Romero Victor J, Sanchez-Lite Alberto, Liraut Gerard
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering, Graphic Expression in Engineering, Cartographic Engineering, Geodesy and Photogrammetry, Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering, Universidad de Valladolid, 47011 Valladolid, Spain.
Société Française des Ingénieurs des Plastiques, SFIP, Le Diamant A., La Défense CEDEX, 92909 Paris, France.
Polymers (Basel). 2021 Dec 31;14(1):156. doi: 10.3390/polym14010156.
The plastic industry is undergoing drastic changes, due to the customer sustainability perception of plastics, and the eruption of new processes (such 3D printing) and materials (such as renewably sourced resins). To enable a fast transition to high-quality, sustainable plastic applications, a specific methodology could be a key competitive advantage. This novel methodology is focused on improving the objectivity and efficiency of plastic production and the design review process. It is applicable to discrete optimization events in any product lifecycle milestone, from concept design to serial production stages. The methodology includes a natural way to capture plastic-related knowledge and trends, oriented towards building a dynamic "interaction matrix", with a list of potential optimizations and their positive or negative impacts in a comprehensive set of multi-criteria evaluations. With an innovative approach, the matrix allows the possibility to incorporate a business strategy, which could be different at every lifecycle stage. The business strategy is translated from the common "verbal" definition into a quantitative set of "Target and Restrictions", making it possible to detect and prioritize the best potential design optimization changes according to the strategy. This methodology helps to model and compare design alternatives, verify impacts in every evaluation criteria, and make robust and objective information-based decisions. The application of the methodology in real cases of plastic material design optimization in the automotive industry has provided remarkable results, accelerating the detection of improvement methods aligned with the strategy and maximizing the improvement in product competitiveness and sustainability. In comparison with the simultaneous application of existing mono-criteria optimization methodologies (such as "Design to Cost" or "Eco Design") and subjective expert-based reviews, the novel methodology has a reduced workload and risks, confirming its potential for future application and further development in other polymer-based products, such as consumer goods or packaging.
由于客户对塑料可持续性的认知，以及新流程（如3D打印）和材料（如可再生来源树脂）的出现，塑料行业正在经历巨大变革。为了实现向高质量、可持续塑料应用的快速转型，一种特定的方法可能是关键的竞争优势。这种新颖的方法专注于提高塑料生产及设计评审过程的客观性和效率。它适用于从概念设计到批量生产阶段等任何产品生命周期里程碑中的离散优化事件。该方法包括一种自然的方式来获取与塑料相关的知识和趋势，旨在构建一个动态的“交互矩阵”，其中列出了一系列潜在优化及其在一套全面的多标准评估中的正面或负面影响。通过创新的方法，该矩阵允许纳入商业策略，而商业策略在每个生命周期阶段可能有所不同。商业策略从常见的“文字”定义转化为一组定量的“目标和限制”，从而能够根据该策略检测并确定最佳潜在设计优化变更的优先级。这种方法有助于对设计方案进行建模和比较，验证每个评估标准中的影响，并做出基于可靠且客观信息的决策。该方法在汽车行业塑料材料设计优化的实际案例中的应用取得了显著成果，加快了与策略相符的改进方法的发现，并最大限度地提高了产品竞争力和可持续性。与同时应用现有的单标准优化方法（如“成本设计”或“生态设计”）以及基于专家主观的评审相比，这种新颖的方法减少了工作量和风险，证实了其在未来应用以及在其他基于聚合物的产品（如消费品或包装）中进一步发展的潜力。
