A Holistic Sustainability Risk Evaluation Methodology for Electronics Manufacturing

Abstract

Electronics manufacturing faces sustainability risks across the full cradle-to-grave life cycle, from materials and wet processes to energy-intensive assembly and end-of-life disposal. Managing these risks consistently requires a holistic and transparent approach. While the Risk Priority Number (RPN) from Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is widely used for risk prioritization, its simplicity hides limits like scale ambiguity, equal weighting of factors, and weak treatment of existing controls. This article introduces an ISO 31000-aligned, FMEA-based methodology for sustainability risk assessment of electronic devices that retains the simplicity and transparency of the classic RPN while improving prioritization and explainability. The approach is demonstrated on an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) electricity meter, focusing on environmental risks across two life-cycle stages (component manufacturing and product assembly) and is compared with the classic RPN (Severity × Occurrence × Detectability) baseline. Results show clearer prioritization and more transparent rationale for actions across life-cycle stages. The key novelty is a control-aware, weighted RPN that yields auditable, comparable, and management-ready priorities. The framework is also adaptable and can be tailored to other products and contexts.