In DFE, the environmental impact of products, services and processes is explicitly evaluated and minimized during their initial design. Environmental impact can occur during any stage in the product or service life-cycle, including raw material extraction, fabrication, delivery, use and post-use (i.e., reuse, recycle or disposal). Historically, firms have optimized product or service design around specific customer needs, such as cost or quality, without explicitly considering the environmental degradation that might result during the entire “cradle to grave” life-cycle. Ideally, a firm can use the principles of DFE in anticipation of new environmental demands of customers and regulators and thus proactively reduce any negative impacts.
One input to DFE is Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA). This increasingly sophisticated tool assists in accounting for the environmental impact or burden of a product or service across all life stages. At the simplest level, LCA catalogs all the materials and...
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© 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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(2000). DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (DFE) . In: Swamidass, P.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Production and Manufacturing Management. Springer, Boston, MA . https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-0612-8_235
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-0612-8_235
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