From an economic perspective, the appeal of a product diminishes over time. However, volatile markets and divergent technological advancements make it challenging to anticipate when and to what extent changes will be necessary. Therefore, it is important to be able to integrate changes after a product's launch. This paper provides an overview of different perspectives on the product lifecycle. In addition, the paper presents an empirical study on implementing changes at an automobile manufacturer.

The spare parts play a vital role in sustaining the operation and longevity of products and systems, but their unavailability can lead to prolonged downtime or expensive replacements. The integration of 3D scanning and Additive Manufacturing (AM) presents a promising path for spare part production. However, to utilise the full potential of AM, sometimes, redesign of the original part is needed. This paper investigates and proposes a new approach that integrates reverse engineering and redesign of an original part based on functional analysis to support the manufacturing of AM spare parts.

In today's competitive market, design firms are under pressure to enhance the speed of their decision-making processes to foster innovative products. Due to specialized nature of contemporary technology, enterprises are directed to consider Design for X factors during the product development process like environmental impact and production efficiency. This transformation leads to an increase in gaining knowledge from different fields. This paper presents a comprehensive framework for efficiently acquiring and applying knowledge, aimed at improving knowledge management and sharing practices.

This study envisions a unified paradigm for design for automated disassembly. The goal is to integrate disassembly insights related to precious material recovery with the design phase for sustainable lifecycle management.Targeting plastic products with embedded electronics, the collaboration between design and robotic engineers aims to program a robot for disassembly for the LEGO® motor (45603) as demonstration, emphasizing a disassembly map as a vital tool. By considering the limitations and strengths of robots, this research pioneers a design for disassembly framework.

This study, conducted with Northvolt, examines battery system recyclability and disassembly dynamics. It introduces indices for material and product recyclability, along with disassembly time assessment. The goal is to create a design tool to streamline the evaluation of battery disassembly, aiding in designing recyclable and serviceable components. These methodologies serve as a blueprint for enhancing battery systems' overall sustainability and circularity design, presenting a base for future product development in alignment with environmental and economic objectives.

This paper introduces a new concept for the automation of the assembly planning process, to enable Design for Assembly (DfA). The approach involves the application of reinforcement learning (RL) to assembly sequence planning (ASP) based on a 3D-CAD model. The ASP algorithm determines assembly sequences through assembly by disassembly. The assembly sequence is then used for the generation of subassemblies by considering the product contact information. The approach aims to support the creation of the manufacturing bill of materials (MBOM) by automating the assembly planning process.

Proficiency in design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) requires training and a lot of trial and error. To support the development of DfAM skills, we redesigned 47 design artifacts from case studies and derived tacit knowledge from successful and unsuccessful redesigns. All knowledge about these artifacts was then collected in a design catalog. In a workshop with a total of 48 graduates and students, 45 participants deemed the design catalog supportive. After evaluating their designs, we concluded that the use of a knowledge-based design catalog can develop and improve individual DfAM skills.

We present a data-driven approach to support decision-making in CAD modelling and to improve design for manufacturing. Based on automated estimated production planning, information is provided on possible design actions and their impact. A study was conducted on perspectives on and visualizations in CAD modelling. Requirements for a user interface of the described support system were identified. The results serve as basis for further research and development on the interaction of engineering designers with data-driven decision-making support in CAD modelling.

To enable the circular economy paradigm, it is important to design easy-to-disassemble products. A new method, known as Design for Circular Disassembly (DfCD), has been proposed to enhance product disassembly performances toward circularity. The method was tested on a small-sized product, showing promising results. However, its applicability to medium-sized products remains unclear. The goal of this article is to assess the effectiveness of DfCD on medium-sized products, particularly washing machines. Results showed DfCD can be extended to medium-sized products, increasing model complexity.

In HMLV manufacturing, assembly mistakes by operators are common due to the ever increasing product variability and complexity. If mistakes can be detected early-on in the design process, product designers can reduce the possibility for mistakes. We present an algorithm to automatically detect and evaluate potential misplacements of parts that need to be fastened. Evaluation starts from a product CAD and returns the risk of misplacement as well as visual feedback on possible misplacements. An implementation with FreeCAD of our algorithm is illustrated on different use cases.

This paper presents a toolkit of heuristics for enabling non-professionals to design for wellbeing, merging design, psychology, and ergonomics. It demystifies design, focusing on happiness and long-term wellbeing, making design principles accessible to all. This toolkit narrows the divide between design theory and practice, advocating design as a tool to enhance life for individuals and society.

Designing for disability is a very specialised area as it requires interdisciplinary expertise, and designing assistive devices for children with communication disorder, is especially a challenge as these users are incapable of providing adequate and coherent feedback. With the adoption of participatory design approach, in collaboration with experts/professionals/educators, as pivotal stakeholders and a proxy for the end-users; a game-based, multi-sensory learning aid has been developed to train children on the concept of sense organs. Several concepts were generated and evaluated through special educator participation and based on a preliminary survey of external special educators as evaluators, the prototype was found to be suitable for the target user to enhance their communication skills. This paper captures a research through design perspective on the design of customisable solutions for beneficiary user groups, who are unable to offer feedback.

While products get more challenging to repair, the right-to-repair movement aims to empower consumers in their ability to “use, modify, and repair” a device “whenever, wherever, and however” they want. Here, the best design practices and remaining challenges of three industrial sectors – namely, consumer electronics, biomedical devices, and clothing industry – are investigated in light of the right-to-repair movement. Based on literature reviews and industrial surveys, a SWOT analysis is provided for each sector, and sustainable implications for product repair readiness are drawn. Concretely, recommendations to design, develop and sell products with right-to-repair in mind are given by sector. Future directions for a more quantitative assessment and implementation of design for product repair are discussed to ensure the augmentation of the circularity and sustainability performance of products.

This paper explores the assessment of Critical and Creative Thinking skills among Product Design and Engineering (PDE) students, whose profession holds significant potential for addressing the complex challenges facing global societies. In today's globalized world, higher education institutions must equip students to solve both local and global problems. The lack of emphasis on assessing critical problem-solving skills has led to growing concerns among employers and organizations that graduates may not be adequately prepared to meet the demands of the 21st-century workplace, including PDE.

This paper uses a case study approach to evaluate the performance of final-year PDE students, specifically their Critical and Creative Thinking abilities. The study assesses two groups, Group A and Group B, which produce solutions focused on the marketplace and design sustainable solutions, respectively. The study concludes that solving wicked problems that require sustainable solutions demands a higher level of these skills. The study's findings are consistent with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's 2022 report, which also highlighted low levels of CriT and CreT in students at the same level studied for this paper.

Virtual reality (VR) has been widely used in engineering design in different ways. It has the potential to enhance some design aspects, such as visualization and interaction, but might be incapable of solving the others. There are no consensus or general guidelines on how VR can facilitate design processes. This paper aims to understand how VR is currently used in engineering design at an early stage, so that researchers and practitioners can better know when and how to use VR for efficient design activities. Specifically, this paper reviews the research questions and applications addressed by using VR technology. The study helps identify the design questions currently studied, and gaps to be filled in order to use VR effectively for optimal design outcomes. This review also provides guidelines about when and how to use VR in design research and practices.

Design for disassembly (DfD) approaches are crucial in supporting the industrial circular economy transition. In literature, a great amount of DfD methodologies is available, however, it is still not clear how they can be used to improve product circularity. To address this gap, our work proposed a systematic literature review of DfD methodologies applied in the field of product design with the aim to provide an overview of the topic in the last decade (i.e., from 2012 to 2022) in terms of methods applicability (i.e., design phase), required parameters and integration capability with circularity assessment. As a result, the paper shows that DfD methods are mainly used in the later design phase to improve product sustainability performances, but a method that simultaneously considers DfD and CE is currently missing. Based on the obtained results, we outlined the requirements that a new DfX method would need to consider both DfD and CE simultaneously. Finally, we proposed a modified version of the butterfly diagram in which DfD parameters are linked to CE indicators to help visualize the connection between the two areas.

To help industries in their sustainable and circular transition from internal combustion engine production to electric motor production, the deployment of (i) a sound environmental impact assessment methodology, such as life cycle analysis, coupled with (ii) Design for Re-X tools, such as circularity indicators, is instrumental. To demonstrate the industrial relevance and complementary of both approaches, two consecutive workshops are conducted with a major original equipment manufacturer of recreational boats and their associated engines. On this basis, two circularity indicator-based tools were used to quantify and enhance (i) the circularity potential of the electric outboard as a whole, and (ii) the circularity performance of the two most impactful components, based on the LCA results: the electric motor unit and the lithium-ion battery pack. In all, the practice sessions supported the generation of strategic and operational ideas to improve the circularity of the electric outboard. As the industrial participants found both frameworks easy to use and efficient, all the details and resources used to conduct, replicate, or adapt such workshops in other industrial contexts are shared.

With advancing digitalization, new technologies with more and more digital components make it necessary to integrate new components into current and future products. Sensors and actuators, such as motors, emit electromagnetic and thermal fields that can greatly affect product performance. Recent work has considered fields at the functional level using functional structures and at the system level using DSM. In this paper, the effects of fields on product architecture are investigated at the component level. Using an appropriate visualization, the impact of fields on the product structure is considered. Architectural guidelines are then used to develop suitable product structures. The methodological approach is then applied to a product family of vacuum cleaner robots. The overlaid field information helps to gain deeper insights into the product architecture. The approach is useful for representing alternative structures. The new mapping of functional and structural relationships by moving module boundaries against fields can help promote architectural innovation.

For some years now, a part of the population in Europe has been willing to moderate its consumption and to enter into a sustainable waste reduction perspective. Repair is an important lever in the sustainability of products. It requires appropriate approaches depending on the actors involved, whether they are public, private or at the consumer level. Repair cafés are thus born of local citizen initiatives to act on the life cycle of everyday consumer products. We conducted a qualitative study based on a series of semi-structured interviews with the actors of repair cafés in the Grenoble area (France) and carried out an analysis of qualitative data. This analysis, according to three pre-defined fields, technology-competencies-motivations, reveals the perception of the actors on the current obstacles and opportunities for the development of the amateur repair practice. The results obtained support studies already carried out on the subject and show that design is still failing to match amateur reparation requirements. Besides, the social role of these third places takes precedence over the ecological and economic dimension of repair.

One life-cycle issue that is often overlooked in the design process is that of intellectual property (IP). Yet the IP associated with a product is a valuable asset of the company, sometime comparable to the materials produced or the manufacturing infrastructure. In particular, this paper addresses the IP of patents, the opportunity for patent infringement, and ways to reduce the risk of getting into this situation. One poorly managed patent infringement case could cost the company millions of dollars, wiping out years of profit from production of that product. Patent infringement is a complex topic that combines design and law with many uncertainties. Designing products that do not infringe the patent rights of others is a goal that cannot be done with certainty. A primary reason is due to the uncertainty of understanding what is protected in a patent and the uncertainty of the patent infringement process. The purpose of this paper is to educate the designer on what constitutes patent infringement and explain some ways to reduce the risk of infringing the patent rights of others.