Linked LCA and CUVA cooperation

The following section is an introduction to LCA and CUVA cooperation (figure 35). Changing the environmental behaviour of an enterprise to become more environmentally friendly has proved to be perhaps the most important factor influencing the design of an ecoproduct.

Designing the product as a way of action helps companies in competition. In figure 35, designers participate from different areas according to their own development targets to design industrial-scale ecoproductization. Both industrial designers as well as engineers specialized in design act as designers. Industrial designers focus on the concept of developing a new product and call it strategic business. Design engineers focus on the development of new technical innovations that can be integrated in the development of the product later to meet product demand and the need for applications. In the design of ecoproduct information, design education; intuitive search for innovations, combining different factors and sensitivity

in designing a product is needed. Over these factors, one move in design is to build a product’s identity, which is added into the concept.

Figure 35 divides the design of an ecoproduct into technical, industrial and core design and these use a base for the creation process of the sustainable green marketing strategy. As the strategy is constructive co-operation, I combine LCA phases and language together with CUVA phases and marketing language. In this way, new product development is based on multi-criteria decision-making theory, which aims at a dialectical balance.

The conceptual design phase describes alternatives of the technical and industrial design decisions. The alternatives are made by using the marketing and problem analysis, proact.

The bases of the analysis are the creation, innovations, proposals and presentations, through which conceptualizing leads to creation of a product’s design concept. The core design is focused on the testing and developing of the product’s functional integrity ecodesign. A product develops through the action design to a concrete product through the shaping design phase. Technical design is done during the production phase, which here is called a detailed LCA design phase.

The main role for core design has to be found. During core design, the development process of an ecoproduct is considered as an entirety, or what has been done and how the ecoproduct can be made. After this, the ecoproduct is tested with different ways of modelling according to SGM principles and considering the users’ needs. In decision making, the ecoproduct features and the capacity of the production have to be taken into consideration, as well as the design of the visual format. Finally, one has to be sure that the chosen style certainly motivates using the ecoproduct. The stages that belong to the design of an ecoproduct are essential from the product’s marketing perspective. A well designed ecoproduct meets the expectations and wishes placed by the customer.

The result is that design of an ecoproduct is presented mainly from the industrial point of view and there is a set of values of technical experts to be seen in the design. Technical design includes ecoproduction LCA phase and language. The LCA process depicted on the left side of the model provides information for the CUVA process depicted on the right side. Each of the design phases has different requirements, which help in creating innovative sustainable green products and verified marketing arguments. The model includes the hard data of the design process as well as the soft data born from visions and innovations. In different stages of an ecoproduct’s design, it was noticed that the problem is that large-scale thinking would be needed in design. Understanding of ecoproductization phenomenon can be developed, for example, so that different people from different educational backgrounds are taken into the development process, like art, science and practical experts. In addition to this, from a small company’s perspective making oneself familiar with development in different countries provides dimension to find the strengths and weaknesses of one’s own products. The EcoCuva model provides a viable and fresh approach, and a new tool for analysis and implementation of new product developments of SME’s (figure 36).

Figure 35. Differentiated ecoproduct development process

Figure 36. The EcoCuva Model for sustainable enterprising

A differentiated product means, for example, that statistical data has to be modified to become suitable for use by SMEs and enable new eco-innovations. There is a combination of sustainable marketing language together with green and sustainable language. It gives new ideas for eco-innovative products, for example:

Data -> general ecocriteria Strategy Product Energy / water / biodiversity ecodesign high-tech /clean Cultural heritage / rural area ecodesign retro / local

Unique ecodesign handmade

Well-known origin, genuine ecodesign pure Consists of few raw materials ecodesign clear Easy to make, ready to use/eat ecodesign easy

In concrete, this eco-innovation high-tech means that we can think an SME as a micro-factory that uses new sustainable high technology solutions like wind energy just like the case F enterprise, except that he did not mention the use of wind energy in the marketing argumentation. This is the same aspect as case B comments “we don’t have environmentally friendly activities and we can’t achieve the criteria¹” from the beginning changed and towards the end of the empirical research the discussions with CEO are included in concrete issues relating to ecoproduct marketing possibilities and challenges.

The result of the study focused on the strength of regulation and the significance as a creator of the credibility of ecoproducts. SME entrepreneurs are different to one another, so the definition of ecological products creates opportunities for content to describe the contents of a limited number of products. The message will be clearer if the content is limited.

6.4 Discussion of challenges and opportunities