Sustainability Assessment in Product Design—Perspectives from Finnish Manufacturing Companies

Sustainability has a major impact on manufacturing companies. However, the perspectives of the multifaceted concept of sustainability and sustainability actions vary. Product development has a crucial impact on the sustainability performance of manufacturing companies and entire manufacturing value chains. However, there is uncertainty on how to support the development of sustainable products. The paper addresses two research questions: How sustainability impacts product design in Finnish manufacturing companies and what methods are used in manufacturing companies to assess sustainability in product design? This paper employs qualitative research design and a case-based research strategy. Data is collected from interviews and company workshops with Finnish manufacturing companies. Product design faces many even contradictory sustainability requirements. Identifying the most significant sustainability topics for a specific product design phase and providing suitable methods to support designers pose significant challenges. Of the sustainability assessment methods utilized by companies, only life cycle assessment is directly applicable for supporting product design. There is a need for more comprehensive coverage of social, circularity and criticality aspects, and life cycle thinking in sustainability assessment. In conclusion, this paper presents an initial framework for positioning manufacturing companies based on the scope and importance of sustainability assessment in product design.