issue remains
– if something happens, who
is responsible?”
Making adjustments
Pope recognises that, come what
may, the wheels of industry must do
their level best to keep turning. As it
stands an upgrade may take a year
to 18 months, while a new product
can take two or more years. What
happens if you throw coronavirus
into the mix?
“Is this situation going to change
forecasts? Of course. It will a ect
what companies are going to do for
upgrades and introducing new
equipment across the industry
worldwide. Some bad things will
happen if machines don’t start to get
upgraded. We don’t know whether
this is a bumpy road that we’re going
to have to deal with for the next few
years, constantly worrying about
shutdowns. Heavy equipment is so
WHAT MAKES GOOD
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN?
“It’s all about the buzz phrase, perceived quality,” says Pope. “Let’s say
you have two tractors. They essentially do the same job but one is not so
easy to operate or maintain. The other meanwhile is more comfortable, so
you can operate it for longer and get better productivity. Daily maintenance is less hassle
and it looks like some thought went into it. We know which piece of equipment the customer
will gravitate towards, but you have to back up that perceived quality up with actual quality.
This means involving industrial design from the very beginning, so that you’re bringing
perceived quality without adding manufacturing costs. If you try to force the human factors
in at the end to fi t around your machine it always shows.”
12 iVTInternational.com June 2020
/iVTInternational.com