Title: Design for sustainable manufacturing: applying modular design methodology to manage product end-of-life strategy

Authors: Wenyuan Wang; Mitchell M. Tseng

Addresses: Rm. 2591, Advance Manufacturing Institute, Academic Building, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong. ' Rm. 2591, Advance Manufacturing Institute, Academic Building, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Abstract: Rapid innovation in technology and ever shortened product life cycles precipitate discarding an increasing amount of used products as waste, which has been considered as one of the major sustainable issues. In order to manage end-of-life products in a sustainable manner, the design for sustainable manufacturing (DFSM) has become a key technology challenge. To this end, this paper presents a methodological framework to help designers apply modular design methodology to manage product end-of-life strategy systematically. Life cycle commonality (LCC) is proposed as a measurement of product modular architecture from an end-of-life strategy perspective. One innovative design space encompassing product end-of-life strategies is integrated into traditional modular design methodology systematically and effectively. Subsequently, decision tree approach is deployed to conduct economic analysis for maximizing manufacturers| total value recovered from various product end-of-life strategies. An illustrative example is included to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the developed methodology lastly.

Keywords: design for sustainable manufacturing; DFSM; DFM; product design; life cycle commonality; modular design; economic analysis; end-of-life products; end-of-life strategy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLM.2011.043186

International Journal of Product Lifecycle Management, 2011 Vol.5 No.2/3/4, pp.164 - 182

Published online: 26 Mar 2015 *

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