Design-for-Environment Process Integration Roadmap Launched

Many manufacturers struggle to comply with the ever-changing landscape of environmental regulations. Each regulation is often addressed as a single event and rudimentary systems are put in place to comply with new requirements. The DPIR service projects the trajectory of these regulations over a 5-year period allowing the development of internal processes that anticipate future requirements, enabling them to be managed in a proactive manner.



“DCA develops this trajectory of environmental requirements through its involvement with clients, in standards committees, discussions with regulators, academics, NGOs, and regulations-development processes,” says Tom Valliere, DCA senior vice president. “We rapidly assess clients’ existing preparedness for current and future requirements, then consolidate and match the relevant requirements to our clients’ product roadmaps.”



“Frankly, I noticed that the changing nature and expanding scopes of environmental-protection requirements can be overwhelming to clients,” said Pamela J. Gordon, president of TFI, “It’s too much to ask of especially mid-sized and smaller companies to staff the number of product stewards needed to continually track global requirements and align their product roadmaps accordingly. That’s when we developed the highly customized DPIR service.”



Combining TFI’s Lean and Green leverage with corporate executives and DCA’s hands-on technical expertise and Rapid Review Methodology, DPIR quickly benchmarks companies’ operations, highlights strengths, and develops a custom roadmap for an integrated Design for Environment (DFE) program targeted specifically to each company’s products and goals.



Both Valliere and Gordon agree that executive-level support is critical to achieve a successful, strategic DfE roadmap. TFI in particular has developed a tried-and-true methodology for gaining top-level support for sustainability programs, including product DfE