Concept for Analysing Product Sustainability Regarding Eco-related Product Perception and Efficiency Within a Product Spectrum

Sustainability and environment-related criteria of consumer products become key sales arguments in modern product development. While the customer expects reduced resource consumptions and improved eco-friendly characteristics of the product, the manufacturer aims to replace the product in the market considering an eco-friendly perception in comparison to similar competitor products. This paper outlines a concept to analyse the sustainability measures of products by using two complementary approaches. Cluster analytics is utilized to identify devices with similar characteristics within a product group and resulting clusters are assessed based on sustainability parameters. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is applied to describe the efficiency of these devices based on input and output parameters which are selected with regard to sustainability issues. The application of the methodology is illustrated by a case study using data obtained from electric household appliance industry.