Do the shortening of life cycles of technical products, electronics, household appliances, IT equipment, etc. used by producers is a solution to the potential problem of overproduction?
Not necessarily. Product lifetime is also based on production costs, which are determined by market competition, and essentially consumer driven. For example, when choosing a switch for a product, the designer knows the number of cycles the switch is designed for, and also has to take into account the product target price. The consumer knows only the price, not the lifetime, and will generally prefer the lower cost product, forcing the designer to incorporate a component with a shortened lifetime in order to meet the cost expectations. So it's your fault for choosing cheap over quality.
Shortening the PLC may reduce the number of products manufactured during a certain time period. But iver production issue may not be solved. The reason for this will be following:
1. Over production largly depends on factors such as sales forecasts, micro and macro economic factors, geopolitical situations etc
2. If the PLC is reduced that means the re engineering or revamping of the product happens, this would cause production of reengineered items increased. which causes adverse effect on over production of items.
Dear Mirna Leko-Šimić, Martin McKie, Vladimir Lelyukhin, Fernando Sánchez Quinchuela, Benny Attar, Toivo Tähemaa, Ashutosh Kumar, Hello everyone, thank you for participating in the discussion. Thank you very much for participating in this discussion and providing inspiring and informative answers to the above question: Is the shortening of product life cycles used by producers a solution to the potential problem of overproduction?
A very correct remark in terms of content. Thank you very much for your inspiring, interesting and highly substantive answer. This discussion confirms the importance of the above-mentioned issues and the legitimacy of developing research on this subject. Yes, overproduction is a problem not only related to deliberate aging, shortening product life cycles, but also a problem related to the generation of redundant products, excessive consumption, waste growth, and environmental pollution.
Intentional shortening of product life cycle and planned obsolescence are intertwined, and lead to waste of earth’s resources—an irresponsible and unethical conduct.
Dariusz. This question is classic example we teach in our lessons about marketing historic development. Types of marketing reflect a level of industrial development.
Whether shortening the life cycles of technical products used by manufacturers is not a solution to the potential problem of overproduction. Reducing the life cycles of technical products leads to an unreasonable increase in the production of products that are not needed. And this only aggravates the problems of society.
Vladimir. Thank you. You are right. But it´s one half of problem. The second half is important also. And it is an answer on a question: “Why it is that way?”
Dear Madan Batra, Preston Guynn, Peter Stuchlik, Vladimir Lelyukhin, Thank you very much for your participation in our discussion. During our joint discussion, important issues were raised regarding the issue of deliberate aging of products by producers and the problem of overproduction. Thank you for your participation and your valuable valuable contribution to our discussion. Thank you for the interesting and substantive information. The topic is important and still relevant. Overproduction generates additional environmental pollution and increases the potential costs of rehabilitating a degraded environment, waste segregation and recycling. Thus, overproduction is also contrary to the concept of pro-ecological transformation of the traditional brown economy into a sustainable green economy / circular economy.
As usually any problem has two sides of it. Process of improving production capacities started in far past. It isn’t anything new for our culture. And it has certain periodicity, even types of products are changing. On the other hand, the second side of it (the solution) is practically the same. To not allow dropping of prices by different distribution.
Firstly thanks for raising this research question. I found it interesting. If I have to consider this topic for my Master Thesis, what would be the method and approach that I have to consider as the first step?
In recent years, the importance of long-term rentals has grown rather than purchasing specific products that meet different consumer needs. Probably in the coming years, the importance of long-term rental will increase not only in the field of automotive and production factors, machines in production processes and other economic activities, but also in terms of offers addressed to citizens, consumers and individual customers. This issue may concern, inter alia, household appliances, electronics, clothing, etc. Therefore, the question arises: Is the increase in the importance of long-term rental instead of purchase an element of sustainable development and can reduce the level of overproduction and generated waste? What's your opinion on this topic? Do you agree with my opinion on this matter? What do you think about it?
Dear colleagues. For this question isn’t simple answer. The all issues presented here are true, by certain part. The process presented in the question is a mix under influence of many factors, or this situation developed because of many interlaced factors. Mostly they are economical, but not the all of them. But they have a logic. There is possibility to count influence each of them, and theirs interaction, on this process by a marketing way. But who will pay for this job? But what a knowledge of answers will change?
Yes, thank you for the answer and confirmation of the above thesis that shortening the service life, shortening the life cycles of products can lead to overproduction. And overproduction generates unnecessary over-consumption, additional use of natural resources, consumption of water and energy, and additional "production" of waste and environmental pollution.
Yes of course. The process, which is determined by shortening the life cycle of products, is determined by many factors that are related to the specificity of the product, production process, production logistics, process innovation, the level of competition, the rate of changes in consumer preferences, the service life and quality of materials from which products are made, manufacturing costs or obtaining raw materials and / or prefabricates, the scale of mass production, economies of scale, etc. However, it happens that if the products are deliberately aged so that they break quickly, wear out immediately after the warranty period expires, it generates overproduction with negative consequences . If manufacturers deliberately use product aging, e.g. by installing chips programmed for a certain number of actuations and consumer use of a certain product, the use of cheaper and lower-quality materials, etc., this results in overproduction with negative consequences. The negative effects of this type of overproduction include increased consumption of natural resources, including non-renewable natural resources, clean water, energy, etc. In addition, the effect of overproduction is the generation of unnecessary overconsumption, excessive consumption of citizens and the production of additional waste, additional greenhouse gas emissions and increased scale negative impact on the natural environment, reducing the area of green areas, higher level of environmental pollution.
Yes, I think the same too. Shortening the life cycle of products, deliberate aging of products causes overproduction, including a greater level of waste generation and environmental pollution.
That's right. Deliberate aging of products by producers, shortening the life cycles of products and technologies, forcing consumers to purchase excessive consumer purchases through marketing, generating overproduction, etc. causes faster consumption of non-renewable resources, consuming more energy, causes more greenhouse gas emissions, generates more waste, generates more pollution environment, acceleration of the global warming process, etc. Unfortunately, a significant number of consumers do not have or do not take into account pro-environmental awareness when making unnecessary consumer purchases.