Wood Furniture Products (WFPs) play a significant role in both the global economy and the transition of society towards sustainability. This paper begins with a brief description of the industry and highlights the current challenges and compelling measures of WFPs from a systems perspective through the lens of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) and by applying backcasting from sustainability principles (SPs). An examination of the challenges and opportunities of WFPs is performed using an ABCD analysis based on Strategic Life Cycle Management (SLCM). SLCM and Templates for Sustainable Product Development (TSPDs) approaches were applied in order to engage the participating Ningbo Fubang Company in the transition process towards sustainability and to provide an applicable tool for WFP development. The TSPDs were created based on the views of sustainability and WFP experts. This has developed the templates further and contributed to the overall development of the WFPs towards sustainability. Other recommended and compelling measures for the sustainable development of WFPs include: cooperating with non-government organizations (NGOs), conserving forests resources, clean production methods, “take-back” policy in the wood furniture industry, reforming government policies relevant to the industry, implementing waste management systems, green supply chains, clean energy use and distribution, and smart packaging.
Author: Lulei, WeiGuang Zhang, WeiQing Zhang
Source: Blekinge Institute of Technology
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Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 The Basic Idea of Wood Furniture
1.2 Furniture is a Huge Global Business
1.3 General Wood Furniture Manufacturing Process
1.4 The Urgency of Moving WFPs toward Sustainability
1.4.1 The Importance of Forests as Raw Materials to Furniture
1.4.2 Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Contributes to Sustainable Forestry
1.4.3 Pressing Issues of Manufacturing Wood Furniture
1.5 Research Questions
1.6 Thesis Purpose, Scope and Limitation
2.Methods
2.1 Data Collection
2.1.1 Literature Review
2.1.2 Survey
2.1.3 Interviews
2.2 Data analysis
2.2.1 Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development（FSSD)
2.2.2 ABCD Methods-Sustainability Assessment
2.2.3 Strategic Life Cycle Management (SLCM)
2.2.4 Templates for Sustainable Product Development (TSPD)
3.Results
3.1 A-Awareness
3.1.1 Forests as Raw Materials
3.1.2 Wood Furniture Production Process
3.1.3 Fossil Fuels Applied in Electricity
3.2 B–Current Reality
3.2.1 Raw Materials (Forests)
3.2.2 Wood Furniture Manufacturing
3.2.3 Transportation
3.2.4 Use
3.2.5 End of Life
3.3 C-Successful Visions &Solutions
3.3.1 Wood Furniture Products in a Sustainable Society
3.3.2 Solutions for Success
3.4 D-Prioritization
3.5 TSPDs for WFPs
3.5.1 Template I
3.5.2 Template II
3.5.3 Template III
4.Discussion
4.1 Thesis Question
4.2 The Validity of TSPDs for WFP
4.2.1 The Strengths of TSPDs for WFPs
4.2.2 The Weakness of TSPDs for WFPs
5.Conclusion
Further Research
References
Appendices
Appendix I
Forest Resource Distribution
Appendix II
Survey 1 NingBo Fubang
Appendix III
Survey 2 IKEA
Appendix IV
Case study: Prioritization solutions for Ningbo Fubang Company
Appendix
Template for Sustainable Product Development for WFPs