A Modular Design Approach to Improve the Life Cycle Performance Derived From Optimized Closed-Loop Supply Chain

Abstract

Growing concerns for the environment should make every designer more carefully consider product design for the life cycle (DFLC). Although modularity is recognized for its potential to incorporate life cycle considerations into product architecture design, most modular design methods in the literature concentrate on generating highly-modular product architectures but lack the capability for assessing life cycle consequences of these modules in a supply chain. This paper proposes a methodology to find a robust modular architecture with minimal life cycle costs and environmental impacts at the design configuration stage. The objective of the proposed methodology is not to maximize modularity, but to adopt life cycle costing and life cycle assessment of a product in a closed-loop supply chain to identify the most beneficial modular structure. Further, capacity influence of the existing processing facilities in the supply chain on life cycle costs and environmental impacts is evaluated and discussed in this paper.

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