Análise do processo de desenvolvimento de produtos do setor moveleiro de Santa Maria sob uma perspectiva ambiental

Abstract

The environmentally responsible companies have looked for strategies to minimize the environmental impacts of its products and processes and at the same time they try to be more competitive. The end-of-pipe technologies are no longer enough to evolve towards sustainability; it is necessary efficient pro-active attitudes as the integration of the environment during the development process of the products. The purpose of this study is to draw a panorama about the question of the environmental sustainability during the products development process at the furniture industry in the city of Santa Maria, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, trying to show ways to make better the environmental sustainability of the sector. It was carried out a literature review where it was analyzed the strategies and tools known, which could be relevant to the development process of the products and also help to better understand the opportunities that are already being used. The development process was divided in the pre-production-phase represented by the furniture designers, production-manufacture-phase, represented by the furniture factories and post-production-distribution phase represented by the stores that work with furniture. It was analyzed separately the strategies and tools that can be used in each phase. After, it was carried out a qualitative survey through a questionnaire with different actors involved in the process (designers, store owners, manufacturers) where it was evaluated the environmental posture of the sector as a whole. After, based on the result got in the survey, it was suggested some improvement opportunities in the furniture sector in Santa Maria in favor of the environmental sustainability without forgetting the main obstacles to such opportunities and ways of surrounding them.