Upgrade design is one of the usefull approaches to realize inverse manufacturing because upgrade design can extend product lives and reduce consumption volume of resources and energy usage. However, difficulty of upgrade design resides within prediction of future trend such as technological trends and market trends. This papar propose a design method for upgradable products, and prototype design support tool which can be adapted changes of user requirement and market trend. Using design example of vacuume cleaner, this papar demonstrates that this support tools is effective for designing upgradable products.
