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(82-17) Product Sustainability . Saur, Konrad*,1, 1 Five Winds International, Donzdorf, Germany ABSTRACT- Sustainability considers economical, social, and environmental aspects. Product or product systems include material selection, manufacture, distribution, use, and ultimate end-of-life disposition. Product sustainability is the integration of sustainability aspects into the design, development, and management of products and services. Currently, there is no single program or technique capable of delivering an overall answer with regard to implementing a product sustainability strategy. What is needed is a flexible framework of systems, programs, and techniques to integrate sustainability considerations into current decision making. This paper will outline experiences of organizations that have successfully integrated environmental aspects into their product development process. A framework, which links techniques on a situation-specific basis, will be presented. Besides strategic radar functions for the identification of emerging societal and/or political issues, organizations use a toolbox manager, who provides direct input into the tactic and strategic decisions. In addition the toolbox manager has the function to survey the tool market, which is independent from the direct needs of the organization, and adjust or customize the available tools and management systems to the organization. The toolbox management also has the function to support designers and process developers with easy-to-be-used information and guidelines, like checklists or Design-for-the-Environment tools or respective principles. Those parallel environmental and economic impacts need to be realized for a sustainable product and organization strategy. An example of using results of life cycle management techniques will be illustrated. Key words: Life Cycle Management, Environmental Strategy, Sustainability |
