EIME, a product design tool

As early as 1996, a small group of industrialists, aware of the growing importance of taking environmental requirements into account in their activities and the difficulties involved in implementing them, got together around the Fédération des industries électriques, électroniques et de communication (FIEEC) to think about implementing tools and methods adapted to their sector.

This French federation (FIEEC) brings together some twenty trade associations representing different sectors of the electrical and electronics industry, including household appliances, battery manufacturers, manufacturers of active and passive components, audiovisual producers and producers of electrical equipment.

At the time, electrical and electronic products were not yet covered by specific environmental protection regulations. However, the general awareness generated by the Rio Summit was gaining ground, and it was now necessary to think about the sustainable design of products and services.

Eco-design was thus born, with the publication in May 1998 of the AFNOR FD X 30-310 standard [1] , although it still had to be made applicable. The major difficulty was to facilitate the appropriation of these theories by designers (mechanics, electronics engineers, technical experts), so that the environment could be taken into account in the same way as technical and economic criteria. In addition, it was essential to turn this notion into a methodology applicable to a large number of companies with diverse and varied design practices, depending on their size and the products they generate. The result is a design tool called Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

EIME responds to the need for manufacturers to assume their share of responsibility for environmental concerns. These include :

• identify, right from the design stage and for all products, the weak points in terms of environmental impact, then assist the designer in his choice of materials, processes and concepts to eliminate these weak points, while preserving the product's competitiveness;

• quantify the progress made and adopt a continuous improvement approach, gradually reducing the product's overall impact;

• to make the environment an integral part of corporate culture, by providing manufacturers with a tool that can be used by non-environmental specialists, and which integrates naturally into existing design procedures.

Since then, this tool has been tested and deployed by several major companies in the electrical and electronics sector, including Alcatel, Legrand and Schneider....