Analysis of the utilization of tools and sustainability approaches in the product development process in Brazilian industry

Abstract The transformation of companies into organizations that respect environmental limits while meeting social needs and desires has become a platform for innovation and strategy for product development. In this context the development of products has become a key process to increase the competitiveness of the company. However, there is still a lack of clarity in the way in which sustainability tools or approaches should be incorporated within this process, generating uncertainties in their adoption. To analyze this incorporation, this work uses methodological procedures such as a bibliographic review and the application of surveys of industry professionals working in product development and sustainability. The main objective is to analyze the degree of incorporation of tools and concepts of sustainability in the product development process of companies in different industrial sectors located in Brazil, with the intention of discovering what can be the approximation of the conceptual developments in the academic world and the practical applications in industry.