Product Life Cycle(s)

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Product Life Cycle(s)
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Module Objective

• Having read this, you should know the following
• Basic product life-cycle stages
• Different terminology used by different
  organizations and stakeholders
• Be able to draw a product life-cycle diagram

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Our Linear Production System
Materials Extracted from Biosphere
Materials Mined from Lithosphere
Resources are mined, wastes are generated,
products are disposed
a
a
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Cyclical Production System

• Engineering decisions in design and
  manufacturing can have profound implications
  throughout the entire product life cycle, from
  raw materials production, through the use phase
  of the product and into its end of life
  treatment.

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Stages of the Product Life Cycle (Office of
Technology Assessment)
Environmental impacts occur at all stages of a
products life cycle. Design can be employed to
reduce these impacts by changing the amount and
type of materials used in the product, by
creating more efficient manufacturing operations,
by reducing the energy and materials consumed
during use, and by recovery of energy and
materials during waste management. (OTA)
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A Products Life Cycle From Cradle to
Re-Incarnation
The term demanufacture is used to characterize
the process opposite to manufacturing involved in
recycling materials and products.
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Automobile Life-Cycle

• Many modern products like automobiles are
  assembled by OEMs (Original Equipment
  Manufacturers) from components manufactured by
  numerous suppliers, creating a complicated
  network of interactions.

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Examples of undesired releases and consumptions
The above names for life cycle stages are often
used in Defense related industries and products.
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Generic High Level Life-Cycle Activities
For a mechanical product. (Source EPA)
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Some Aspects of an Environmentally Benign Product
The terms material and product recycling are
used in Germany and the German engineering
standard VDI 2243 Designing Technical Products
for Ease of Recycling