Societal and economic demands for the sustainability of products are steadily increasing. At the same time, companies feel the pressure to minimize their own costs or maximize the product’s value for the customer. This creates a significant challenge in product development to optimize these interconnected but often opposing objectives to achieve the best result from a company’s perspective. Our Design-to-Profitable Sustainability approach aims to address these complex interrelations between sustainability, costs, and product value.
Our method extends the proven Design-to-Cost approach. We not only optimize material, manufacturing costs, and total cost of ownership but also sustainability factors such as CO2-emissions. Additionally, we consider soft factors like the company’s public image or the customer’s benefit from a more sustainable product.
To evaluate all optimization ideas, the objective dimensions are normalized onto a monetary impact. Then, all optimization ideas are structured in a morphological box, and the possible solutions that meet the constraints are identified. These solutions are subsequently evaluated in terms of total costs, allowing for an objective assessment of the competing effects concerning an overall optimum. As a result, optimal design decisions can be taken.
Project results
- Transparency concerning product costs, including the costs of sustainability aspects
- Tailored evaluation model for assessing optimization ideas
- Achievement of the overall optimum through fact-based design decisions
