Environmental Knowledge Management in the Product Development Process

The basis for an environmental benign design of the production is the knowledge of the environmental impacts of processes. By setting up an Environmental Knowledge Management System (EKMS) the perception can be organized. The application of the EKMS is divided into two steps:

1. 1.
   Documentation of the actual state with the focus on data collection and modeling of technical systems (production of products).
2. 2.
   Derive from prognostic statements by means of evaluated data and the identification of potentials for optimizations.

The implementation and updating lays the foundations for the environmental optimization of the planning, development and production. The target is to ensure the availability of environmental information in the entire product developing process. The decision maker can identify optimization potentials with the help of this system already in an early stage of the product development process. Therefore measures can be arranged for the sustainable production which also causes cost savings.