Sustainable Product Design For Automotive Interior Trimming Parts: Investigation On Design Process & Assessment Tools

The ecological development has become one of the main features of the world's automotive industry. Shape, appearance, color and utility have become the basic design requirements for automotive interior trimming parts. In the future, it is more and more to highlight the sustainability requirements such as lightweight, low-carbon, green and intelligence. Sustainable product design put emphasis on the whole life cycle environmental impact and social responsibility in the product design stage through green materials selection, recyclability & dismantling capability consideration, environmental information disclosure, life cycle assessment, and other design content.To carry out the investigation on process of sustainable product design for automotive interior trimming parts, it is contribute to systematically guiding and regulating the auto interior designers beginning to consider the life cycle sustainability requirements in the shape design stage of interior system, and to developing interior trimming products in consistent with sustainable design guidelines and specifications, thereby, shortening the development cycle and time to market, enhancing the core competitiveness of enterprises. To develop sustainable product design & analysis tools for automotive interior trimming parts, it is contribute to helping auto interior designers better interpreting the concept of sustainable product design into specific elements in the design of works reflecting on the "life cycle thinking" and "social responsibility" considerations, thereby enhancing sustainable innovation capability.With taking the auto interior trimming parts as a research objective, this paper has carried out the investigation on the design process and assessment tools of sustainable products design. A new idea has been put forward, through integrating environmental and safety aspects into the existing new product development process of automotive interior trimming parts, so as to establish sustainable product design process. This paper will provide ideas and lessons for Chinese automotive interior trimming enterprises to implement sustainable product design, to improve sustainable innovation capability, to form green core competitive power, and to break through international green trade barriers. The main conclusions of this paper are as follows.First, an investigation on current situation of product green design implementation in Shanghai Automobile Group has been carried out. The progress in establishing green product design system of vehicle products in recent years has been analyzed. The results show, the auto interior trimming production enterprises should quickly implement their vehicle sustainable design work, it is in consistent with the national strategies of sustainable development, with the policy and guidelines of promoting EPR and sustainable manufacturing. By the way, it is the very important approach for auto manufacturing enterprises to improve the efficiency of resource use, to reduce environmental emissions, and to change the mode of growth.Second, a new idea has been put forward, through integrating environmental and safety aspects into existing product design and development process of automotive interior trimming parts, so as to establish sustainable product design process. The new sustainable product design process of automotive interior trimming parts, featuring as in consistent with Chinese auto interior trimming parts production enterprise reality, is concluding following phases and reviewing gates: Advance Work Stage, Initial Safety & Environmental Review, Concept Development Stage, Concept Development Environmental Review, Product Development Stage, Product Development Safety & Environmental Review, Product & Process Validation Stage, Final Safety & Environmental Review, Pilot Stage, Post-Launch environmental Review feedback.Third, the qualitative analysis tools on sustainable design of automotive interior trimming products have been developed. Two qualitative design and analysis tools, "the sustainable design guidelines for automotive interior trimming products" & "the sustainable design checklist documents for automotive interior trimming products have been developed. It provides means of qualitative analysis for the gates of environmental review in the sustainable product design process of automotive interior trimming parts.Fourth, a quantitative analysis tool on sustainable design of automotive interior trimming products, "The Input-output Life Cycle Assessment Method based on China Situation", has been developed. Based on the China National Statistics Bureau regularly published environmental emissions and energy consumption data of different sectors and China Input-output Table 2007 , a 135 Sectors environmental impact multiplier matrix has been developed, and a case study has been carried out. The investigation on Input-output Life Cycle Assessment Method will provide methodological guidance for accounting the life cycle energy consumption and environmental emissions data in consistent with China's realities.The value and contribution of this paper are as follows.(1) With the investigation on process of sustainable product design for automotive interior trimming parts, a new idea has been put forward, through integrating environmental and safety aspects into existing new product development process of automotive interior trimming parts, so as to establish sustainable product design process.(2) Based on the China National Statistics Bureau regularly published environmental emissions and energy consumption data of different sectors and China Input-output Table 2007 , a 135 Sectors environmental impact multiplier matrix has been developed. The investigation on the Input-output Life Cycle Assessment Method based on China Situation will provide methodological guidance for accounting the life cycle energy consumption and environmental emissions data in consistent with China's realities. And, it will also provide ideas to solve such issues as, how to implement life cycle assessment method during the phase of new products development, how to carry out the life cycle environmental impacts assessment really in consistent with China reality.