Colloquia

Summary

The design phase accounts for over 80% of a product's environmental impact, emphasizing the critical role of R&D teams in integrating sustainability into product development. EXIT Toys, a Dutch SME specializing in outdoor toy equipment, exemplifies the challenges of sustainable practices due to its captive offshoring model. This entails manufacturing in China with part of its R&D team based there. Effective collaboration across global stakeholders is therefore essential but complex.

Research highlights that Dutch SMEs can benefit from strong supplier relationships, circular design principles, collaborative networks, and managing cross-cultural communication. Applying these insights, a case study led to the development of a concept for a digital collaboration platform. This platform integrates sustainability into the design phase, aligns with existing systems, and enhances agility in global collaboration.

Key features of the platform include tools tailored to EXIT Toys' product development process and a visual mock-up is developed to complement the concept. This platform offers a feasible and practical approach for EXIT Toys to strengthen global stakeholder collaboration, support sustainability efforts, and advance toward a more sustainable future.