Sustainable product design is a critical lever for helping organizations achieve
their sustainability targets that is still overlooked by many: Our research
shows that, despite increasing awareness, only 22 percent of respondents in our
survey
say that sustainability is a key component of their product-design processes. As
the need for radical climate action intensifies, organizations need to pay close
attention to product design — given that an estimated 80 percent of a product’s
environmental
impacts
are linked with decisions made at the design stage.
Product emissions can account for a major share of organizations’ overall
emissions. More than two-thirds (67 percent) of organizations in our research
have seen a reduction in carbon emissions due to the implementation of
sustainable product-design strategies.
For example, adopting circular design
principles — which aim to keep materials at their highest value
for as long as possible and recirculate materials to
another life after they are used — can help companies minimize their environmental footprint and also
enhance resilience against evolving regulatory landscapes and market demands.
We define sustainable design as “maximizing environmental, social and economic
benefits over a system’s lifecycle while minimizing associated social and
environmental costs.” This definition reflects the "triple-bottom-line”
accounting framework — where the performance of a system is measured not only by
the profit it generates, but also by positive impact on people and the planet.
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Against a backdrop of rising raw material scarcity driven by environmental and
geopolitical factors, organizations also need to reduce their reliance on virgin
materials and build supply chain resilience. Sustainable design strategies such
as using fewer materials and circular approaches — such as designing for product
durability, repairability, modularity, recyclability and recoverability — ensure
that products and materials can be kept in use for longer and decouple growth
from the overconsumption of finite resources.
Furthermore, effective sustainable design is forward-thinking: It addresses
future business risks, fosters innovative solutions and keeps pace with
evolving consumer needs. It means staying vigilant for opportunities to develop
a point of difference in the market and lay the groundwork for long-term
success.
A sustainable supply chain is easier with the right partners
In 2022, the Capgemini Research Institute
surveyed
900 senior product design and engineering executives from large organizations
across industries including consumer products, automotive, industrial
manufacturing, aerospace and defense, high-tech and medical devices to
understand how far organizations have progressed with embedding sustainability
in their product design decisions, and how data and technology can enable this
process.
The survey found that many organizations do not collaborate adequately with
external stakeholders such as suppliers, contract manufacturers, or distribution
and retail partners as part of the product design process. Collaboration with
suppliers, for instance, is key to understanding the challenges associated with
sourcing certain materials and identifying alternatives in light of
manufacturing constraints.
Similarly, collaboration with distribution and retail partners is key to
understanding and avoiding unintended consequences lower down the value chain
(e.g., eliminating single-use types of product packaging, while more
sustainable, may lead to more waste due to product damage or spoilage).
A holistic approach to ensuring that a product is sustainable across its
lifecycle requires inputs from multiple internal and external stakeholders.
Product design processes need to be closely integrated with the rest of an
organization’s value chain.
As Dr. Jonathan
Chapman, Professor and
Director of Doctoral Studies at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Design,
explains: “Design-led systems change requires a strategic way of thinking about
a process, where you understand the complex nature of the problem space, and
then work with different stakeholders to develop a vision of a future that you
want to transition to.”
Organizations can build more sustainable products by collaborating with
stakeholders across the value chain to jointly determine sustainable design
decisions, based on impact and feasibility, and invest in partnerships to build
new competencies.
How to embrace sustainable product design
Capgemini has identified the following actions that organizations need to take
to design and deliver sustainable products:
-
Make sustainability a core design priority and emphasize the need for
systems change — Define clear sustainability goals and objectives for
product-design teams, establish clear accountability for sustainable product
design, and develop guidelines and tools to help design teams evaluate
trade-offs and alternatives. Adopting a data-driven approach is critical.
Organizations must measure environmental and social impacts across the
product lifecycle to identify high-impact areas.
-
Establish processes and partnerships across the product value chain —
Collaboration with stakeholders across the value chain and between teams to
jointly determine design decisions, based on impact and feasibility, is
critical to achieving sustainability. Organizations must set up
cross-functional teams to accelerate sustainable product design. Also vital
is investment in partnerships to build new competencies, and in services to
enable an overall shift in business models toward
circularity.
-
Manage costs through re-evaluating concepts and taking a long-term view
— A mindset shift is required to urgently advance sustainability progress.
Consider adopting a True Cost
Accounting approach that assesses
product costs holistically, including environmental and social costs.
Further, when evaluating investments in sustainable product design,
organizations must take a long-term view that considers benefits including
cost savings, reduced exposure to risks, increased revenues and improved
customer satisfaction.
-
Harness technology to support sustainable product design efforts —
Advances in technology are opening numerous opportunities for sustainable
product design. Two major technological trends are driving this: First, the
merging of physical and digital worlds — enabled by technologies such as
IoT,
AI/ML
and digital
twins
— which allows for increased material
traceability,
and enhanced design and simulation capabilities. Second, advances in the
field of bio-innovation are enabling the discovery of biologically sourced
or inspired
alternatives
for scarce or unsustainable materials and carbon-intensive processes.
Organizations must elevate their use of technology and investments in research
and innovation and ensure that product design teams work closely with data and
digital experts. When investing in technology, organizations must also account
for the emissions resulting from its
use.
Toward a future of sustainable products and brands
By prioritizing sustainable and circular product-design principles,
forward-thinking organizations can innovate to avoid future business risks,
keep pace with evolving consumer priorities, differentiate themselves in the market
and lay the groundwork for long-term success.
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Managing Consultant – Sustainability
Capgemini
Teja Chatty is Managing Consultant for Sustainability at Capgemini Invent and Synapse Product Development.
Published Jun 27, 2024 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST