Application of a Modified Production Quality Tool for Environmental Impact Assessment of Lead-free Solder Alternatives

摘要

The purpose of this paper is to develop an economic and environmental assessment model for the impact assessment of existing alternatives to lead-based solders. The study is based on one existing product quality tool --- the customer-oriented Quality Function Deployment (QFD), used for incorporation of stakeholder demands into product design criteria. This tool was selected for use in this study because of the natural links and common fundamentals that exist between quality management and environmental impact assessment, and because QFD is relatively well known and used in industry for product design, development and production decisions. We use the modified QFD tool as a system for translating the voice of the public, government and industry into appropriate impact requirements at each stage of the life cycle for lead-free solders, to examine recent studies on the toxicity and environmental impacts of lead and other solder alternatives and to provide a robust support for final policy-making with respect to lead-free solders in the US.