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This paper looks at a method for decomposing a manufactured product into what is called an “activity space.” The method uses an activity based costing scheme to structure the model and organize the information. It is discussed how the activity space is used to perform sustainability assessments of a manufactured product and the manufacturing process from different viewpoints and perspectives. The way in which the activity space is used to perform an assessment from several viewpoints is discussed.

This article begins by describing the need for a new method and tool for performing a sustainability assessment for manufacturing processes and systems. A brief literature survey is done to highlight the major existing methods and tools, their function, and their shortcomings. The article goes on to describe the general approach of the method before describing a computer aided tool that has been developed to implement the method. The article concludes with a walk through of a generic use case that describes where such a method would be useful and how such a tool would be implemented.