From the idea to disposal: HARTING wants to develop its products more sustainably with it’s OWL

As a leading international supplier of industrial connection technology, the HARTING Technology Group deals intensively with sustainability requirements. The development of sustainable products requires consideration of the entire product life cycle, from the idea to the disposal of the product. As part of the it’s OWL project ‘Sustainable Lifecycle Engineering’, or SLE for short, the company identifies sustainability aspects that affect the life cycle of HARTING products. We spoke to Anna Aust-Moor, Sustainability Process Coordinator at HARTING, about what sustainability information is collected and how this data is used in the early stages of product development to create sustainable connection technology.

Why is it important to consider sustainability in the early stages of product development and what information is important for your company?

Anna Aust-Moor: The sustainability characteristics of a product are already determined in the early stages of concept development. This is where, for example, decisions are made about which materials are used, which manufacturing processes are used or whether the product should be recycled at the end. It is often unclear which sustainability aspects need to be taken into account and what impact the decisions made will have on the individual phases of the entire product life cycle. For example, replacing the base material with a less polluting material can lead to a reduction in product quality and therefore a shorter service life. Once the product design has been established, subsequent product optimization usually involves a great deal of effort, which is why sustainability considerations must be made in the early phases of product development.

As part of the it’s OWL project ‘Sustainable Lifecycle Engineering’, sustainability aspects that affect the life cycle of HARTING products are to be identified first, with a focus on the materials used as well as the use and recycling phase of the product.

Anna Aust-Moor, Process Coordinator Sustainability at HARTING

As part of the it’s OWL project ‘Sustainable Lifecycle Engineering’, sustainability aspects relating to the lifecycle of HARTING products will first be identified, with a focus on the materials used and the use and recycling phases of the product. The collected sustainability information is then integrated into the early phases of product development. As the further processing of collected data is very complex due to its interactions and high volume, a systematic approach is required. In the course of the project, an SLE methodology will be developed to support our developers in their decision-making when conflicts of interest arise.

A product life cycle comprises all the phases that a product goes through from the initial idea, through development and production, to use and finally disposal. Graphic: HARTING

What initial findings have you already achieved in the ‘Sustainable Lifecycle Engineering’ project?

Anna Aust-Moor: As part of the SLE project, the sustainability aspects relevant to our company should be integrated into the development process as early as possible. In this context, we have already been able to map the current situation by involving various areas of the company. Significant sustainability aspects were identified and challenges were named that the developers encounter when implementing sustainability in the projects. With the knowledge gained, we examine the points of contact between the sustainability aspects and the HARTING product life cycle and look for solutions to any problems that arise. HARTING’s environmental strategy pursues the goal of reducing the ecological footprint and using the required resources as efficiently as possible. In order to be able to evaluate sustainability performance and thus the achievement of set targets, sustainability parameters were defined internally that we can use in our pilot project. The project also examined which approaches and methods are used in the development process and the extent to which sustainability aspects are taken into account. This information provides us with information about the possible starting points for the SLE methodology developed during the project.

To what extent does it help you to solve the challenges within the framework of an it’s OWL project?

Anna Aust-Moor: With the expertise of the industry and research partners, methods and tools can be developed that enable the development of sustainable products while taking ecological, economic and social aspects into account. The research partners steer the project and provide a deep theoretical insight into the complex topic of sustainability. The project partners from industry bring their own perspectives and experience to the table, allowing us to look at sustainability from a wide variety of perspectives and work together on any problems that arise.

How exactly can other companies benefit from the results of the project?

Anna Aust-Moor: The knowledge gained in the project will be used to develop a tool that enables sustainability aspects to be taken into account in the early phases of the development process and supports developers in design decisions that arise. The methods used should be transferable to other companies. On the basis of the project results, a training program is to be created to train other companies in this area.

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