Environmentally Sound Product Improvements of Consumer Products
DS 30: Proceedings of DESIGN 2002, the 7th International Design Conference, Dubrovnik
Year: 2002
Editor: Marjanovic D.
Author: Lo, V.; Wimmer, W.
Section: ECODESIGN Workshop
Page(s): 1339-1344
Abstract
In the fast moving and quick changing Digital Economy (DE), all businesses or manufacturing modes have evolved into a very competitive business particularly in the Small Electrical Appliances (SEA´s). For the project described in this study the ECODESIGN PILOT as a product improvement tool to evaluate SEA´s for continuous improvement was used. The whole decision-making process starting from product marketing, design, development, manufacturing, product use and it’s recycling, reuse or disposal after the end of product-life was taken into account. To make sure the product designed is optimized to, and complied with innovation, competitive cost, corporate image, and the knowledge based environmental criteria throughout the product life cycle designers can choose different Eco-design strategies. The aim of this paper is to find out which strategies are appropriate to SEA´s.
Keywords: Design for environment, ECODESIGN, design tool, product improvement, sustainable product development, PILOT