ABSTRACT
The purpose of the life cycle inventory is to develop a life cycle assessment of a product. This assessment is chartered by the company management to aid in part of the product's design. The company may be interested in the impact it is having directly or indirectly through its products for any number of reasons. Most of the time it is due to some regulatory concern or to improve the company's image and customer market share. The life cycle analysis will provide an estimate of the impact the company is having on the environment or its MANPRINT. It will point out areas where the impact is the greatest and allow the user to compare his or her design or product to another competing design or product. It will not, however, directly determine what to do about any impacts. Waste minimization is another step. However, the life cycle analysis will provide guidance regarding where to put the emphasis on waste minimization and possible product/design improvements. It will also provide information to the design community to consider improvements during the design stage. That the designers cause most of the pollution from the product is not often clear to a design engineer. The use of the information from a life cycle analysis will help the designer better understand his or her role in a nonthreatening manner.
