Life Cycle Management as a concept for industrial application 99 SCIENTIFIC PROBLEMS OF MACHINES OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE

Life Cycle Management as a concept for industrial application K e y w o r d s Management, life cycle, quality, environment, cost. S ł o w a k l u c z o w e Zarządzanie, cykl życia, jakość, środowisko, koszt. S u m m a r y In the paper, LCM (Life Cycle Management) is defined as the application of life cycle thinking concept to modern business practice, with the aim to manage the total life cycle of products and services towards more sustainable production and consumption. Relevant systems, methods and tools connected with LCM concept are presented, specially: TQM, ISO 9000, ISO 14000, ecodesign. There is indicated that the application of various elements of management system may differ due to different purposes and different interested parties. While quality management systems deal with customer needs, environmental management systems address the needs of a broad range of interested parties and evolving needs of society for environmental protection. The problem of introduction of LCM is of key importance for small and medium enterprises (SME), because they constitute, in Western World, almost 2/3 of the private sector and represent a major source of growth in employment, through new business start-ups. Thus, the SME sector becomes an important target for growth of competitiveness, innovation and environmental policies and practices but reveals low awareness of environmental issues