Abstract
In the field of Ecodesign, in which the answers to the questions of “why”, “what”, and “how” have been largely studied in the past, the lack of implementation in industry remains an issue. The literature lacks insights into the “how” question combined with “who” for ecodesign implementation. The aim of this paper is to propose a concept for a knowledge holder, called a lifecycle engineer, with specific knowledge that can support a team or organization in the ecodesign process for its more effective implementation. This is achieved first by a literature review using a set of constructs derived from theories of engineering design and transdisciplinary research. Second, by consulting the results from the literature review and the proposal of a lifecycle engineer, through semi-structured interviews, with practitioners from the manufacturing sector. The analysis of the semi-structured interviews shows that the relevant knowledge includes lifecycle analysis, materials and their selection, energy efficiency, legislation, and management. This knowledge was complemented by skills that practitioners thought of as relevant for effective implementation. Moreover, the proposal of a lifecycle engineer, according to most practitioners, was found to be useful. The advantages of a lifecycle engineer include having more focus on ecodesign and the availability of information and staff to drive changes. Caveats include clear benefits against investment for the company, especially for smaller ones, and enough tasks for full-time employment.
Highlights
Ecodesign1 is defined as “the integration of environmental aspects into product design and development, with the aim of reducing adverse environmental impacts throughout a product’s life cycle” (ISO 14006, 2011 pp.2).2 Ecodesign, as defined above, involves two components: information processing for problem solving and the implementation of the information processing in the activities of an organization.The extant literature informs that much effort and resulting insight in the academic ecodesign community has focused on processing information in ecodesign under the name of ecodesign methods (e.g., Bovea and Perez-Elis, 2012; Rousseaux et al, 2017)
The remaining articles were later screened for their relevance to ecodesign implementation through reading
The knowledge that the lifecycle engineer is expected to add in the development process should cover lifecycle analysis, materials and their selection, energy efficiency and legislation, according to the interviewed practitioners
Summary
Ecodesign is defined as “the integration of environmental aspects into product design and development, with the aim of reducing adverse environmental impacts throughout a product’s life cycle” (ISO 14006, 2011 pp.2). Ecodesign, as defined above, involves two components: information processing for problem solving and the implementation of the information processing in the activities of an organization.The extant literature informs that much effort and resulting insight in the academic ecodesign community has focused on processing information in ecodesign under the name of ecodesign methods (e.g., Bovea and Perez-Elis, 2012; Rousseaux et al, 2017). Ecodesign in industry remains limited in its practical and effective implementation (e.g., Dekoninck et al, 2016; Lame et al, 2017; Rossi et al, 2016). This, in turn, can result in ineffective requirement specification and unnecessary iterations (see Handfield et al, 2001). This is in contrast to some success in implementing environmental management systems (see Fonseca and Domingues, 2018). Sakao / Journal of Cleaner Production 279 (2021) 123520 manufacturing companies need to change their design practices, which often means industrial insights of dos and don’ts and “no more tool development!” Sakao / Journal of Cleaner Production 279 (2021) 123520 manufacturing companies need to change their design practices, which often means industrial insights of dos and don’ts and “no more tool development!” (Boks and Stevels, 2007, pp. 4038)
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