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Organizations increasingly adopt ecological product design techniques to lessen their harmful impacts on the natural environment. Theory about ecological product design remains in an early stage of development though. The present study focuses on organizational integration capabilities and their conceptual relation to ecological product design, such that they can be redeployed, expanded, and leveraged to affect manufacturing performance. Drawing on data collected from 769 Russian manufacturers and using structural equation modeling, this study shows that cross-functional integration and technological integration mediate the relationship between ecological product design and manufacturing performance. In this Russian context though, customer integration does not function as a mediator. These findings have implications for theory and practice related to both ecological product design and environmental operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glass fibre is the most widely used material for reinforcing thermoplastic matrices presently and its use continues to grow. A significant disadvantage of glass fibre, however, is its impact on the environment, in particular, due to the fact that glass fibre-reinforced composite materials are difficult to recycle. Polyamide 6 is an engineering plastic frequently used as a matrix for high-mechanical performance composites. Producing polyamide monomer requires the use of a large amount of energy and can also pose harmful environmental impacts. Consequently, glass fibre-reinforced Polyamide 6 composites cannot be considered environmentally friendly. In this work, we assessed the performance of a road cycling pedal body consisting of a composite of natural Polyamide 11 reinforced with lignocellulosic fibres from stone-ground wood, as an alternative to the conventional glass fibre-reinforced Polyamide 6 composite (the most common material used for recreational purposes). We developed a 3D model of a pedal with a geometry based on a combination of two existing commercial choices and used it to perform three finite-element tests in order to assess its strength under highly demanding static and cyclic conditions. A supplementary life cycle analysis of the pedal was also performed to determine the ecological impact. Based on the results of the simulation tests, the pedal is considered to be mechanically viable and has a significantly lower environmental impact than fully synthetic composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]