Article ID: | iaor2014492 |
Volume: | 65 |
Issue: | 6 |
Start Page Number: | 917 |
End Page Number: | 934 |
Publication Date: | Jun 2014 |
Journal: | Journal of the Operational Research Society |
Authors: | Wang X, White L, Chan H K |
Keywords: | design |
Due to regulatory pressures from government and non‐government bodies and public awareness of the need to protect the environment, incorporating sustainability concerns in product design has become a key strategic consideration in new product development. However, selecting an appropriate sustainable design solution is a challenging task. In addition to the fact that such a decision involves conflicting objectives, there is also the issue that environmental impact considerations can occur at all stages of a product’s life cycle. Modelling and assessing new product development and operations management from a life cycle assessment (LCA) perspective is becoming increasingly popular and highly important. However, on its own it is somewhat limited. This paper presents a dynamic approach that integrates LCA, fuzzy logic and analytical network process (ANP) to support the selection of environmental sustainable product designs. A numerical example is provided as an operational guideline on how to apply it to LCA of eco‐designs. The results show that the proposed fuzzy ANP approach is a viable methodology and can be used as an effective tool for the evaluation of environmental sustainable product designs.