Product lifecycle-oriented optimization of the manufacturing phase and the use phase of precision tools

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Manufacturers of precision tools are confronted with a worldwide shortage of critical raw materials and increasing competition from East Asian companies. These factors mean that the cost pressure on German tool manufacturers, who manufacture 15 % of the precision tools manufactured worldwide, is increasing. Furthermore, the European Union obliges companies to document and evaluate measures taken to reduce the environmental impacts of manufactured products in sustainability reports. In order to secure a competitive position, it is necessary to reduce the costs and environmental impacts caused by precision tools. A focus on the manufacturing phase is not sufficient, since a large part of the costs and environmental impacts caused by a product are incurred during its use phase. It is therefore necessary to assess the entire life cycle of the products to be manufactured when assessing the manufacturing processes used in tool manufacturing. At present, it is not possible to determine the life cycle assessments of the manufacturing processes to be used on the basis of available knowledge when planning process sequences. For the ecological-economic evaluation of process sequences, a subjective weighting of the costs and environmental impacts of the process sequences has so far been necessary. There is no evaluation model that makes it possible to evaluate the costs and environmental impacts of products and process sequences on the basis of a common unit. Furthermore, there is no systematic procedure for the design of process sequences in the sense of ecologically and economically optimized manufacturing.The objective of the proposed research project is therefore to investigate the connections between required changes in precision tools and their ecologically and economically optimized implementation by adapting the existing process sequence. For this purpose, a methodology will be developed which makes it possible to design process sequences according to economic and ecological criteria, taking into account the influences of the manufacturing phase on the use phase of the manufactured precision tools. The methodology enables technology planners to reduce the environmental impacts of the tools by adapting process sequences for the production of redesigned precision tools without endangering economic efficiency. A new ecological-economic evaluation model to be developed makes it possible to evaluate process sequences with regard to their costs and environmental impacts. For the first time, the methodology allows the derivation of generally applicable design rules for ecologically and economically optimized process sequences.