Since the early 2000s, manufacturers have increasingly recognized sustainability as a critical strategic component in establishing a competitive advantage. Manufacturing companies have been implementing new methodologies in product design so as to make significant improvements in sustainable production practices. Automotive companies, in particular, have considerably enhanced sustainable production practices by implementing new methodologies in product design. Researchers in sustainability have explored different methods to assess the role of product design in achieving a sustainable environment. They found that the automotive industry has shortened product platforms, and that continual design changes have the most significant negative environmental impact across all industries. This is not only due to the shortened life cycles of motor vehicles but also to the need to design and produce the new tools, dies, and molds required to manufacture these new models and to discard the old tools, dies, and molds. This article describes the first study to address the environmental impacts of both designing new vehicle platforms and of manufacturing the new tools, dies, and molds required to build these new vehicles.
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