Browsing by Author "Radlovic, Philippe"

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    Design for the environment in UK product design consultancies and in-house design teams: an explorative case study on current practices and opinions.
    (2013) Radlovic, Philippe; Lemon, Mark; Ford, Peter B.
    This paper considers the perceptions of design consultancies and in house design teams about design for environment (DfE) and its implementation. The research reported investigates the current design for the environment practices, if any, that are evident within twenty British product development teams. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken where possible with designers, engineers, production managers and managing directors about their current projects in order to generate a state of the art picture about the adoption of DfE in product development. The paper presents an overview of the preliminary analysis of these case studies and proceeds to highlight the difficulties that design for the environment faces within product development teams; these include low reputation, recognition and adoption of DfE, as well as a lack of cohesive direction across the process. The need for further research that focuses on how these difficulties could be overcome in different parts of product development and the wider context of operations management is highlighted.
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    Design, sustainability and the supply chain.
    (2012) Ford, Peter B.; Radlovic, Philippe
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    Design, sustainability and the supply chain: design underpinning sustainability.
    (Common Ground Publishing., 2012) Ford, Peter B.; Radlovic, Philippe
    From the point of view of sustainability, new product development has come to consider not just the resource utilisation, waste and recycling issue immediately around the product, but also dimensions of the supply chain antecedent to product use. This paper reviews a two-year research study, funded by the Government of the United Kingdom, into the role and influence of design, and of supply chain integration, in five very different NPD projects. These projects embraced three large and two small-to-medium sized enterprises within the UK’s East Midlands: enterprises included a large energy utility company, a supplier of construction products and a large adhesives manufacturer. In the majority of the five, the project proved to be the first time that the enterprise had undertaken a design exercise for which sustainability was a primary criterion. Each project therefore focussed on maximising sustainability and resource efficiency, and on the relationship of design to five distinct models of supply chain. These focuses did not mean, however, compromising other major design criteria–most typically, the criteria of cost effectiveness and user acceptance. By considering real-life, commercial projects, the paper tracks the intimate relationship between research methodologies, design for the environment, the appropriate timing and use of ‘eco’ tools, and supply chain management. It discusses how initial design conceptions of products had a major impact on final outcomes, with regard both to resource efficiency and, perhaps more importantly, to the effective coordination of a ‘sympathetic’ supply chain.
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    Eco Design Implementation Across the British Product Design Industry
    (De Montfort University, 2014-11) Radlovic, Philippe
    Our understanding of the effects that human production and consumption has on our planet and its resources has challenged us to think differently when developing new products. In response to these problems, Eco Design has been developed over the last few decades. Eco Design is a process integrated into product and engineering design that aims to lower the environmental impact of products across their life cycle, whilst not hindering design brief criteria such as function, price, performance, and quality. Research in Eco Design has focused mainly on the development of new tools and ways to implement Eco Design in industry. However, there is still little empirical knowledge today regarding the state of Eco Design implementation and practices in industry; in addition to the prerequisite needs and factors to successfully implement Eco Design. The aim of this research has been to review the level and type of Eco Design in the British Product Design industry and to identify recurrent themes helping or hindering implementation. This was achieved through the use of a pilot study followed by a two stage case study design, involving 20 cases and 57 participants across 65 interviews. The investigation and its analysis produced 12 confirmed themes, each generating their own drivers and barriers to Eco Design implementation. This research into Eco Design implementation provides a unique contribution and a timely insight into the Eco Design practices of the British Product Design industry today. The research also provides the novel contribution of identifying the drivers and barriers to implementing and sustaining Eco Design, as well as an understanding of the strengths and shortfalls of the current Eco Design processes and tools. These contributions to knowledge in the field of Eco Design will help future research formulate better solutions to implement Eco Design processes in the Product Design industry.