Factors that influence product life cycle management to develop greener products in the mechanical industry

Abstract

Our aim was to discover the most important factors that influence the development of greener products in the mechanical industry, emphasising green design in product creation based on current environmental issues and considering product development as one important aspect of product life cycle management. This model is important to the mechanical industry because this sector relies heavily on raw materials, and recycling products is one way to improve environmental conditions. We used exploratory factor analyses to assess new product development, communication in change management, concurrent engineering, green products design worries and supplier involvement risks perception. The factor analyses initially found 10 constructs, but the 10th was eliminated because it had only one variable, and 5 were eliminated because they yielded Cronbach’s alpha values less than 0.6. To develop this model, we sent questionnaires to 2000 professionals in the Brazilian mechanical industry through LinkedIn discussion groups, mostly to professionals who participated in product development and was received 405 answered questionnaires which 394 was considered valid. The results show the importance of consistently managing product development throughout the entire product life cycle. This includes aspects such as product recycling, green products and using materials that are easy to recycle, from the very beginning of product design.

Keywords:

• product life cycle management
• manufacturing
• product design
• green products

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.