Exploring the Potentials of Advanced Systems Engineering and Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Product Development in German industry

Advanced Systems Engineering (ASE) is a new paradigm that approaches engineering practices for future market solutions. Frugal Innovation (FI) represents a promising concept that focuses on sustainable solutions with limited resources. According to the authors, frugal innovation may have a significant impact on sustainable product development but lacks engineering approaches for the systematic development of frugal products. Exploring the links between ASE and FI could help to identify suitable fields of application to ensure sustainable product development. The analysis is based on a comprehensive study on frugal innovation in German mechanical and plant engineering that was recently conducted by the authors. Therefore, this paper explores potential patterns to integrate Advanced Systems Engineering for the development of frugal innovations based on findings from the German mechanical and plant engineering sector.