Weight Reduction

It is often possible to reduce the weight of products through a variety of methods including reducing the quantity of material, using lighter weight materials and reducing the requirements of the product.

Pros: Reduced material consumption and improved efficiency of moving products
Cons: Some ‘lightweight’ engineering materials have high environmental impacts associated with them compared to more basic materials
Pros: Possible reduced material costs and reduced distribution costs
Cons: Possible increased material, production and development costs due to increased complexity and high-tech materials
Pros: Reduced running costs of energy consuming products and increased performance
Cons: Increased toxicity of some high performance materials may endanger manufacturing staff