Integration of a product stewardship program: a case study

Seagate Technology is a $7 billion/year, highly-integrated and market-leading manufacturer of hard disc drives. In 1998, after many years of responding to customer inquiries regarding the environmental attributes of its products, the company embarked on the development of a formal corporate product stewardship program, including hiring a full-time professional to manage the program and the implementation of a corporate-wide standard for product design that was to be adopted throughout the product development process. In any industry with relentless cost and time-to-market pressures, the program needed to be integrated into existing product development process-rather than built as a separate task-wherever possible. Support for and active engagement from representatives of the product development community, sales and marketing community, and procurement community with in the company needed to be obtained This case study presents the approach undertaken by Seagate to achieve these business and environmental goals and the lessons learned in the process.