Design Merged X for Eco-product Development

Abstract

Design for X (DFX) issue in product design and development is generally considered in the late design process, e.g., detailed design phase. DFX issue plays a crucial role in determining cost, time and quality of product design. Due to the current DFX, research pays little attention to incorporate the industrial design, and the industrial design is rarely taken into account in the early design phase; design iteration is unavoidable. This paper identifies the new X issues requires in development of product life cycle design methodology, and then proposes a Design Merged X (DMX) framework to combine industrial design and product design with existing DFX methods. A process model of how to apply the DMX framework is also presented. An illustrative case is presented to show how the proposed DMX framework can be used to fulfill the new design process with considering the industrial design in the early design phase. Results of this study contribute new knowledge to DFX field.