4 questions
Anecdotal evidence suggests more than 80%of product value and features are built in during the design phase. The big computer-aided design companies see environmentally sound products as a growth area and green design as an integral part of their systems. We asked three of them to explain their role
The experts
Tim Doidge Technical Sales Manager, Northern Europe, Autodesk
Asheen Phansey Sustainability Product Manager, SolidWorks
Stephen Endersby Simulation Product Manager, SolidWorks
Bernard MahÈ Director, InSight Sales, PTC
44 ◆ Environmental Engineering ◆ February 2011
Question One
What are the drivers for building sustainability and environmental performance into the process of designing products and systems? Is this something customers are actually asking for?
SolidWorks:While wemay have been leading themarket when we began developing SolidWorks Sustainability two years ago, customers are increasingly demanding software and systems that integrate sustainable design thinking into their existing business practices. With nearly 40%of the S&P 500
publishing social and environmental reports in 2009 and 82%of the FTSE Global 500 reporting to the Carbon Disclosure Project in 2010, pursuing a company-level sustainability strategy no longer serves as a competitive differentiator – leading-edge companies are looking to green the design of their products and services, one of the largest sources of their environmental impact. This sustainable design drive is
underpinned both by increasing consumer demand for environmentally friendly choices and by supplier pressure from large brands such asWalmart, Procter & Gamble, IBM, andMcDonalds, all of whomscore their suppliers on the sustainability of their products. To tap this huge sustainable design
opportunity, the companies that design these products need tools that can aid greener design choices while supporting their existing product design workflows and personnel. Through our earlymarket vision and
leadership, SolidWorks has developed the only CAD software that offers an integrated eco-design solution to help companies serve this growingmarket need.
PTC: The key drivers we see for manufacturers and product developers all relate to a rapidly growing demand for transparency and disclosure about the sustainability of products. This demand can be regulatory, in the formof laws such as RoHS, REACHetc, or it can be obligatory, such as requests for information fromcustomers or campaigns by NGOs. The complexity and frequency of
demands for information has overwhelmed many companies’ existing processes for managing the relevant data on their products, and they find themselves unable to adequately respond to these demands. Manufacturers are caught without a full
knowledge of what is in their products, and by the time the product is designed, the sustainability impacts are largely determined without a clear understanding
of their implications. A systemis needed for tracking andmanaging the data necessary to not only respond to requests for information, but also incorporate this information into the design phase of products.
Autodesk: There are several drivers. The first key factor is governmental regulation, which is particularly pronounced in the European Union and likely to become ever more stringent over time. The second is that customers are increasingly asking for and expecting vendors to integrate this kind of capability in their solutions. The third driver is the need to focus on
likely future trends. At Autodesk, we are constantly looking to predict the trends that are likely to be happening in five or 10 years’ time. As energy costs continue to rise (up to 50%by 2030 according to some analysts),manufacturers are likely to become increasingly energy conscious and environmentally friendly in their design processes. So we are focused on delivering a
comprehensive toolset that enables our customers to anticipate future developments and achieve their environmental goals. There is also an associated cost
advantage with this kind of approach. If manufacturers are able to reduce the volume ofmaterials needed to develop a product, or source themcheaper locally, they will see a positive impact on their bottomline.We see sustainability going hand-in-hand with cost-effectiveness in the future and this is fundamental to our whole approach to design.
Question Two
How can design systems companies such as yourselves build in up-to-date and relevant environmental and sustainability data into systems when factors are forever changing and the ways products are used are so varied and unpredictable?
PTC: For many years now, PTC has demonstrated its capacities to deliver software products that help manufacturers to efficiently manage their ever-changing product development
environment.Market trends, customers’ requirements and supply chain complexity are under permanent change and PTC product development system can take care of this. InSight Product Analytics, the PTC
solution for environmental performance and sustainability, has been built on the same principles and helps manufacturers to react quickly and efficiently to product changes, suppliers’ modifications and
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