An introduction to Life-Cycle Thinking and Management
6. Product development and production
Up until now, people involved in the production have had a main role in connection with environmental improvements in the production process and also with the introduction of environmental management systems. Similarly, designers and product developers have an important role in the development of cleaner products.
The role of designers and product developers
Clearly, product development is key to a life-cycle-based environmental initiative. The earlier environmental considerations are integrated into product development, the easier it is to prevent harmful environmental impacts in a product's life cycle.
Designers and product developers must therefore have an understanding of the factors which determine the environmental impact of a product. Only in rare cases will product developers need to analyse environmental data, for example a life-cycle assessment. Rather, access to straightforward guidelines and assessments conducted by environmental specialists is required.
How radically a designer or a product developer changes a product will reflect the level of ambition and the product strategy which management has set. Generating ideas and developing concepts are central elements if the framework is relatively loose. Is there any demand for this type of product in the future? Will this product be replaced by a service? Or integrated into a main product? The telephone answering machine is an example of a product which is disappearing as a specific product, as the same function is integrated into many telephones or may be procured as a service from telephone companies. In most cases, product development involves small steps - gradual adjustments and incremental improvements to a product. There are many aspects of a product which may be addressed, but the environmental profile of a product may be a good place to begin.
Technical aspects, economy, design, quality, etc. are still crucial to the development
of a product, but these aspects may often be combined so that environmental considerations
are given more weight, for example: "Little Enterprise Ltd." decides to
make their existing products cleaner by using a more environmentally friendly material in
the plastic parts of the thermos.
make the existing product cleaner, for example by replacing an environmentally
harmful substance with a less harmful substance, move environmental considerations higher up on the design criteria list for example by
putting equal weight on price and energy consumption in the usephase, develop a new, cleaner product with the starting point being consideration of
environmental impacts - for example a new clothes collection based on ecological cotton, shift from producing a product to supplying a service - the sale of linen products
shifts to a clean linen delivery service.
The product developers's tool
Product developers and designers require practical tools when they are challenged to include environmental considerations in product development. A number of international guidelines and rules of thumb which reflect the environmental considerations for numerous sectors are available, also on the Internet (see the tool box in Chapter 10).
Many of these rules of thumb are built upon the same principles referred to as the "6 RE philosophy":
| Re-think - rethink the product and its functions |
| Re-duce - reduce energy and material consumption throughout a product's life cycle |
| Re-place - replace environmentally harmful substances with more environmentally friendly alternatives |
| Re-cycle - select materials which can be recycled |
| Re-use - design the product so that its parts can be reused |
| Re-pair - design the product so that it is easily repaired |
Products with motors and electrical plugs have always in the use-phase energy consumption which gives rise to significant environmental impacts.
If there are no guidelines for an enterprise's specific product, it is a good idea to investigate the existing knowledge concerning the product group / family, as there may be guidelines for environmentally friendly design and product development for related products. Inspiration for rethinking many types of products may be found via the tool referred to as a strategy wheel or a spider web (see Chapter 10). Rules of thumb and guidelines are valuable tools for generating new ideas for environmental improvements to products. After these ideas have been analysed and prioritised, the environmental profile of the new product may be visualised using a spider web diagram which illustrates graphically the anticipated results of the product development.
In practise, there may be contradictory considerations, for example between a long product life and the use of a harmful substance in production. In such cases an environmental assessment or a detailed life-cycle assessment is necessary.
Integrated product development
Poor coordination between product development, production and sales departments is often a problem for larger enterprises. Consequently, many large enterprises have introduced "integrated product development", where coordination of the various considerations is integrated into a system.
Knowledge about cleaner technologies and enviromental management
Most business associations have written material and guidelines regarding cleaner technology and environmental improvements to production. Furthermore, many business associations have compiled sector specific manuals to assist in introducing environmental management systems. A few of these manuals assist with life-cycle-based environmental initiatives. |
This involves formulating a procedure for when and how environmental considerations are incorporated into the product development process. For example: when product specifications are available, then a simple environmental assessment is to be undertaken.When a product prototype is completed, it is sent to a local scrap dealer for comments regarding the ease with which the product can be taken apart and recycled.
Enterprises such as Grundfos have environmental considerations as an inherent part of the enterprise's integrated product development procedure.
The role of production employees
Employees in the production department have a big role to play in addressing the environmental impacts associated with production processes and thus, may actively contribute to reducing resource consumption and emissions. Enterprises which have not previously considered cleaner technology and environmental management find that there are many possibilities for improvements and savings.
An exercise for all employees Try assembling eight to ten interested employees one day with one to two hours available to discuss the following: Environmental problems
Possible solutions
There may be environmental problems and possible solutions which require further investigation. Include them in the action plan. Based on the discussions a so-called SWOT-outline can be drawn up which straightforwardly identifies strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats to the project. |
Production employees may contribute with good ideas for concrete product improvements, as well as finding and supplying data which specifically relate to a particular product. In addition, employees have practical experience regarding what is possible in the production process, while avoiding too much backwards and forwards.
Environmental management systems up until now have sufficed with figures regarding the resource consumption for the entire enterprise and for the primary sub-processes. Most green accounts and environmental reports are formulated this way. Now, however, with focus on cleaner products, figures concerning resource consumption and emissions during production of each product are of interest. It may be necessary to change measurement points as well as documentation statements and procedures to obtain such figures.
Common product figures are a good frame of reference for on-going environmental improvements of products. Individual figures for a specific product may be difficult to calculate if the enterprise has a broad range of products, because a distribution factor must be determined which "allocates" the resource consumption among the various product groups. In such cases a rough estimate, which may be further refined at a later date, is sufficient to begin an assessment.