Aligning product design methods and tools for sustainability

Abstract

More thorough evaluation of energy and material efficiency of manufacturing operations are needed to face advancing environmental requirements and to maintain competitiveness. For evaluation, the design of a product and its manufacturing operations need to be considered simultaneously. This paper will discuss how design for environment approach can be used in integrating these phases of the product lifecycle for improving sustainability. For effective application of design for environment tools, more company-specific key goals and process knowledge are needed in addition to generic set of good practices Life cycle analysis based on simulation enables a designer to compare different design alternatives with higher accuracy. Also the needed data to perform the evaluations is discussed.