Inclusion of sustainability aspects in product development at manufacturing companies

Due to current consumption and production patterns of products, pressure on already constrained natural resources, an increasing global population, increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and reduced access to clean water globally, studying manufacturing companies’ inclusion of sustainability aspects in their product development becomes important. The aim of this thesis is to expand current knowledge on the inclusion of sustainability aspects in product development at manufacturing companies. More specifically, the expansion of current knowledge covers how manufacturing companies include sustainability aspects in product development, the challenges manufacturing companies may face when including sustainability aspects in product development, and the reasons for these challenges. To fulfil this aim, a literature study and a multiple case study were conducted at two international, listed, manufacturing companies in Sweden. Empirical data was collected using semi-structured interviews with two employees at each company and by analyzing the companies’ latest sustainability report. Empirical results include two context-dependent descriptions of how manufacturing companies include sustainability aspects in product development, 21 challenges the companies face, and 14 reasons for those challenges. Conclusions include: (1) the role of conventional methods when including sustainability aspects in product development has been largely ignored in prior research; (2) a company’s product owner influences the inclusion of sustainability aspects in product development, and in product requirements in particular; (3) the following three challenges are proposed incorporated in a comprehensive framework of challenges that has been developed in prior research: Making suppliers fulfil the sustainability requirements that are placed on them. Transforming sustainability aspects, or general goals, into measurable requirements that contribute to reduced environmental impact from products while at the same time contributing to competitive profit. Identifying how to reach economic goals more efficiently with a more sustainable initiative or solution than other initiatives