Environmental sustainability information in the manufacturing industry is not easily shared between stages in the product lifecycle. In particular, reliable manufacturing-related information for assessing the sustainability of a product is often unavailable at the design stage. Instead, designers rely on aggregated, often outdated information or make decisions by analogy (e.g., a similar manufacturing process for a similar product yielded X and Y results). However, smart manufacturing and the Internet of Things have potential to bridge the gap between design and manufacturing through data and knowledge sharing. This paper analyzes environmental sustainability assessment methods to enable more accurate decisions earlier in design. The techniques and methods are categorized based on the stage they apply to in the product lifecycle, as described by the Systems Integration of Manufacturing Applications (SIMA) reference architecture. Furthermore, opportunities for aligning standard data representation to promote sustainability assessment during design are identified.

Designing aircraft engines is a complex process in which requirements from multiple disciplines need to be considered. Decisions about product geometry and tolerances to achieve optimized aerodynamics, product life and weight can affect the manufacturing process. Therefore, providing information to designers about process capabilities is necessary to support design exploration and analysis. In this paper, the authors propose the Welding Capability Assessment Method (WCAM) as a tool to support the systematic identification and assessment of design issues related to product geometry critical to the welding process. Within this method, a list of potential failure modes during welding is connected to specific design parameters. Once the critical design parameters have been identified, quantitative methods are proposed to calculate tolerances to reduce the likelihood of welding failures. The application of this method is demonstrated through an industrial case study where a combination of interviews and welding simulations is used to study the welding capability of a number of product geometries. This method represents an advancement from traditional qualitative guidelines and expert judgments about welding difficulties towards a more quantitative approach, supporting virtual design.

Sustainable design methods and tools abound, but their implementation in practice remains marginal. This article brings together results from previous literature reviews and analyses of sustainable design methods and tools, as well as input from design researchers and professional practitioners to identify the needs and gaps in the area. It results in a shared vision of how sustainable design methods and tools can be more tightly integrated into mainstream product design and development, as well as the current state of practice and research in relation to four central questions: What are the needs and values of industry regarding sustainable design? What improvements in sustainable design methods and tools would most drive industry forward? How should researchers move forward with developing more useful sustainable design methods and tools? How can sustainable design be more effectively integrated into industry? A roadmap for the international sustainable design research community is proposed with descriptions of short-, medium-, and long-term tasks for addressing each question. The purpose is to support collective progress and discussions on method and tool development and adoption, and to enable more tangible success in mainstreaming sustainable design practices in industry.

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