Laboratory for Manufacturing and Sustainability

Recently, an increasing number of customers of the machine tool industry have applied life cycle costing (LCC) to compare the cost-effectiveness of different investment options. These concepts have mainly been used to address maintenance costs since these have proven to be one of the most important cost drivers. The approach of life cycle performance (LCP) broadens LCC by considering the relationship between the costs and benefits of a machine over its entire life cycle. With the increasing importance of environmental consciousness, it has become crucial to incorporate environmental impact when evaluating machines. A framework is presented that enables the integration of green manufacturing principles into LCP-evaluation. The role of interoperability within this framework is also discussed.