Improving Product Development by Design-for-X (DfX) Support.

This paper presents possible new business practices that are being created by the PROMISE technologies (PROduct lifecycle Management and Information tracking using Smart Embedded systems). The aim is to facilitate and exploit the seamless flow, tracing, and updating of information about a product in all lifecycle phases, and thereby to enable feedback from post-sales phases to the design phase. Basis for this complete lifecycle management are product embedded information devices (PEIDs) and software tools for decision making and management of product-related knowledge based on field data gathered through a product's lifecycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]