Design for environment software announced by Boothroyd-Dewhurst and TNO Institute of Industrial Technology.

WAKEFIELD, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 19, 1996--

U.S. and European effort produces first software to guide manufacturers toward more ecologically sound product designs and

profitable end-of-life recovery

Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc. (BDI), developers of the internationally recognized Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) software, and TNO Institute of Industrial Technology, Delft, Netherlands, announce the release of Design for Environment (DFE), version 1.0.

The joint project between BDI and TNO has resulted in the first commercially available analysis software to address both the economics and ecology of product recycling. The DFE (1.0) software is a Windows application designed to serve product engineers and concurrent engineering teams at the earliest stages of designing durable goods, such as automobiles, computers and all other industrial, military and consumer products.

The DFE software is expected to help corporations that are concerned with finding realistic trade-offs between the benefits and costs of environmentally friendly designs. Engineering teams working alongside management can now address environmental design issues and costs within the context of total quality management programs that evaluate performance, safety, reliability, customer satisfaction and other product requirements. Such an approach satisfies ISO 14000 requirements expected to impact international trade beginning in 1997.

"DFE is the first substantial software program to build on the evolving science of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)," said Dr. Winston Knight, vice president at Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc. "The approach merges the interests of US and European business and ecological groups. It also acts as a bridge between the public's desire for environmentally responsible products and understanding the very real costs and limits of engineering those products."

The practice of environmental analysis in current design development is centered on following broad material and manufacturing guidelines. DFE software, however, analyzes and optimizes the disassembly sequence of products for end-of-life recovery. The resulting data reveals the associated cost benefits for various options, such as material recycling, part re-manufacture or reuse, and disposal through land filling or incineration. Designers can also pinpoint in the disassembly sequence where major economic and ecological benefits end and where further disassembly is of no benefit either financially or environmentally. By understanding the inherent value of the materials and parts in a product, manufacturers are better able to plan for potential product "take back" regulations.

Concurrent with disassembly cost analysis is environmental impact assessment. The environmental impact of products is determined using a value assessment metric developed in Europe at TNO. The metric is called MET points (Materials, Energy, Toxicity). These MET points are applied to the initial manufacturing stage an the later disposal, reuse or recycling of a product.

Material assessment considers the product's impact on the exhaustion of earth's resources. The Energy portion examines energy-related effects, like the greenhouse effect, acidification, eutrophication and smog. The Toxicity factor measures toxic effects in terms of humans and ecotoxicity. MET units can be compared as a numerical design rating, or used to highlight desired environmental goals, such as the reduction of CO2. Such a rating system is consistent with other engineering benchmarking exercise familiar to product designers.

As questions in the disassembly and environmental sections of the software are answered, step-by-step change and improvement options are presented along with the produc structure, costs and eco-effects. A graph display concisely summarizes the entire product analysis and allows tracking of disassembly costs with environmental impacts. Alternative designs or disassembly sequences can be compared on a single graph, allowing "what if" assessments.

"These DFE principles have been extensively reviewed by industry," said Dr. Knight. "Judging from the results of pilot projects on appliances, computers and automotive instrument panels, we are confident about the contribution this software can make to the bottom line and the environment. We also believe that the DFE software will help accelerate progress in the related areas of material selection, automated disassembly technology, and the recycling infrastructure that is needed to make environmental design work."

TNO Institute of Industrial Technology is a full-service product development organization specializing in eco-design. Their multiple business divisions supply expertise in product development, production technology, product manufacturing, materials technology and product testing. TNO can be reached at Oostsingel 209, P.O. Box 5073, 2600 GB Delft, Netherlands. Contact Sytze Kalisvaart, Tel. [phone]. E-mail: [e-mail]

Developer of DFMA, Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc., Wakefield, RI, is the world leader in software tools that provide manufacturing assembly knowledge to the product design community. In 1991, Drs. Boothroyd and Dewhurst were awarded the National Medal of Technology by President George Bush for their work in DFMA. The company is dedicated to continually developing the DFMA knowledgebase through integrated software programs and international conferences. For more information, contact: Boothroyd Dewhurst, Inc., 138 Main Street, Wakefield, RI 02879, USA, Tel. [phone]. Fax [phone]. Web Site: www.dfma.com E-mail: [e-mail]

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