Leapfrog project: A jump ahead in sustainable innovation

Protecting the environment has become increasingly important not only to consumers but also to equipment manufacturers. The buzz around sustainability is growing by the day. But do we really know what sustainability really mean? Sustainability is a powerful way to generate innovation, producing creativity through establishing big goals.

During the SolidWorks World 2013 conference at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, Florida, International Metalworking News for Asia  (IMNA) spoke to Aurélien BLAHA, Communications Manager, Social Media for Dassault Systèmes, and Zoé BEZPALKO, Eco-design Specialist, Leapfrog Project, Dassault Systèmes about Design with SolidWorks Sustainability and the Leapfrog Project in Vietnam.

According to Aurélien and Zoé, there is no such thing as one “sustainable” or “green” product, only a more sustainable or greener one. In fact, a green product is one that’s never made. The most sustainable solution is to avoid making unnecessary items altogether. The basic purpose of sustainable design is to find ways to reduce those impacts, and by doing so find a more sustainable solution.

“There are many faces of sustainable design.  For example,  there is design approach called Design for Disassembly that enables easy recovery of parts, components and materials from products at their end of life. Another one called Cradle to Cradle considering that there is no such thing as “away.” All elements of a product should be designed to go somewhere and serve as an input to another system,” Aurélien said.

Zoé explained the Leapfrog project as a mutually beneficial partnership in which Dassault Systèmes is joining the Sustainable Product INnovation (SPIN) project, a not-for-profit collaboration between the Vietnam National Cleaner Production Centre (VNCPC), TU Delft University, and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). The Leapfrog Project is a revolutionary initiative to leverage advanced software applications such as SolidWorks Sustainability and 3DSwYm social innovation platform, in order to enable Vietnamese local entrepreneurs to design and manufacture eco-designed products and foster sustainable innovation.

Vietnamese industries

In Vietnam, the Leapfrog Project has been promoting innovation by implementing eco-design methodologies and tools in a wide variety of companies. It has increased the social and environmental quality of the products realised in Vietnam, and respond to the growing demand for more sustainable products worldwide.

The Leapfrog Project is a complementary partnership that will benefit all the stakeholders. The SPIN designers benefit from using the most advanced software technology in order to accelerate the leap
from qualitative life-cycle thinking design to rigorous eco-design assessment tools. The SPIN Project partners in turn contribute to improve the Dassault Systèmes applications by providing feedback using their expertise on eco-design and Life Cycle Assessment, and experiences from real world manufacturing executions.

Support and training

Dassault Systèmes commits to provide appropriate tools, support, and training to the project partners, with the objective of improving efficiency in the eco-design process. SolidWorks SustainКроссовки Lifestyle