Evaluation Methodology for Post-manufacturing Issues in Life-cycle Design

Abstract

This paper addresses post-manufacturing issues in life-cycle engineenng design. Whereas design for manufacture has drawn significant industry interest, issues such a serviceability and recyclability have not attracted as much attention This paper describes a systematic methodology to enhance the serviceability and recyclability of products in its early stages of development The challenge in serviceability and recycling is to deal with the uncertainty in service needs and incorporate a recycling strategy that is acceptable when the product life is over. The core idea is to analyze the estimated life-cycle costs of the product, to relate the cost drivers to the attributes of the candidate designs, and to provide suggestions for improvement The paper proposes a representation scheme that the designer can use to describe layout designs. Service mode analysis (SMA) takes the information contained in this representation and analyzes the life-cycle service cost. Ongoing research adapts this method to recyclability Further, design compatibility analysis (DCA) matches cost analysis with general design guidelines and suggests improvements. The paper uses specific examples to illustrate these techniques.