Title: Network agents for supporting consumers in the lifecycle management of individual parts

Authors: Takayuki Nakada, Hiroyuki Hiraoka

Addresses: Chuo University, 1-13-27 Kasuga, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo, 112-8551, Japan. ' Chuo University, 1-13-27 Kasuga, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo, 112-8551, Japan

Abstract: To realise a sustainable society, it is essential to promote the reuse of mechanical parts using lifecycle management. However, due to unpredictable consumer-behaviour patterns, it is difficult to manage products in the use phase of a product|s lifecycle. The authors propose a product lifecycle management system using network agents and RFID tags attached to individual parts, to support consumers and promote part reuse in the use phase. We have developed prototype functions of the network agent system on the basis of the product lifecycle of consumer-electronic appliances. This paper describes the functions of a prototype network agent that are developed in order to support consumer activities in the product lifecycle, and results of a simulation to investigate its effectiveness. The functions of the prototype allow the network agent to control the environmental load of a product in the consumer use phase and predict a part failure.

Keywords: part reuse; network agents; RFID tags; individual parts; consumer support; consumer electronics; electronic appliances; lifecycle management; product lifecycle; part failure; failure prediction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLM.2011.038099

International Journal of Product Lifecycle Management, 2011 Vol.5 No.1, pp.4 - 20

Published online: 26 Mar 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article