An Environmentally Conscious Decision Support System for the Automotive Industry

As a part of the Global Green Engineering Initiative at the US-Japan Center for Technology Management at Vanderbilt University, an Internet-based Environmentally Conscious Decision Support tool (EcoDS) has been developed for life-cycle management. EcoDS is used to compare different alternatives for manufacturing processes or product designs with regards to cost and residual risk, and includes a user-defined value system. This tool uses a vertical streamlining approach applied prior to the data input, to reduce data collection efforts and to speed the life-cycle assessment process. The output is condensed into a single summary matrix.

It has been deemed useful to create a version of EcoDS designed specifically for the automotive industry (AutoEcoDS). This program will involve multiple modules each related to a different aspect of the manufacture of automobiles and automotive products. Each module will include an easy-to-use question format to determine the significant life-cycle information. The output will be useful in decision-making about different manufacturing processes for the automotive industry.