Wolfgang Wimmer – författare

Up to now, environmental policies have relied mainly on rules, regulations, and prohibitions. This kind of environmental policy -- a clearly reactive approach – has shown a mounting array of limitations. There is a clear need to seek new solutions, in particular those involving the initiative of firms themselves. Since the mid-1980’s, a new approach called “environmental management” has been established in research and practical applications; it is designed to systematically integrate environmental considerations into company activities. If, for instance, environmental objectives are being formulated for an enterprise, it is imperative to identify, highlight, and analyze real and significant environmental impacts of the firm''s activities and to take appropriate measures to improve its performance. Controlling and implementing these environmental objectives requires suitable structures, procedures, and tools. Many motivated companies have approached the issue of environmental management through incorporating methods such “continual improvement processes” and “Life Cycle Assessment” into the various operational activities of the enterprise. Some firms initiated such transformation processes at their own production sites because it was easier to identify their own environmental impacts than to analyze, let alone mitigate, the effects of upstream and downstream processes. However, in many cases these processes are decisive factors in the overall environmental performance of a product. It has become clear that product design can influence these processes to a great extent.

Up to now, environmental policies have relied mainly on rules, regulations, and prohibitions. This kind of environmental policy -- a clearly reactive approach – has shown a mounting array of limitations. There is a clear need to seek new solutions, in particular those involving the initiative of firms themselves. Since the mid-1980’s, a new approach called “environmental management” has been established in research and practical applications; it is designed to systematically integrate environmental considerations into company activities. If, for instance, environmental objectives are being formulated for an enterprise, it is imperative to identify, highlight, and analyze real and significant environmental impacts of the firm's activities and to take appropriate measures to improve its performance. Controlling and implementing these environmental objectives requires suitable structures, procedures, and tools. Many motivated companies have approached the issue of environmental management through incorporating methods such “continual improvement processes” and “Life Cycle Assessment” into the various operational activities of the enterprise. Some firms initiated such transformation processes at their own production sites because it was easier to identify their own environmental impacts than to analyze, let alone mitigate, the effects of upstream and downstream processes. However, in many cases these processes are decisive factors in the overall environmental performance of a product. It has become clear that product design can influence these processes to a great extent.

Up to now, environmental policies have relied mainly on rules, regulations, and prohibitions. This kind of environmental policy -- a clearly reactive approach – has shown a mounting array of limitations. There is a clear need to seek new solutions, in particular those involving the initiative of firms themselves. Since the mid-1980’s, a new approach called “environmental management” has been established in research and practical applications; it is designed to systematically integrate environmental considerations into company activities. If, for instance, environmental objectives are being formulated for an enterprise, it is imperative to identify, highlight, and analyze real and significant environmental impacts of the firm's activities and to take appropriate measures to improve its performance. Controlling and implementing these environmental objectives requires suitable structures, procedures, and tools. Many motivated companies have approached the issue of environmental management through incorporating methods such “continual improvement processes” and “Life Cycle Assessment” into the various operational activities of the enterprise. Some firms initiated such transformation processes at their own production sites because it was easier to identify their own environmental impacts than to analyze, let alone mitigate, the effects of upstream and downstream processes. However, in many cases these processes are decisive factors in the overall environmental performance of a product. It has become clear that product design can influence these processes to a great extent.

Stakeholders such as environmental directives and customer demands for reducing environmental impacts of a product require innovative and environmentally improved products. Therefore a systematic approach and effective methods and tools are needed in the early phase of product development.The basic elements for optimized process management in the design department are described in this book.The book provides twelve easy to follow steps for implementing ECODESIGN in a company. It gives clear advice how to integrate environmental considerations into product design and development, and combines ECODESIGN with Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Communication. Chapters on Product modeling, Life Cycle Assessment, ECODESIGN tasks, Product Improvement and Environmental Communication use the previously developed ECODESIGN PILOT (www.ecodesign.at/pilot) and show its application to a real product example.The book comes with two web tools: one is the ECODESIGN PILOT, used to find measures to environmentally improve a product within a short time. The other is the ECODESIGN PILOT's Assistant (www.ecodesign.at/assist): an expert system, which helps to find the right improvement strategy for a product.Audience: This book will be of interest to environmental and sustainability managers, engineers in research and product development, to designers, environmental experts, and consultants, as well as to students working in this field.

Carl Zeiss wurde am 11. September 1816 in Weimar geboren. 1846 legte er mit einer kleinen Werkstatt für Feinmechanik und Optik in Jena den Grundstein für das heute weltweit erfolgreiche Unternehmen ZEISS. Anlässlich seines 200. Geburtstages erscheint eine aktuelle Biografie über den Pionier des optischen Gerätebaus, der der Wissenschaft die Augen für neue Welten öffnete. Ob Brillen- und Ferngläser, Foto- und Filmobjektive, Mikroskope, Planetarien oder mikrochirurgische Instrumente: Die Marke ZEISS steht für Technologie an der Grenze des Machbaren. Über den Unternehmensgründer Carl Zeiss (1816–1888) ist relativ wenig bekannt. Wer war der Mann, der von Jena aus den optischen Gerätebau zu revolutionieren begann? Stand hinter dem Aufstieg der Firma ein durchdachtes unternehmerisches Konzept, oder wurde Carl Zeiss vom eigenen Erfolg überrascht und schließlich überholt? Der Historiker Stephan Paetrow und das Carl Zeiss Archiv folgen dem Leben und Wirken der Privatperson, des Technikers und Unternehmers Carl Zeiss. Die Biografie fragt aber auch nach der Aktualität des Zeiss’schen Vermächtnisses – in Gesprächen mit der Familie, Vertretern des Unternehmens und herausragenden Wissenschaftlern der Gegenwart.

Be it eyeglasses or telescopes, camera or movie lenses, microscopes or microsurgical instruments, the ZEISS brand stands for technology that pushes the limits of what is possible. Relatively little is known about the company’s founder Carl Zeiss (1816 – 1888). Who was the man who set about revolutionizing optical device construction from his workshop in the small town of Jena ? Was the company established on solid entrepreneurial foundations, or was Carl Zeiss surprised, and ultimately overwhelmed, by his own success? The historian Stephan Paetrow and the Head of the ZEISS Archives, Wolfgang Wimmer, have embarked on a journey to discover the life and work of a man who was a husband, a technician and an entrepreneur: this is the story of Carl Zeiss. This biography also takes a look at how topical the Zeiss legacy is by talking to a family member, company representatives and an extraordinary scientist of the modern era.

Stakeholders such as environmental directives and customer demands for reducing environmental impacts of a product require innovative and environmentally improved products. Therefore a systematic approach and effective methods and tools are needed in the early phase of product development.The basic elements for optimized process management in the design department are described in this book.The book provides twelve easy to follow steps for implementing ECODESIGN in a company. It gives clear advice how to integrate environmental considerations into product design and development, and combines ECODESIGN with Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Communication. Chapters on Product modeling, Life Cycle Assessment, ECODESIGN tasks, Product Improvement and Environmental Communication use the previously developed ECODESIGN PILOT (www.ecodesign.at/pilot) and show its application to a real product example.The book comes with two web tools: one is the ECODESIGN PILOT, used to find measures to environmentally improve a product within a short time. The other is the ECODESIGN PILOT's Assistant (www.ecodesign.at/assist): an expert system, which helps to find the right improvement strategy for a product.Audience: This book will be of interest to environmental and sustainability managers, engineers in research and product development, to designers, environmental experts, and consultants, as well as to students working in this field.

Dealing with environmental issues should no longer be considered simply as a cost of doing business. Effective environmental improvements to a company’s products and services can be turned into business opportunities. This book was written with the express purpose of helping managers of companies, in particular of Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), to better deal with environmental challenges and address customer requirements, all in order to turn their environmental inve- ments into competitive market advantages. Several examples are provided throughout the book, but also warning signs (Alert Boxes). These “Alerts” are posted to help managers avoid typical traps when working with environmental considerations in business processes. The authors have many years of experience in the various aspects of impleme- ing Ecodesign. This experience includes working in industry for many years; le- ing the environmental departments in a multinational company; managing research projects in eco-product development; Life Cycle Assessment; and national and international environmental communication and marketing. This book is the latest in a series. The 2002 “Ecodesign Pilot” introduced a tool and software to help design more environmentally compatible products. It was directed specifically at designers. The 2004 book, “Ecodesign Implementation”, was written to help project managers optimize product development processes from an environmental perspective.

Dealing with environmental issues should no longer be considered simply as a cost of doing business. Effective environmental improvements to a company’s products and services can be turned into business opportunities. This book was written with the express purpose of helping managers of companies, in particular of Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), to better deal with environmental challenges and address customer requirements, all in order to turn their environmental inve- ments into competitive market advantages. Several examples are provided throughout the book, but also warning signs (Alert Boxes). These “Alerts” are posted to help managers avoid typical traps when working with environmental considerations in business processes. The authors have many years of experience in the various aspects of impleme- ing Ecodesign. This experience includes working in industry for many years; le- ing the environmental departments in a multinational company; managing research projects in eco-product development; Life Cycle Assessment; and national and international environmental communication and marketing. This book is the latest in a series. The 2002 “Ecodesign Pilot” introduced a tool and software to help design more environmentally compatible products. It was directed specifically at designers. The 2004 book, “Ecodesign Implementation”, was written to help project managers optimize product development processes from an environmental perspective.