Purpose – The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge regarding sustainable product-service systems (SPSS) barriers and solutions for non-assembled products. To answer this purpose, we developed the following research questions: (1) what barriers do providers face when utilizing SPSS in a non-assembled product context and (2) what solutions can be used to overcome these barriers? Method – This study was conducted as an abductive case study within SPSS in the renewable energy industry. We interviewed a total of 20 respondents from 16 different companies operating in China, Cyprus, and Sweden. Each respondent was chosen based on their experience and knowledge within the area. Findings – The findings are summarized in a framework that links the identified barriers with specific solutions. In brief, finding stakeholders for large and long-term investments was identified as a major barrier while educating stakeholders was suggested as a common solution. Theoretical and practical implications – The results disqualify two of the barriers in the existing literature while suggesting that varying market conditions is a new barrier. Furthermore, the study provides new insights to the existing literature and presents a framework that managers can use to matchmake SPSS-barriers with solutions. Limitations and future research – The study is limited to a case study focused on barriers and solutions for SPSS-providers. As a result, future research is suggested to validate the findings in another context and among other stakeholders.

Miljö och hållbarhet är något som kommit att uppmärksammas allt mer sedan startskottet på 70-talet i samband med ökat fokus från regeringshåll och grundande av miljöorganisationer. I takt med konsumenters ökade medvetenhet har kraven höjts på svenska klädföretag och deras arbete med hållbar utveckling och hållbara produkter. Problematiken ligger i att svenska klädföretag utför sitt arbete på olika sätt och därav finns olika tolkningar av hur en hållbar produkt är framställd och vad denna ska innehålla. Det är även svårt för kunder att få ett grepp av en hållbar produkt, då de inte finns någon konkret definition.Den övergripande problemformuleringen i arbetet har berört hur olika svenska klädföretag och miljöorganisationer definierar en hållbar produkt. I uppsatsen presenteras olika definitioner av hållbar utveckling och den lagstiftning som ligger till grund för de produkter som produceras och säljs på den svenska marknaden. Uppsatsen innehåller en undersökning ur kvalitativ karaktär. I undersökningen har fyra svenska klädföretag och två miljöorganisationer intervjuats angående deras syn och arbete inom hållbar utveckling. Vi har ur analysen kommit fram till att företagen arbetar med hållbara produkter på olika sätt, med hänsyn till vilka förutsättningar företaget har. Vidare delar varken företagen eller miljöorganisationer en gemensam definition, utifrån vilket ger oss en slutsats är att det i dagsläget saknas en allmängiltig definition.Environment and sustainability have been very much focused since beginning of 1970´s in connection with increased focus from the governments and the founding of environmental organizations. As a result of the increased consumer awareness the requirements on Swedish clothing companies and their work with sustainability and sustainable products have increase as well. The problem is that the Swedish clothing companies perform their work in different ways and therefore have various interpretations of how a sustainable product is produced and what it should contain, which further on makes it difficult for the consumer to make purchases of these productsOverall has the formulation of the problems affected how Swedish clothing companies and environmental organizations define a sustainable product. The essay presents different interpretations of sustainable development and the regulations that are under laying the products that are produced and sold on the Swedish market. The essay contains a survey that has a qualitative character. In the survey four Swedish clothing companies and two environmental organizations have been interviewed regarding their views and work with sustainable development.We have from the analysis concluded that the companies are working with sustainable products in different ways, much depending on what conditions the company has. Furthermore neither the companies nor the environmental organizations have a common interpretation, from which a conclusion is drawn that today there is no general definition to be found. / Program: Butikschefsutbildningen

Sustainable product design is a challenge that must be met by industrial designers. Over the history of the discipline there are numerous occasions where industrial design has contributed to the pollution and degradation of the environment, and at this time they must take the responsibility of educating and encouraging both consumers and business to move to more sustainable consumption and production cycles. This thesis investigates communication of sustainable product attributes through product semantics. The goal of converging these two fields is to make sustainable products more visible in the marketplace and to educate and capture the interest of consumers. The research investigates various consumer product categories and how consumers react to them, with specific emphasis on the products' sustainable qualities. The end result of the research effort is a set of general guidelines for the sustainable designer to use in their design efforts.

Global warming challenges designers to pay attention to environmental effects of manufacturing when designing new products. This examination project was a personal challenge to uphold ethical responsibility as a designer and consider emotional aspects of design while aiming to create a pleasurable lighting for the home environment. The underpinning idea for the project was to promote the use of recycled materials and an environmentally friendly light source aiming to create a sustainable everyday commonplace product that it is possible to manufacture. High power LED-technology was chosen because of its energy efficiency, flexibility and a particularly long life-cycle. Recycled plastic and fibre cardboard were chosen to be applied as the shades of the lamps. Both these recycled materials can be broken down and recycled again after use. Emotional design aspect was the leading theory in the design process. The intention was to consider different levels of emotional aspects when defining the main characteristics of the lamp to create pleasurable lighting: Among usability and aesthetics the concentration was on the semiotics of the product and its usage context. It was designed with the aim of evoking pleasurable feelings in users who desire to lead an active and urban life-style but who are simultaneously worried about global warming. Both of the lighting designs are for a dining context. They are supposed to create a pleasurable atmosphere around a dining table while separating the party around the table from the rest of the space. Other lights can be dimmed or switched off when it is time to gather around the table to accentuate the illumination and feeling of togetherness. Inspiration for the project came from sustainability, contemporary thoughts and trends embodied into maps. The products turned out to be silent statements of today’s global world; Antarctica refers to glacial retreat while Town symbolises the importance of people’s own origin in this globalised world.

<p>Global warming challenges designers to pay attention to environmental effects of manufacturing when designing new products. This examination project was a personal challenge to uphold ethical responsibility as a designer and consider emotional aspects of design while aiming to create a pleasurable lighting for the home environment.</p><p>The underpinning idea for the project was to promote the use of recycled materials and an environmentally friendly light source aiming to create a sustainable everyday commonplace product that it is possible to manufacture. High power LED-technology was chosen because of its energy efficiency, flexibility and a particularly long life-cycle. Recycled plastic and fibre cardboard were chosen to be applied as the shades of the lamps. Both these recycled materials can be broken down and recycled again after use.</p><p>Emotional design aspect was the leading theory in the design process. The intention was to consider different levels of emotional aspects when defining the main characteristics of the lamp to create pleasurable lighting: Among usability and aesthetics the concentration was on the semiotics of the product and its usage context. It was designed with the aim of evoking pleasurable feelings in users who desire to lead an active and urban life-style but who are simultaneously worried about global warming.</p><p>Both of the lighting designs are for a dining context. They are supposed to create a pleasurable atmosphere around a dining table while separating the party around the table from the rest of the space. Other lights can be dimmed or switched off when it is time to gather around the table to accentuate the illumination and feeling of togetherness.</p><p>Inspiration for the project came from sustainability, contemporary thoughts and trends embodied into maps. The products turned out to be silent statements of today’s global world; Antarctica refers to glacial retreat while Town symbolises the importance of people’s own origin in this globalised world.</p>

O impacto ambiental relacionado à exploração de recursos naturais, às emissões de carbono, mudanças climáticas, pegada ecológica e nível de desenvolvimento humano pode ser considerado um problema decorrente do fluxo linear de produção-consumo. Reconhecer a necessidade de mudança é importante, e investigar formas de viabilizá-la deve ser o objetivo dentro da Engenharia de Produção. Por isto esta pesquisa tem foco no estudo de iniciativas reais de desenvolvimento de produtos ambientalmente amigáveis e de seus resultados frente ao conceito cíclico berço ao berço (Cradle to Cradle - C2C)1, tratado como estratégia e/ou meta no desenvolvimento de produtos e processos produtivos. O conceito berço ao berço postula que produtos e seus componentes devem ser criados para, ao final de seu uso, serem reutilizados com suas propriedades não desgastadas, como nutrientes tecnológicos no chamado metabolismo tecnológico, ou então voltarem à natureza como nutrientes biológicos e não como poluentes, através do metabolismo biológico. Adota-se o conceito berço ao berço como aglutinador de vários outros conceitos discutidos dentro de diversas áreas do conhecimento, como engenharia, desenho industrial e arquitetura. O trabalho aplicado foi realizado por meio da análise da cadeia calçadista, visando estudar as iniciativas ambientais atuais. Este setor tem características similares a vários outros, tais como alcance global, considerável impacto ambiental e economico, centralização da manufatura e complexa cadeia produtiva e de distribuição. São apresentados estudos de casos em empresas no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos, dois países em que as empresas têm modelos de negócios distintos em relação ao desenvolvimento e produção do calçado. As iniciativas ambientais estudadas mostram que há ênfase principalmente no projeto do produto, para enfrentar os problemas ambientais mais proeminentes da insdústria calçadista, os quais se enquadram dentro das cinco principais áreas envolvidas no conceito e avaliadas na certificação berço ao berço, como toxicidade de materiais e processos produtivos, fim de ciclo de vida, consumo de água e energia e responsabilidade social. As metas e os resultados alcançados variam de acordo com as particularidades associadas ao modelo de negócio, público alvo e nicho de mercado de cada empresa. / Environmental issues related to the exploitation of natural resources, carbon emissions, climate change, ecological footprint and human development can be considered problems originated by the current linear production-consumption structure. Recognizing the need for change is essential, and investigating ways to make such transformations possible is a key objective in Industrial Engineering. The present work focuses on the study of relevant sustainable product development initiatives and of their results from a perspective based on the cyclic cradle to cradle (C2C) concept, used as a strategy and/or goal in product development and production processes. The cradle to cradle concept postulates that products and their components must be created so that, at the end of the service life, they can be reused without loss of quality as technological nutrients, in a process referred to as technological metabolism, or instead returned to the environment as biological nutrients and not as pollutants, in a process known as biological metabolism. The cradle to cradle concept is adopted as an umbrella under which a number of other related concepts discussed in several fields, such as engineering, industrial design and architecture, can be found. The applied work has been conducted in the footwear industry, in order to study current environmental initiatives. This industry has characteristics that are similar to many other sectors (e.g., global reach, large economic and environmental impact, centralized manufacturing, complex supply chain and distribution networks), and a few companies have developed pioneering efforts to transform their production processes, focusing mainly on product design and starting with the evaluation of the more prominent problems facing their products, each dealing with the particularities associated with individual business models, target audience and market share. Case studies have been performed on footwear companies located both in Brazil and in the United States, two countries with markedly different business models regarding the development and production of this kind of product. Most initiatives do involve the main areas highlighted in the cradle to cradle approach – namely materials use and reutilization, water use, energy consumption and social responsibility – even though companies may follow different strategies to tackle the problems, with varying levels of implementation and results obtained.

Det familjeägda   friluftsvarumärket Trangia är inne i en förändringsfas. Deras nya målsättning   är att fördubbla företagets omsättning på 5 år med bibehållen lönsamhet för   att säkra företagets fortsatta tillväxt. Målstyr-ningen riktas mot att växa   ytterligare på befintliga marknader, utveckla fler produkter och även bredda   sortimentet med nya produkter. Målet med examensarbetet har   varit att ta fram ett produktkoncept på ett friluftsbestick åt Trangia. Ett   koncept som om det tas vidare ska kunna bidra till ett hållbart växande för   företaget gällande sociala, ekologiska och ekonomiska aspekter. Detta har   uppfyllts genom framtagandet av produktkoncept Tora 1.0. Tora 1.0 är ett   friluftsbestick i form av en spork där gaffel och sked i vardera änden av   besticket är fullstora ätredskap. Tora 1.0 har utformats till att vara ett   ergonomiskt och hållfast friluftsbe-stick. Produktens formspråk präglas av   dess funktion och är i en stilren, enkel och tidlös design. Detta har   uppnåtts genom omfattande formana-lyser av besticket. Handgrepp och   kontaktpunkter mellan hand och be-stick har studerats. Genom bockning och val   av måttsättning har förstyv-ande geometrier arbetats fram. Hållfastheten och   ergonomin har testats och omarbetats genom många prototyptester.   Idégenereringen har föru-tom genom kreativa och systematiska metoder främst   framskridit genom dessa fysiska prototyper i form av lermodeller,   3D-utskrifter och CAD-modeller. Valen som har gjorts i projektet har tagits   fram genom en be-slutsmatris och diskussion med Trangia om måluppfyllelsegrad   av upp-rättad kravspecifikation. Projektet har värnat om   Trangias värden ”trygghet”, ”långsiktighet” och ”kvalitet”. Det har gjorts   genom att ställa höga krav på att tillverkningen ska kunna ske i Trangias   produktion i Trångsviken, Jämtland. Innan Tora 1.0 kan sättas i produktion behöver   användartester göras, konstruktionen säkerhetsställas och en omfattande   kostnadskalkyl beräknas. / <p>Betyg: 180616</p>

O impacto ambiental relacionado à exploração de recursos naturais, às emissões de carbono, mudanças climáticas, pegada ecológica e nível de desenvolvimento humano pode ser considerado um problema decorrente do fluxo linear de produção-consumo. Reconhecer a necessidade de mudança é importante, e investigar formas de viabilizá-la deve ser o objetivo dentro da Engenharia de Produção. Por isto esta pesquisa tem foco no estudo de iniciativas reais de desenvolvimento de produtos ambientalmente amigáveis e de seus resultados frente ao conceito cíclico berço ao berço (Cradle to Cradle - C2C)1, tratado como estratégia e/ou meta no desenvolvimento de produtos e processos produtivos. O conceito berço ao berço postula que produtos e seus componentes devem ser criados para, ao final de seu uso, serem reutilizados com suas propriedades não desgastadas, como nutrientes tecnológicos no chamado metabolismo tecnológico, ou então voltarem à natureza como nutrientes biológicos e não como poluentes, através do metabolismo biológico. Adota-se o conceito berço ao berço como aglutinador de vários outros conceitos discutidos dentro de diversas áreas do conhecimento, como engenharia, desenho industrial e arquitetura. O trabalho aplicado foi realizado por meio da análise da cadeia calçadista, visando estudar as iniciativas ambientais atuais. Este setor tem características similares a vários outros, tais como alcance global, considerável impacto ambiental e economico, centralização da manufatura e complexa cadeia produtiva e de distribuição. São apresentados estudos de casos em empresas no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos, dois países em que as empresas têm modelos de negócios distintos em relação ao desenvolvimento e produção do calçado. As iniciativas ambientais estudadas mostram que há ênfase principalmente no projeto do produto, para enfrentar os problemas ambientais mais proeminentes da insdústria calçadista, os quais se enquadram dentro das cinco principais áreas envolvidas no conceito e avaliadas na certificação berço ao berço, como toxicidade de materiais e processos produtivos, fim de ciclo de vida, consumo de água e energia e responsabilidade social. As metas e os resultados alcançados variam de acordo com as particularidades associadas ao modelo de negócio, público alvo e nicho de mercado de cada empresa. / Environmental issues related to the exploitation of natural resources, carbon emissions, climate change, ecological footprint and human development can be considered problems originated by the current linear production-consumption structure. Recognizing the need for change is essential, and investigating ways to make such transformations possible is a key objective in Industrial Engineering. The present work focuses on the study of relevant sustainable product development initiatives and of their results from a perspective based on the cyclic cradle to cradle (C2C) concept, used as a strategy and/or goal in product development and production processes. The cradle to cradle concept postulates that products and their components must be created so that, at the end of the service life, they can be reused without loss of quality as technological nutrients, in a process referred to as technological metabolism, or instead returned to the environment as biological nutrients and not as pollutants, in a process known as biological metabolism. The cradle to cradle concept is adopted as an umbrella under which a number of other related concepts discussed in several fields, such as engineering, industrial design and architecture, can be found. The applied work has been conducted in the footwear industry, in order to study current environmental initiatives. This industry has characteristics that are similar to many other sectors (e.g., global reach, large economic and environmental impact, centralized manufacturing, complex supply chain and distribution networks), and a few companies have developed pioneering efforts to transform their production processes, focusing mainly on product design and starting with the evaluation of the more prominent problems facing their products, each dealing with the particularities associated with individual business models, target audience and market share. Case studies have been performed on footwear companies located both in Brazil and in the United States, two countries with markedly different business models regarding the development and production of this kind of product. Most initiatives do involve the main areas highlighted in the cradle to cradle approach – namely materials use and reutilization, water use, energy consumption and social responsibility – even though companies may follow different strategies to tackle the problems, with varying levels of implementation and results obtained.

O impacto ambiental relacionado à exploração de recursos naturais, às emissões de carbono, mudanças climáticas, pegada ecológica e nível de desenvolvimento humano pode ser considerado um problema decorrente do fluxo linear de produção-consumo. Reconhecer a necessidade de mudança é importante, e investigar formas de viabilizá-la deve ser o objetivo dentro da Engenharia de Produção. Por isto esta pesquisa tem foco no estudo de iniciativas reais de desenvolvimento de produtos ambientalmente amigáveis e de seus resultados frente ao conceito cíclico berço ao berço (Cradle to Cradle - C2C)1, tratado como estratégia e/ou meta no desenvolvimento de produtos e processos produtivos. O conceito berço ao berço postula que produtos e seus componentes devem ser criados para, ao final de seu uso, serem reutilizados com suas propriedades não desgastadas, como nutrientes tecnológicos no chamado metabolismo tecnológico, ou então voltarem à natureza como nutrientes biológicos e não como poluentes, através do metabolismo biológico. Adota-se o conceito berço ao berço como aglutinador de vários outros conceitos discutidos dentro de diversas áreas do conhecimento, como engenharia, desenho industrial e arquitetura. O trabalho aplicado foi realizado por meio da análise da cadeia calçadista, visando estudar as iniciativas ambientais atuais. Este setor tem características similares a vários outros, tais como alcance global, considerável impacto ambiental e economico, centralização da manufatura e complexa cadeia produtiva e de distribuição. São apresentados estudos de casos em empresas no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos, dois países em que as empresas têm modelos de negócios distintos em relação ao desenvolvimento e produção do calçado. As iniciativas ambientais estudadas mostram que há ênfase principalmente no projeto do produto, para enfrentar os problemas ambientais mais proeminentes da insdústria calçadista, os quais se enquadram dentro das cinco principais áreas envolvidas no conceito e avaliadas na certificação berço ao berço, como toxicidade de materiais e processos produtivos, fim de ciclo de vida, consumo de água e energia e responsabilidade social. As metas e os resultados alcançados variam de acordo com as particularidades associadas ao modelo de negócio, público alvo e nicho de mercado de cada empresa. / Environmental issues related to the exploitation of natural resources, carbon emissions, climate change, ecological footprint and human development can be considered problems originated by the current linear production-consumption structure. Recognizing the need for change is essential, and investigating ways to make such transformations possible is a key objective in Industrial Engineering. The present work focuses on the study of relevant sustainable product development initiatives and of their results from a perspective based on the cyclic cradle to cradle (C2C) concept, used as a strategy and/or goal in product development and production processes. The cradle to cradle concept postulates that products and their components must be created so that, at the end of the service life, they can be reused without loss of quality as technological nutrients, in a process referred to as technological metabolism, or instead returned to the environment as biological nutrients and not as pollutants, in a process known as biological metabolism. The cradle to cradle concept is adopted as an umbrella under which a number of other related concepts discussed in several fields, such as engineering, industrial design and architecture, can be found. The applied work has been conducted in the footwear industry, in order to study current environmental initiatives. This industry has characteristics that are similar to many other sectors (e.g., global reach, large economic and environmental impact, centralized manufacturing, complex supply chain and distribution networks), and a few companies have developed pioneering efforts to transform their production processes, focusing mainly on product design and starting with the evaluation of the more prominent problems facing their products, each dealing with the particularities associated with individual business models, target audience and market share. Case studies have been performed on footwear companies located both in Brazil and in the United States, two countries with markedly different business models regarding the development and production of this kind of product. Most initiatives do involve the main areas highlighted in the cradle to cradle approach – namely materials use and reutilization, water use, energy consumption and social responsibility – even though companies may follow different strategies to tackle the problems, with varying levels of implementation and results obtained.

The Templates for Sustainable Product Development (TSPD) is a tool for sustainability practitioners to assist product development teams with bringing sustainability considerations to the early phases of product development in a strategic, quick and resource-efficient way. This thesis project builds on the earlier TSPD work by investigating the ways in which sustainability practitioners could apply the TSPD in order to improve the outcomes. The factors influencing the quality of the outcomes of a TSPD application were investigated. Then, support was developed for use by sustainability practitioners to address these factors. This support was field tested and refined in four iterations. It was discovered that achieving high quality outcomes from a TSPD application is dependent on having both high quality strategic sustainable product development content and high quality facilitation of the people considering this content. The quality of both content and facilitation influences the participants’ level of engagement, which influences the quality of the outcomes of the TSPD application. The support was developed such that it assists sustainability practitioners in addressing both content and facilitation through a participatory approach. There is some evidence that use of the developed support contributed to both high level of participants’ engagement and high quality outcomes of the TSPD applications. / <p>Blog at http://sustainableproductdevelopment.blogspot.se/</p>