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Crossfunctional Teams

Concurrent Engineering

DFM

DFE


Strategies At
Clorox Corp.
DuPont Corp.
Invar Corp.
Nortel Corp.

Table of Contents

Many people in our society are beginning to focus on the importance of environmental preserva tion. Pollution is increasingly making the surrounding air, water and ground contaminated. This is bringing the environmental practices of industry into the neighborhoods, communities and homes of all citizens. As a result, many citizens are becoming concerned with the environmental practices of the industries that surround them. Governments are also stepping up on their environmental regulations, policies, and procedures which restrict industry's environmental practices. This in turned has comp elled many industries to improve their environmental record to produce greener products and use green er processes.


Need for Green Design/DFE
With stricter government regulations and increased consumer awareness, companies have come to realize the importance of preserving the environment. This has caused many companies to examine the ir operations and products to address the environmental issues concerned with the production, consump tion, and disposal of the goods that they produce. Companies also realize that changing existing pro ducts and processes to address environmental concerns can be very costly. To avoid these unnecessary expenses, design for environment, (also known as green design), has emerged.
Green Design/DFE
The design stage in the new product development process is the most critical stage in the ent ire cycle. Ideas, objectives, and concerns addressed in this stage have a ripple affect throughout t he entire NPD process. As a result, companies have come to realize that in order to produce environm entally safe products in a cost effective manner, they must address environmental issues in the desig n stages of the NPD process. This is a process called green design or design for environment.

Green design is the systematic consideration of environmental health, safety, preservation, a nd restoration issues during the new product development process. Some of the issues which DFE addre sses include: environmental management, product disposal, product safety, pollution prevention, ecol ogy, resource conservation, accident prevention, waste management, and occupational health and safety . This makes green design a tool which enhances environmental quality, as well as market competitive ness.

DFE Attempts To...


Evolution From Traditional Enviromental Practices
In recent years, there has been a fundamental change in the way industry approaches environme ntal health, safety, and management issues. In the past, companies would only apply environmental sa fety measures to comply with regulatory standards, or in other words to stay out of trouble. Today m any companies have abandoned this passive approach to environmental protection. Most leading compani es have established environmental programs and policies to manage and control operational effects on the surrounding environment. Most of these companies also publish annual environmental reports on al l of their programs, policies and improvements which have transpired in the previous year to protect, preserve, and restore the environment.
Governmental Standards
Governmental standards are established and enforced to protect and preserve the environment f rom industrial abuse. They are used to assure that a company has an effective environmental manageme nt system in place. These standards seek to harmonize industry practices in several areas including environmental management, auditing, performance evaluation, labeling, packaging and life-cycle analys is. Ultimately, compliance with government standards becomes an international passport for companies seeking to do business under each government's jurisdiction.
DFE Strategies
Green design strategies can be broken into the two major categories of source reduction and w aste management. Source reduction strategies attempt to eliminate the pollution at its source, while waste management strategies promote recycling, reusing, reclaiming, and refurbishing of parts and ma terials.
Environmental Quality Metrics
In green design, environmental quality metrics are parameters used to measure the environmental effec tiveness of specific operations and procedures. These metrics are used to evaluate design improvemen ts and to set environmental goals. Because of their fundamental role in the development process, qua lity metrics are essential to the successful implementation of DFE.

Some Environmental Quality Metrics


Four phases are considered when evaluating DFE:

a)Raw Material Extraction Process
In this phase, the environmental impact of extracting and processing raw materials to be used in a pr oduct, must be evaluated. Using recyclable material and renewable resources in the place of non-recy clable virgin materials is also emphasized during this phase. A major challenge of this process is t o identify and specify materials that can enhance environmental quality, while satisfying the product 's performance and cost requirements.
b)Manufacturing and Production Process
The main goal of this phase is to eliminate or minimize all of the adverse environmental effects asso ciated with the manufacturing process. These are things such as: the use of manufacturing processes which optimizes material conservation; use of surfaces which will eliminate the need for paint; use o f designs that remove the need for fasteners; use of environmentally compatible materials and operati ons; and so on. The concerns of this phase must be addressed in the design stages of the NPD process in order to avoid processes and materials that which are harmful to the environment.
c)Consumer Consumption
The main goal of this phase is to eliminate or minimize all of the adverse environmental effects asso ciated with the use and consumption of a product. This phase addresses the use of product ingredient s which adversely affect the environment while being used such as: aerosol sprays and refrigerator co olant ingredients which deplete the ozone layer; car designs which allow for excessive pollutants to be admitted into the atmosphere; cleaning detergents and laundry products which contaminate water sup plies; and so on.
d)Product Retirement
The main goal of this phase is to address the issues associated with the waste and disposal of produc ts and their packaging at the end of their service life. This stage emphasizes the use of product ma terials which are biodegradable or recyclable. This phase also considers how multi-material products must be designed for disassemble in order to easily separate out the recyclable contents.


LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS
Life cycle analysis is an objective analytical tool which organizations use to analyze the environmen tal costs and benefits associated with different design decisions. This process takes into account a ll factors which affect the environment throughout each phase of a product's life cycle. The environ mental effects of the Raw Material and Extraction, Manufacturing and Production, Consumer Consumption , and Product Retirement phase are all measured and evaluated in the life cycle analysis. This infor mation is then used by project designers to decide on various environmental tradeoff options. Such a nalysis may be considered the ultimate environmental evaluations tool in the green design process.
SOURCE REDUCTION
Source reduction strategies are regarded as the most practical solutions to reducing and elim inating waste and byproducts. These strategies attempt to reduce and eliminate waste and toxic bypro ducts at their source by removing all or some of the material that initially creates them. This may entail dropping or combining product features, improving process controls and yields, or extending th e product's life cycle.

Know more on Source Reduction Strategies
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Waste management strategies are not aimed at reducing the pollutants at its source, rather they conce ntrate on making waste disposal easier. The goal of these strategies is to design products the are e asy to recycle, remanufacture, decompose and incinerate. The products must also be able to disassemb le easily in order for the materials to be recycled and remanufactured.

Know more on Waste Management Strategies





Even though almost all major companies have some type of an environmental program, there is a vast difference between the companies that have successful DFE operations and those that do not.There are several reasons for failure or ineffective green design programs. Some of the reasons for DF E failure include: unclear environmental goals and objectives, insufficient organizational support, i neffective leadership, lack of environmental measures, insufficient training and so on. Despite all of these pitfalls that prevent effective DFE, it can be obtained by following the best practices of s uccessful green design operations.


Regardless of where DFE is applied, there are significant benefits to the firms or organizations that u se such green design programs. These benefits not only affect the participating organizations, but they ultima tely affect everyone by having a cleaner and safer global environment.

left Last Updated: March 30, 1998
Copyright 1998 Synthesis Coalition
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