Integrated Sustainable Product Design With Warranty and End-of-Use Considerations

Abstract

Abstract The idea of integrated sustainable product design has been recently proposed to integrate downstream lifecycle performance into the initial product design to better achieve sustainability. Various sustainable product design tools based on life-cycle assessment or quality function deployment have been established while the influence of reliability in the circular practice has not been investigated much. Realizing that product reliability plays a critical role in determining post-design performance, this paper develops a product design optimization model that considers the warranty performance and the effect of end-of-use options. The effect of uncertain operating conditions on product reliability is incorporated into the model. Two optimization goals including the minimization of expected unit lifecycle cost and environmental impact are achieved by the model. Then, the model has been applied to an electric motor design problem to illustrate the benefit of the integrated approach. Results show that the component selection and reliability design will be adjusted when integrating the end-of-use options in the early design phase. Furthermore, lifecycle cost savings and environmental impact reductions can be achieved through the circular usage of used products. Finally, the effects of operating conditions, warranty policy, and take-back price for used products on the design decisions are analyzed to provide insights for product designers.