Product Life Cycle Stages Explained
The product life cycle has 4 very clearly defined stages, each with its own characteristics that mean different things for business that are trying to manage the life cycle of their particular products.
Introduction Stage – This stage of the cycle could be the most expensive for a company launching a new product. The size of the market for the product is small, which means sales are low, although they will be increasing. On the other hand, the cost of things like research and development, consumer testing, and the marketing needed to launch the product can be very high, especially if it’s a competitive sector.
Growth Stage – The growth stage is typically characterized by a strong growth in sales and profits, and because the company can start to benefit from economies of scale in production, the profit margins, as well as the overall amount of profit, will increase. This makes it possible for businesses to invest more money in the promotional activity to maximize the potential of this growth stage.
Maturity Stage – During the maturity stage, the product is established and the aim for the manufacturer is now to maintain the market share they have built up. This is probably the most competitive time for most products and businesses need to invest wisely in any marketing they undertake. They also need to consider any product modifications or improvements to the production process which might give them a competitive advantage.
Decline Stage – Eventually, the market for a product will start to shrink, and this is what’s known as the decline stage. This shrinkage could be due to the market becoming saturated (i.e. all the customers who will buy the product have already purchased it), or because the consumers are switching to a different type of product. While this decline may be inevitable, it may still be possible for companies to make some profit by switching to less-expensive production methods and cheaper markets.
Product Life Cycle Examples
It’s possible to provide examples of various products to illustrate the different stages of the product life cycle more clearly. Here is the example of watching recorded television and the various stages of each method: 1. Introduction – 3D TVs 2. Growth – Blueray discs/DVR 3. Maturity – DVD 4. Decline – Video cassette
The idea of the product life cycle has been around for some time, and it is an important principle manufacturers need to understand in order to make a profit and stay in business.
However, the key to successful manufacturing is not just understanding this life cycle, but also proactively managing products throughout their lifetime, applying the appropriate resources and sales and marketing strategies, depending on what stage products are at in the cycle

What is Product Life Cycle Management with concept
Just about all manufactured products have a limited life, and during this life they will pass through four product life cycle stages; Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline. In each of these stages manufacturers face a different set of challenges. Product life cycle management is the application of different strategies to help meet these challenges and ensure that, whatever stage of the cycle a product may be going through, the manufacturer can maximize sales and profits for their product.
Product Life Cycle Management (Focus area)
To effectively manage the product life cycle, organisations need to have a very strong focus on a number of key business areas:
Development: Before a product can begin its life cycle, it needs to be developed. Research and new product development is one of the first and possibly most important phases of the manufacturing process that companies will need to spend time and money on, in order to make sure that the product is a success.
Financing: Manufacturers will usually need significant funds in order to launch a new product and sustain it through the Introduction stage, but further investment through the Growth and Maturity stages may be financed by the profits from sales. In the Decline Stage, additional investment may be needed to adapt the manufacturing process or move into new markets. Throughout the life cycle of a product, companies need to consider the most appropriate way to finance their costs in order to maximize profit potential.
Marketing: During a product’s life, companies will need to adapt their marketing and promotional activity depending on which stage of the cycle the product is passing through. As the market develops and matures, the consumers attitude to the product will change. So the marketing and promotional activity that launches a new product in the Introduction Stage, will need to be very different from the campaigns that will be designed to protect market share during the Maturity Stage.
Manufacturing: The cost of manufacturing a product can change during its life cycle. To begin with, new processes and equipment mean costs are high, especially with a low sales volume. As the market develops and production increases, costs will start to fall; and when more efficient and cheaper methods of production are found, these costs can fall even further. As well as focusing on marketing to make more sales and profit, companies also need to look at ways of reducing cost throughout the manufacturing process.
Information: Whether it’s data about the potential market that will make a new product viable, feedback about different marketing campaigns to see which are most effective, or monitoring the growth and eventual decline of the market in order to decide on the most appropriate response, information is crucial to the success of any product. Manufacturers that efficiently manage their products along the product life cycle curve are usually those that have developed the most effective information systems
Most manufacturers accept their products will have a limited life. While there may not be much they can do to change that, by focusing on the key business areas mentioned, product life cycle management allows them to make sure that a product will be as successful as possible during its life cycle stages, however long that might be.
What is LCA?
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a technique for assessing the potential environmental aspects and potential aspects associated with a product (or service), by: * compiling an inventory of relevant inputs and outputs, * evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with those inputs and outputs, * interpreting the results of the inventory and impact phases in relation to the objectives of the study.

Life-cycle assessments (LCAs) involve cradle-to-grave analyses of production systems and provide comprehensive evaluations of all upstream and downstream energy inputs and multimedia environmental emissions. LCAs can be costly and time-consuming, thus limiting their use as analysis techniques in both the public and private sectors. Streamlined techniques for conducting LCAs are needed to lower the cost and time involved with LCA and to encourage a broader audience to begin using LCA.
Life Cycle Assessment is a process to evaluate the environmental burdens associated with a product, process, or activity by identifying and quantifying energy and materials used and wastes released to the environment; to assess the impact of those energy and materials used and releases to the environment; and to identify and evaluate opportunities to affect environmental improvements. The assessment includes the entire life cycle of the product, process or activity, encompassing, extracting and processing raw materials; manufacturing, transportation and distribution; use, re-use, maintenance; recycling, and final disposal.
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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used as a tool to assess the environmental impacts of a product, process or activity throughout its life cycle; from the extraction of raw materials through to processing, transport, use and disposal. In its early days it was primarily used for product comparisons, for example to compare the environmental impacts of disposable and reusable products. Today its applications include government policy, strategic planning, marketing, consumer education, process improvement and product design. It is also used as the basis of eco-labelling and consumer education programs throughout the world

RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY
Recycling is a process by which used materials are remade to form a new product (Altschuller, 1997). The process of ELV recycling is defined as follows:
Dismantling: The recycling value of the components is highly increased in the dismantling process and allows the reusability of the product. The dismantling industry has a great potential. However, the full implementation of the EU directive for ELV dismantling is highly limited at present because it is labor intensive and uneconomical. Only a few high value components are removed the vehicle before sending to the shredding process. Dismantling companies can be branded into two types of businesses, the first comprises high value parts businesses that remove and inventory the useful and high value parts for resale. The other comprises scrap yard businesses that store the ELVs while the parts are gradually removed and then sold to local repair shops as well as Do it Yourself (DIY) owners.
De-pollution processes: De-pollution processes are seen as the removal of hazardous substances, battery, fluids, tyres etc. It is good to note that high value components are removed via manual disassembly. Several small facilities separate pure stream plastic for direct selling to recyclers and re-processors. The rest of the vehicle body is subjected to shredding operations for post-fragmentation recovery. Once the ferrous content has been recovered, the non-ferrous scraps are removed through dense media separation processes. The remaining components are sent to landfills.
Shredding process: This is another process of ELV disposal. Shredding industries can process large quantities of ELVs at capital-intensive sites. The main output from this process is ferrous metal, which is sent to steel industries for recycling (Mat Saman and Blount, 2008). In the shredding process, rotating hammers rip a part the compressed ELV, dropping it easily from the output grid where the light materials are separated from the heavy materials (such as plastic from steel). However, the process efficiency depends on the characteristics of the applied design. Therefore, recycling success can be increased by considering the hierarchies of the recycling process in the early design stages. Such hierarchy can be divided into four components, namely reuse, recycle, recovery and waste as shown in Fig. 4. The figure indicates that the component reuse is the first priority in product design processes.