Design-driven Sustainable Manufacturing

Advancing production systems technology necessitates redefined assessment methods across production stages to address sustainability needs, requiring vast, updated data on material and process impacts. European directives, including the Circular Economy Action Plan, promote waste minimization and resource optimization through fundamental changes in design practices, positioning designers as primary orchestrators of circular material flows. This MICS Project 1.07 research investigates how digital platforms enable designers to coordinate circular solutions in Italy's furniture sector through transparent material data exchange. The study develops an integrated system connecting designers, waste managers, and manufacturers to facilitate circular material flows and comprehensive design processes for circular material applications. The research reveals complex hybrid networks where organizations critically shift between roles as waste producers, material processors, and end-users. Digital solutions address these challenges through AI-driven material analysis, real-time supply chain information, and seamless design process integration. Designers with comprehensive material data can achieve more impactful design toward waste reduction while identifying new market opportunities through by-product valorization. The platform architecture features dual access through web portals and CAD plug-ins, enabling both material exploration and direct design workflow integration. The projects and its insights foresee designers as essential bridges between creative innovation and sustainable production implementation, providing a replicable model for sectors beyond furniture manufacturing.