Product-centric or product-service design? Exploration of design for sustainability strategies in the manufacturing field

Nowadays, the growing emphasis toward sustainability has led manufacturing companies to pay more attention to social, environmental, and government aspects, while striving to boost their revenues. Companies approach sustainability to meet different needs such as responding to the increasingly stringent regulations of policymakers, satisfying customers who are more focused on sustainable practices, making efficient use of resources, and gaining a considerable advantage over competitors. In this context, different design for sustainability (DfS) strategies are becoming a relevant aspect for manufacturing companies. Among the DfS strategies, it is worth mentioning the focus on refining product design or the development of completely new products by means of choosing sustainable materials or adopting cleaner technologies. Another increasingly popular DfS strategy relies on the shift from the traditional product-sale models to Product-Service Systems (PSS), since recognized by several literature studies as more sustainable, considering the potential to extend the useful life of assets and improve resource efficiency through the reuse and recycling of components. This paper aims to understand the strategic approaches in terms of DfS that manufacturing companies are adopting to comply with sustainability goals. An explanatory design has been adopted to understand the main company drivers affecting the different strategies of design for sustainability. Firstly, quantitative results derived from the analysis of 215 Italian companies are displayed, followed by qualitative interview interpretation. From the analysis, the dimension of the organization and the sector seem to affect the design for sustainability approaches. Qualitative research focused on large companies, more dedicated to sustainability matters, identifies additional factors influencing such strategies, including external and internal drivers, product typology, digital technologies, and core business considerations.