Life cycle management and assessment: Approaches and visions towards sustainable manufacturing

TLDR

Manufacturers must consider product life cycles, as efficiency gains demand extended responsibility, new services, regulatory changes, and shifting consumer values, and life cycle management seeks to optimize design, manufacturing, and life cycle activities. The study aims to protect resources and maximize effectiveness through life cycle assessment, product data management, technical support, and life cycle costing. The authors review existing LCM approaches and discuss their prospects and further development.

Abstract

Thinking in terms of product life cycles is one of the challenges facing manufacturers today: Efforts to increase efficiency throughout the life cycle do not only mean extended responsibility of the parties concerned. Economically successful business areas can also be explored. Whether new service concepts are required, new regulations have been passed or consumer values are changing, the differences between business areas are disappearing. Life cycle management (LCM) considers the product life cycle as a whole and optimizes the interaction of product design, manufacturing and life cycle activities. The goal of this approach is to protect resources and maximize effectiveness by means of life cycle assessment, product data management, technical support and, last but not least, life cycle costing. This paper shows the existing approaches of LCM and discusses their prospects and further development.