“Could a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil produce a tornado in Texas?”
So Edward Lorenz asked himself in 1972, to emphasize how even a small event, apparently insignificant, can generate enormously greater consequences.
This is exactly the guiding principle of Sustainable Design: every minimum measure that allows to reduce the environmental impact of an object and its production process, can lead to almost unimaginable benefits for the Planet, once applied on an industrial scale.
For this reason, we believe that it is necessary to “revolutionize” the way of designing, above all to change (or rather “overturn”) the starting point:
To create sustainable products and production process it is necessary to design “starting from the end”
Taking into consideration the final phase of the life cycle of a product starting from its “pencil” design means analysing every single aspect based on the impact it will have before, during and after its use cycle.
This phase takes on an even more decisive role,
because if managed correctly can lead to several advantages from different points of view
Undoubtedly, significant ENVIRONMENTAL ADVANTAGES can be obtained:
- Less material, intended both as “less quantity” to reduce the consumption of raw materials, and as “less variety” to facilitate disposal at the end of its life;
- Separability: all components must be easily identifiable during dismantling, in order to be treated separately;
- Energy saving: this is achieved by making the product quick and easy to make, minimizing components and processing, simplifying couplings and assembly, and reducing/facilitating handling;
- Packaging: as for raw materials, packaging must also be reduced in quantity and variety and must be easily separable /reusable;
- Logistics: the overall dimensions and the geometry of the packaging (palletization, stackability) play a decisive role in minimizing the impact of transport;
- Reusability: every single component of your new product should be able to be reused, recycled, or introduced back into the production cycle.
All this brings ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES:
- Using less material involves a reduction in the weight of the single object keeping the same structural solidity: in addition to the lower procurement cost, some production phases (such as moulding) are faster, therefore less expensive;
- Streamlining the process increases productivity and decreases energy costs;
- Optimizing internal and external logistics reduces handling times and positively affects occupancy and transport costs (both global and unitary).
Finally, designing in a sustainable generates COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES on the market:
- The reduction of industrial costs makes it possible to better face price competition;
- The lean production process decreases the Time to Market;
- The optimization of logistics increases competitiveness on delivery times;
- Adequate communication of the activities carried out to improve sustainability generates an exceptional image return, increasing the value for the customer: everybody thinks that it’s worth to spend a little more to purchase an eco-sustainable product;
- Some precautions, such as the use of reusable parts that are also “beautiful”, become a vehicle to increase brand awareness.
Producing starting from the end increases the profitability of the company
and consolidates the success of your products on the market,
becoming one of the most profitable investments imaginable!
Some images included in this article are the result of graphic processing on elements downloaded from Freepik
Do you like to learn more, and get a personalized consultancy?
