Project team: Elli Verhulst, Karine Van Doorsselaer , Marianne Stranger, Bart Jansen, Hugo Smid
Cooperation between: Higher Institute for Product Development, Dept. Of Design Sciences,
Artesis University College of Antwerp, smidESIGN cvba and with the financial support of the Presti 5 subsidy programme of the Flemish government, OVAM.
Contact: elli.verhulst@artesis.be or karine.vandoorsselaer@artesis.be
Product innovations are known to be an important economical driver. Within the product development process, the front end of innovation is the phase that offers most freedom and openness for new and innovative ideas. Therefore, the incorporation of sustainability in new product development should take place within these early stages, taking in account opportunities for the company, the consumer and the production facilities. This paper describes the results of a demonstration project, supported by Presti 5, a subsidy programme of the Flemish government. The project aimed at the formulation of an applicable and efficient incorporation strategy for sustainability in the early stages of new product development in companies.
Within this project Flemish companies were stimulated in their development of innovative and sustainable products by offering them consultancy in the form of a workshop. In these workshops, knowledge on idea generation, product innovations and the implementation of sustainable design is bundled in multidisciplinary brainstorm sessions.
Literature on workshop methods and techniques for product ideation, sustainable design and knowledge on integration strategies for sustainability in design was collected and analysed. This result was then integrated into an existing empirical incorporation strategy, which lead to the development of a first framework for the workshops. Subsequently, the new workshop approach was applied in practice on each of the ten participating companies. An iterative approach was thereby used that allowed a constant optimisation of the integration strategy. The verification of each improvement followed immediately in the succeeding workshop.
The results of the demonstration project are threefold: firstly, the participating companies are encouraged to incorporate sustainability in their product development. Secondly, a methodology is developed to support companies and other design studios in their approach to organize similar workshops. And thirdly, guidelines are developed that assist consultants and companies when applying this methodology in practice.
Volgende bedrijven namen deel aan het project:
A2O Architecten
Boone nv
De Boer
Greencars
Groencreatie
Mobietec
Reynaers Aluminium
Roscon Baby Matters
Solutia Europe
Toplight
Posters (Nederlandstalig) van het project in pdf formaat: Ronny & Susy
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