Exercises: From the problem to the technical system proposal

Classify each venture as artisanal or factory-based and justify your answer: the alebrijes carved and painted by hand in San Martín Tilcajete; a plant that makes thousands of concrete blocks a day; the jams a cooperative produces in batches during fruit season; a bottled soft drink factory.

A cooperative wants to make eco-bricks by stuffing PET bottles with clean, dry plastic waste, to build benches and walls for the community garden. Complete the six elements of the venture's technical system with a concrete example of each one: organization, means, materials, energy, knowledge and know-how.

For the eco-brick venture to be sustainable, reusing bottles is not enough. Propose one sustainable decision for each element of the technical system (organization, means, materials, energy, knowledge and know-how) and explain in one sentence what makes it sustainable.

The cooperative sells each eco-brick for $\$9.50$. Making it costs $\$6.20$ between materials and labor, and the workshop's fixed costs (rent, electricity and transport) add up to $\$4,300.00$ per month. Calculate how many eco-bricks it must sell per month just to cover the fixed costs (round up: you cannot sell a fraction of a brick) and explain what happens if in one month it sells 100 fewer pieces than that number.