95
Even having now the standards and related reviewers available, some stakeholders
or believers in specifi c schools of thought still pretend today LCA is arbitrary:
However, in most cases the preferred method of these critics are completely nonstandardized and sometimes even their private invention. Even more astonishing,
the most arbitrary results originated rather not from industry, maybe because of
self-protection.
However, refocusing on the important aspects, it may be summarized that LCA
took its chance to mature from scientifi c into professional applications in industrial
organizations, while some non-standardized approaches, some experimental databases and trial software disappeared.
2 From Project to Process
LCA is recognized as the best available methodology to investigate environmental
sustainability performance in a reliable and transparent way and for communication, along the value chain and throughout one’s own organization; to support and
help to cross-check development and strategic decisions. LCA in practice must be
time, cost and resource effi cient. LCA results and the underlying data are only the
basis for communication and decision making and are to be converted into a technical conclusion, the nature of which is determined by the recipient of the result
(e.g., product engineers, executive management, marketing, suppliers, or consumers). LCA is applied for quantitative environmental management and should refl ect
the industrial reality adequately. This sounds trivial, but often enough data and modelling approaches are used to produce results, which have a goal and scope that is
not suitable for decision support. Benchmarking one’s own processes and products
against the competition – commonly on a cost basis – is a common practice in
industry. Evaluation of the results within the competitive landscape is needed to
take suitable decision for your own optimization approach. Aside from the internal
use of LCA as an internal planning tool, another potential lies in connecting partners along the value chain. By collaborating on an LCA, suppliers and customers
strengthen their relationship, gain valuable insights in markets and their success
factors, and enhance an overall exchange of experiences. This fosters innovation.
LCA is a business imperative today. Therefore successful LCA application is the
main aim in industry (Baitz et al. 2012a ).
As described earlier (Baitz et. al. 2012b ), the topic of LCA needs proper implementation in the companies: It must be manageable. Management of tasks basically
calls for two main aspects: measurable information and properly installed processes.
What gets measured gets managed.
Proper management of life cycle aspects needs a shift in the mindset: From project thinking towards process thinking. Alignment of methods, data and communication throughout the company is an important step. But why restrict the degree of
freedom in doing LCA in companies? Simply to gain quality of results, harvest the
8 From Projects to Processes to Implement Life Cycle Management in Business
Even having now the standards and related reviewers available, some stakeholders
or believers in specifi c schools of thought still pretend today LCA is arbitrary:
However, in most cases the preferred method of these critics are completely nonstandardized and sometimes even their private invention. Even more astonishing,
the most arbitrary results originated rather not from industry, maybe because of
self-protection.
However, refocusing on the important aspects, it may be summarized that LCA
took its chance to mature from scientifi c into professional applications in industrial
organizations, while some non-standardized approaches, some experimental databases and trial software disappeared.
2 From Project to Process
LCA is recognized as the best available methodology to investigate environmental
sustainability performance in a reliable and transparent way and for communication, along the value chain and throughout one’s own organization; to support and
help to cross-check development and strategic decisions. LCA in practice must be
time, cost and resource effi cient. LCA results and the underlying data are only the
basis for communication and decision making and are to be converted into a technical conclusion, the nature of which is determined by the recipient of the result
(e.g., product engineers, executive management, marketing, suppliers, or consumers). LCA is applied for quantitative environmental management and should refl ect
the industrial reality adequately. This sounds trivial, but often enough data and modelling approaches are used to produce results, which have a goal and scope that is
not suitable for decision support. Benchmarking one’s own processes and products
against the competition – commonly on a cost basis – is a common practice in
industry. Evaluation of the results within the competitive landscape is needed to
take suitable decision for your own optimization approach. Aside from the internal
use of LCA as an internal planning tool, another potential lies in connecting partners along the value chain. By collaborating on an LCA, suppliers and customers
strengthen their relationship, gain valuable insights in markets and their success
factors, and enhance an overall exchange of experiences. This fosters innovation.
LCA is a business imperative today. Therefore successful LCA application is the
main aim in industry (Baitz et al. 2012a ).
As described earlier (Baitz et. al. 2012b ), the topic of LCA needs proper implementation in the companies: It must be manageable. Management of tasks basically
calls for two main aspects: measurable information and properly installed processes.
What gets measured gets managed.
Proper management of life cycle aspects needs a shift in the mindset: From project thinking towards process thinking. Alignment of methods, data and communication throughout the company is an important step. But why restrict the degree of
freedom in doing LCA in companies? Simply to gain quality of results, harvest the
8 From Projects to Processes to Implement Life Cycle Management in Business