Development of a CAD integrated DFE workbench tool

The development of environmentally superior products and processes (EPS) is becoming an extremely important issue for electronic manufacturers operating in, and servicing European markets. Design for the environment (DFE) represents an effective strategy for developing ESPs and it needs to be implemented as early as possible in the design process. This paper describes a new framework for DFE methodology and tool development. A new CAD integrated DFE tool, called the DFE workbench, which is based on this new framework is also described.