Product Life Cycle Design Research Articles

Research of Design Method for Key Parts of Automotive Interior Based on NX Software

Take the car door-handle as an example, propose a design method for key parts of automotive interior based on NX software, which is to do concept design for interior first, secondly, carry out framework design for the motion plan, then do structure design, shape design and topology optimization design through kinematics and dynamics analysis, and finally verify the reliability of the parts by finite element strength analysis and fatigue life analysis. This method can guarantee the unification of product data, shorten the product design life cycle, and guarantee the quality of product design.

Functional unit and product functionality—addressing increase in consumption and demand for functionality in sustainability assessment with LCA

The static functional unit definition in the current LCA framework has limitations in addressing the changing product functionality and associated environmental impact of constantly evolving product technologies. As a result, it overlooks the changes in consumer behaviour of increased consumption of products in provided services as well as in growing volumes. This article aims to present a new framework in defining a dynamic functional unit of product technologies that caters for changes in consumer behaviour and growing market. A new approach to defining the functional unit is proposed that caters for changes in consumer behaviour and the use of technology from a technical performance perspective. A dynamic approach to definition of the functional unit is proposed that is based on Kano’s model of product function and satisfaction. The new approach is demonstrated on a case study in which the analysis of historical data for two TV product technologies—CRT and LCD—is used to show how the total environmental impact is increasing due to the increased functionality which triggers an increase in the volume of the market. Despite the efforts of improving product life cycle design, the society is still faced with increasing environmental impact from the product type overall. This article presents the challenges of using a static, single functional unit definition in an industrial culture with constant evolution of products that influences usage behaviour and demonstrates the vicious circle of improving product efficiency that leads to further consumption and environmental impact. To address this problem, a new framework of dynamic functional unit definition is put forward for performing comparative LCA to manage the development of product life cycle design that helps keep the total environmental impact of the company’s product portfolio within absolute boundaries.

Design Specification Determination with Collaborative Approach for Indonesian Short Wheelbase Recumbent Bicycle

Determination of specification for product development is useful, as it includes an overview of product-related information. However, it is not an easy thing, especially for new and innovative product. In the view of designer as the subject who has never made the product, he needs to work closely with the manufacturer so that the concept can be designed to become a feasible product. In addition, in order to reduce product design life cycle and minimize design errors, the designer needs to communicate and collaborate with the manufacturer. This research proposes a design specification based on the paradigm of Concurrent Engineering (CE) from Collaborative Product Development (CPD) strategy in the development of a new ergonomically designed Short Wheel Base (SWB) Recumbent Bicycle. This collaborative process involved an expert from bicycle practitioner which already had experience in building custom bicycle. The result of this study is a frame set design of the bicycle which considers human anthropometry and the detail list of its components. Beside of that, the process of collaboration with practitioners bicycle produces 37% change in the components used and 3 changes in shape of design SWB Recumbent Bicycle.

New sustainability indices for product design employing environmental impact and risk reduction: case study on gasoline blends

Product life-cycle design is a pathway from concept to research and development, from manufacturing to marketing and distribution. In the current approach to product design two objectives are broadly of stakeholders' and customers' interest: product specification and price. Sustainable product design, however, requires that environmental, energy, and safety issues, among others, be addressed. This paper introduces a new methodology employing three sustainability indices related to environment, energy and safety for a variety of applications including product design. The indices can be used individually or together, and it is possible to add other metrics depending on the nature of products and processes. To test the indices, blends of a typical gasoline as a product design case study were investigated.Gasoline blends are good examples of sustainable product design. Different gasoline blend products were modeled by Aspen HYSYS in order to estimate the octane numbers. New sustainability indices involving metrics such as octane number, mileage loss, potential environmental impacts, and safety risk were then applied on the blends and compared to fuel economy using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology to select the best product. The range of each metric varies from one to another depending on the nature of the metrics, applications, regulations etc.; however, AHP is used for ranking purposes in the range of 0–100%.

Sustainable Manufacturing based Decision Support Model for Product Design and Development Process

Sustainable manufacturing is creation of manufactured products through economically-sound processes that minimize negative environmental impacts while conserving energy and natural resources. Sustainable manufacturing also enhances employee, community, and product safety. In order to adapt sustainable Manufacturing concepts, it is essential to plan and decide from a product design and development stage as it has been revealed that 80% of sustainability impacts from the product are decided in the product design and development stage. In modern day Products Design and manufacturing it is always advantages to have complete knowledge of the Life Cycle of the Product. If Life cycle information is available for the designers, it will be easy for them to take many decisions related to specially the environmental performance or eco efficiency which is one of the emerging marketing tools. Further, with the full knowledge of the product life cycle, new/existing products can be designed/redesigned based on eco-design principals or environmentally friendly manner, thereby to improve the material and energy efficiency during the manufacturing and user phases and finally will have better environmental performances. The product life cycle and Eco design are two key techniques used in Sustainable Manufacturing specially these will enable to convert any existing product or process to be competitive in the market by better environmental performances and quality while minimizing manufacturing cost beside with better environmental performances. These issues prevail mainly since there is no such systematic approach towards Product Design and Development among the many manufacturers. Since Sustainable Manufacturing Concept applicable for all major phases of the product Life cycle, it is essential to co-relate life cycle assessment outcomes with product design and development process. However, there are numerous decisions needed to take into account at different stages of product design and development process. Therefore, in this research, a decision support model is developed based on LCA and Eco Design concepts. The developed model has been validated with few existing product decision and development processes. The results shows that significant number of issues and potential improvements to the existing design and development processes can be taken from the proposed model and that will leads to many sustainability options to the whole product life cycle than what is persist presently.

Knowledge evaluation in product lifecycle design and support

Enterprises are focusing more and more on knowledge issues for global product development. This paper describes knowledge evolution processes in product development activities and proposes a knowledge evaluation method in product lifecycle design. The paper also theoretically analyzes the evaluation model and illustrates how knowledge values can be assessed by case study. The case study shows how knowledge values calculated by the model can provide suggestions about which knowledge to choose and what to do next. The knowledge evaluation model serves as a useful tool for managing knowledge in product lifecycle design and support.

The Sustainable Design of Product Life Cycle

To reduce products’ negative impact on environment, save resources and energy, and recycle materials scientifically and effectively. We use "the sustainable design of product life cycle",it is a design concept. Its guide is prevention in advance, and its basic demands are low-carbon, green, energy conservation and environmental protection. It focuses on the technology in the aspects of design, materials, structure, crafts, circulation, recycling and so on. Its goal is to satisfy the demand of human and develop sustainably at the same time.

The Research on the Effectiveness of Brand Triangle Model for Product Life Cycle Design

This paper analyzes brand structure of product (enterprise) brand, industrial brand, urban brand for product life cycle design, on the basis of Brand Symbol Triangle Model, analysis of the relationship among three brands, and further analyzes from product brand to industrial brand, urban brand evolutionary path. This paper argues a (enterprise) brand managers to guide the angle of the product in regional industrial brand promotion, urban brand enhancement strategies.

Green Supply Chain Collaboration for Fashionable Consumer Electronics Products under Third-Party Power Intervention—A Resource Dependence Perspective

Under third-party power intervention (TPPI), which increases uncertainty in task environments, complex channel power interplays and restructuring are indispensable among green supply chain members as they move toward sustainable collaborative relationships for increased viability and competitive advantage. From the resource dependence perspective, this work presents a novel conceptual model to investigate the influence of political and social power on channel power restructuring and induced green supply chain collaboration in brander-retailer bidirectional green supply chains of fashionable consumer electronics products (FCEPs). An FCEP refers to the consumer electronics product (e.g., personal computers, mobile phones, computer notebooks, and game consoles) with the features of a well-known brand associated, a short product lifecycle, timely and fashionable design fit for market trends, and quick responsiveness to the variations of market demands. The proposed model is tested empirically using questionnaire data obtained from retailers in the FCEP brander-retailer distribution channels. Analytical results reveal that as an extension of political and social power, TPPI positively affects the reciprocal interdependence of dyadic members and reduces power asymmetry, thereby enhancing the collaborative relationship of dyadic members and leading to improved green supply chain performance. Therein, reciprocal interdependence underlying collaborative relationship is the key to reducing the external environmental uncertainties in the TPPI context.

Economic and environmental assessment of product life cycle design: volume and technology perspective

Abstract Economic and environmental assessments of products are commonly performed at product level in a comparative way to identify possible improvement solutions. The problem with this approach is that introduction of new technologies leads to increased functionality that alters the economic and environmental impacts. In addition, a growing market leads to the demand for higher volume of products. When these factors are combined, overall increase in economic and environmental impacts occurs in the society even though improvements were made at product level. Therefore, this research article proposes a new approach to product assessment to cater for technology changes and increasing volume. Using Axiomatic Design Theory, the drivers of economic and environmental impacts are identified by characterising these impacts as a function of product features. The assessment method is applied for a range of functionality and increasing volume to determine the total economic and environmental impact caused in society. Furthermore, ratio analysis is used to determine the economic and environmental impact changes over product generations to identify additional environmental improvements needed to reach target score. The methodology is validated using a comparative case study of different battery technologies for a range of functionality and assumed volume increase in the next generation of batteries to be produced.

Design for Implementation Strategy for Designing a Sustainable Building Using the Geosolar Exergy Storage Technology: Case Study

AbstractIn this paper, a product life cycle design template used to assist in the development of a product knowledge base is introduced. The paper argues that following this model should result in a focus on real-world product behavior beyond the expected product performance by directing the questions from what should happen when the products interact in the universe to what can happen at each design juncture. The template may be simply used as a thought process with a pad and pencil for recording notes for simple or on-the-fly design decisions. The idea of using the templates as a tool could be more formalized for larger designs and knowledge-base development. In this paper, the concept has been demonstrated in building the knowledge base for the geosolar exergy storage technology (GEST) house.

Research on Risk of Automotive Product Life Cycle Design Based on Low Carbon Requirements

Based on low-carbon and product life-cycle design concept, this paper classifies risk factors in different stages of automotive product life cycle design risk evaluation indicator system and analyzes the different risk categories weight adopting the rough set and analytical hierarchy process to determine the key risks of automotive product in different stages of life cycle. Additionally, real instances are cited to verify the conclusions.

Optimizing New Product Concept Selection Decisions Considering Life Cycle Design Attributes

 Abstract—Concept selection is one of the most important phases in product development process. In this process, product life cycle issues need be taken into consideration. However, effective strategies for considering life cycle issues in concept selection have not been fully explored in the existing literature. In this paper, we discuss the importance of considering product life cycle design attributes in concept selection process by investigating the current literature regarding product design and life cycle issues. Then a fuzzy based decision-making and optimization framework is proposed to select the best alternative concept considering life cycle design attributes. Finally a numerical example is presented to better illustration of proposed methodology.

ACLODS: a holistic framework for product life cycle design

Design can substantially affect the life cycle of a product. During design there is a need to consider the whole life cycle rather than a single phase of a product life cycle. Different approaches on life cycle design are reviewed to arrive at requirements for a holistic framework for product life cycle design. These requirements are consolidated using empirical studies conducted in laboratory setting. Based on the findings from literature review and empirical studies, a holistic framework (ACLODS, which is formed by the first letters of the constituting dimensions in the framework) for product life cycle design is proposed. The framework is made of six dimensions; activities, criteria, life cycle phases, outcomes, design stages and structure of the product. Each dimension consists of individual elements pertaining to that dimension. The existing approaches are compared with proposed framework to identify the dimensions which need support to achieve better product life cycle design.

Assessing the normative and the scientific approaches on product health and safety in European Union: how CE labelling constraints drive the design lifecycle

Within the common market, products circulating in the European Union (EU) must have a certain standard level of safety, ensuring health for workers/customers and preserving environment. In this context, CE label is a compulsory requirement, encompassing all EU requirements relative to safety, health and environmental regulations. The objective of the present work is twofold. First, it offers a state of art for CE mark and electromagnetic compliance (EMC) both with respect to: 1) the current scientific approaches for EMC compliance in product development; 2) the current CE regulations with respect to products’ sectors. Secondly, it aims to define and position all the CE labelling activities within product design lifecycle. According to the main EU Directives, the steps of the design lifecycle are newly conceived with respect to the CE compliance, offering a guideline to academics and practitioners for product development and lifecycle management under CE label constraints.

Product information traceability within product lifecycle design and development: the case of CE conformity for consumer devices

This work addresses the problem of information traceability for product compliance during product development and design lifecycle. The industrial focus is on electro-magnetic compatibility (EMC), for which the product have to be compliant to obtain CE label. Actually, producers and dealers of electromagnetic devices must provide the CE conformity of their products, assuring that they operate according to EMC directives. The possibility to track design information during design lifecycle may avoid expensive modifications when the first prototype is released. The purpose of the methodology is to address the relevant information to comply with CE labelling requirements during design lifecycle. The work starts from an existing approach for EMC compliance within product design, developing specific workflows to follow EMC directives for CE labelling throughout all the steps of design lifecycle.

Predicting the total environmental impact of product technologies

Many eco design tools and product assessment methods have been developed to improve the environmental performance of products during design stage. Despite the efforts made at the product level, environmental impact in our society is increasing due to environmental impact associated with increased product volume. This article presents a new methodology for product life cycle design assessment to predict the total impact caused in the society by forecasting the market growth of emerging product technologies. A number of products were used to prove the validity of the proposed model and demonstrate the usefulness of the methodology.

A Compact Modeling Approach to Enhance Collaborative Design of Thermal-Fluid Systems

This paper presents an approach for reducing detailed numerical models of electronic equipment into compact thermal-fluid models. These compact models have been created using network analogies representing mass, momentum and energy transport to reduce computational demand, preserve manufacturer intellectual property, and enable software independent exchange of information between supplier and integrator. A strategic approach is demonstrated for a steady state case from reduction to model integration within a global environment. The compact model is robust to boundary condition variation by developing a boundary condition response matrix for the network layout. A practical example of electronic equipment cooled naturally in air is presented. Solution times were reduced from ∼100 to ∼10−3 CPU hours when using the compact model. Nodal information was predicted with O(10%) accuracy compared to detailed solutions. For parametric design studies, the reduced model can provide 1800 solutions in the same time required to run a single detailed numerical simulation. The information generated by the reduction process also enhances collaborative design by providing the equipment integrator with ordered initial conditions for the equipment in the optimization of the global design. Sensitivity of the compact model to spatial variations on the boundary node faces has also been assessed. Overall, the compact modeling approach developed extends the use of compact models beyond preliminary design and into detailed phases of the product design lifecycle.

Analysis of the impact of technology changes on the economic and environmental influence of product life-cycle design

A holistic approach to assessing product life-cycle design is critical to ensure economic and environmental sustainability of the manufacturing industry. The limitation of current practice in assessing products based on functional unit is that they do not consider the influence of technology that can deliver a range of functionalities altering the economic and environmental impacts. Also, assessments are focused on products but do not consider the total volume supplied to the market. Therefore, this article presents a conceptual framework aiming to provide a better visibility on the economic and environmental impacts both at the product and the market levels. By identifying the upper environmental limit through the chosen reference product generation, the framework identifies the allowable volume or further improvement required to not exceed the environmental impact of previous generation. The proposed framework is validated through two case studies which show that further product improvements are necessary when volume is considered.

Sustainable Embedded Software Life-Cycle Planning

Time to market is a crucial factor in increasing market share in consumer electronics. Furthermore, fierce market competition tends to sharply lower the prices of new consumer electronics products as soon as they're released. Researchers have studied software-intensive embedded system design methods, such as hardware/software co-design, with the goal of reducing development lead time by designing hardware and software simultaneously. However, most studies concentrate on static design methods, in which a design remains unchanged once it's determined. To survive the market competition in consumer electronics requires a dynamic design strategy that takes various market conditions into account for software-intensive embedded systems. This article proposes a sustainable embedded software life-cycle planning (SeSLP) process based on the evolution of embedded software. The SeSLP process provides a dynamic method for both selecting product life-cycle design alternatives and generating a profit-maximizing transition plan that covers the entire product life cycle.