Evolving Issues in Product Life Cycle Design

Summary Driven by the global environmental movement and consumer p15, preferences to ‘green labeled products’, a new paradigm has emerged: {‘GREEN’ ROBUST PRODUCTS) plus {CLEAN PRODUCTION} equals {SUSTAINABLE GROWTH). This paradigm evolved from the growing environmental regulations and occupational health and safety laws that restrict gaseous, liquid, and solid emissions and waste disposals from manufacturing processes and products in-use and -disposal. Also, disposal of product packaging and recycling of used products is forcing the rethinking of the entire product life cycle from product strategy to recycling/disposal. There is a growing recognition of the fact that the competitive position and, indeed, the very survival of companies depend on their response to this paradigm. This new paradigm is named the paradigm ‘E’ because to adopt it, a corporation must emphasize E cology, E nvironment, E nergy, E conomy, E mpowering, E ducation, and E xcellence in all product life cycle decision. Responding to this paradigm poses several new challenges beyond the traditional role and expertise of most product designers and production engineers. In this paper, the evolving issues of the paradigm and their impact on product design and production are examined. The steps necessary for the adoption of the Paradigm ‘E’ are presented. A review is presented of the available methodologies and analysis tools for making evaluation of environmental impact, product life cycle economics, and corporate competitive positioning. Activity modeling which provides a comprehensive methodology for these investigations is illustrated through sample outputs from an on-going industrial implementation of the Paradigm ‘E’.