Life Cycle Assessment of PLM System Scenarios: Sensitivity Insights from an Academic Use Case

Mathis Cuzin (), Antoine Mallet, Kevin Nocentini, Benjamin Deguilhem, Victor Fau, Tom Bauer, Philippe Véron and Frédéric Segonds
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Mathis Cuzin: Laboratoire de Conception de Produit et d’Innovation, LCPI, EA 3927, Arts et Métiers Institute of Technology, F-75013 Paris, France
Antoine Mallet: Capgemini Engineering R&D, F-31100 Toulouse, France
Kevin Nocentini: Capgemini Engineering R&D, F-06616 Antibes, France
Benjamin Deguilhem: Capgemini Engineering R&D, F-31100 Toulouse, France
Victor Fau: Capgemini Engineering R&D, F-31100 Toulouse, France
Tom Bauer: Bordeaux INP, I2M, UMR 5295, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Bordeaux, F-33400 Talence, France
Philippe Véron: Laboratoire d’Ingénierie des Systèmes Physiques Et Numériques, LISPEN, EA 7515, Arts et Métiers Institute of Technology, F-13617 Aix-en-Provence, France
Frédéric Segonds: Laboratoire de Conception de Produit et d’Innovation, LCPI, EA 3927, Arts et Métiers Institute of Technology, F-75013 Paris, France

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 20, 1-37

Abstract: The 2020s represent both the digital decade and the pivotal period in the fulfillment of long-standing commitments made by public, private, and institutional actors in favor of sustainable development. In the manufacturing context, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems are used during the design phase to reduce product environmental footprint. However, only a few studies have thoroughly identified the environmental impacts associated with these technological solutions. This study proposes a sensitivity analysis of five environmental impact categories associated with two PLM system architectures and three mitigation scenarios. To this end, we use an engineering school as a representative PLM system case study, relying on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology and leveraging specialized tools that enable the execution and comparative analysis of multiple LCA scenarios. Our results consistently identify the manufacturing and usage phases of PLM system users’ equipment as the main contributors of the PLM system to climate change, acidification, and the depletion of abiotic mineral and metal resources. End-of-life contributes significantly to particulate matter impact, and usage phase, in a nuclear mix country, to ionizing radiation. The policy of purchasing and reselling reconditioned users’ equipment is clearly identified as a key lever for reducing the magnitude of these five environmental impacts.

Keywords: product lifecycle management; PLM; environmental life cycle assessment; E-LCA; LCA; ICT; enterprise architecture; sensitivity analysis; case study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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