Life Cycle Gates: Extending the concept of Virtual Quality Gates along circular product life cycles

Abstract

Reaching a higher level of sustainability of a products life cycle became a strategic goal for many companies over the past years. To achieve that higher level of sustainability, the transformation of linear product life cycles (cradle to grave) into circular life cycles (cradle to cradle) in the context of a Circular Economy (CE) is one promising approach. However, implementing a circular life cycle results in higher requirements in defining the best fitted strategy at the end of each product use stage depending on economic, environmental and social factors.In order to cope these increased requirements, the whole product life cycle has to become more transparent. This transparency can be reached by a holistic digital representation and virtual quality control of all life cycle stages. To implement a virtual quality control in each stage and enable the monitoring and controlling of the whole life cycle, the concept of Virtual Quality Gates can be extended. Virtual Quality Gates divide a defined manufacturing chain into different virtual, quality-relevant decision points to check the product quality and ensure a defined quality state before further manufacturing steps are approved. This concept can be transferred to each life cycle stage to ensure a holistic optimization of the products life cycle quality and an optimized selection of a strategy at the end of each use stage.This paper presents a framework for the implementation of virtual quality gates into product life cycles. These extended quality gates are defined as Life Cycle Gates, which are virtual decision points to optimize a product life cycle. The demand and applicability of the concept is shown for a mechanical recycling process of automotive parts.