Abstract
This paper proposes upgradeable product design method which is the one of the environmental product design methods. Proposed method focuses on manufacturer's sustainability and designs upgradeable products which satisfy the manufacturer's yieldability and environmental responsibilities. Upgradeable product design method inhibits the disposal of an item by replacing only the few components related to its deterioration in value, as opposed to disposing the entire product. In addition, this method usually required to predict future required functions. To address the uncertain design information associated by future prediction of required product functions and component procurement cost, this study obtains ranged design solution which can adapt to future uncertainty by applying set-based design method which can obtain ranged design solutions to proposed upgradeable product design method. By applying to a leased laptop computer case study, proposed method obtains ranged design solution which realizes low environmental loads, low product price, and high profitable upgradeable product. These results indicate the effectiveness of proposed upgradeable product design method for building of a sustainable society.
