Design for complex product rebirth or how to protect resources

This paper presents research conducted on a new design method for rebirth of complex products. Design for rebirth is a thinking method for protecting resources. Reuse, remanufacturing, upgrading and controlled recycling are effective ways to reduce costs, social impact and the consumption of energy and materials for equipment that has finished its service life. Other benefits include reduced pollution, transport, etc. Several issues are studied: existing end-of-life (EOL), selection methods for environmental fasteners and materials, modularization, design adequation. Subsequently, we describe a proposed method that allows the designer to select EOL, environmental fasteners and materials, and use modularization effectively during preliminary design. This integrated method is based on fuzzy logic data processing. Case studies are presented to demonstrate the method’s validity. One way of solving rebirth of complex products is to optimize the product design process to include EOL. EOL options must be properly chosen from the beginning by the product developer with the aim of minimizing environmental impact and respecting laws, while at the same time maximizing economic profit.