Simulation with Arena
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Increased political and media attention is encouraging greater industrial focus on environmental responsibility and resource management. This has promoted product and process designs that are more optimal in their utilization of materials and resources. This optimization is a complex task that is only made more difficult by the subjective methods of environmental impact evaluation commonly used. To optimize a process or product design, a complete understanding of the nature of production must be reached. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool that can be combined with current simulation tools to obtain a realistic model of the prospective design alternatives. Utilizing this combined model, the simulation can draw quantitative comparisons between the predictions of various subjective methods commonly used in LCA. Based on these comparisons, the determination of the optimal path the product and process design will follow. The effectiveness of this approach is illustrated through the use of a controversial LCA performed in 2005 by the UK's Environmental Agency. The study focused on the environmental impact of the life of diapers and reached debated conclusions. This example illustrates how a simulation can be used to create an objective framework for the impartial evaluation and comparison of designs.