A specialized checklist was developed and tested on nine different automotive lightweight case studies to check the sustainable performance of an automotive design in the early stages of product development to compensate for the unavailability of a traditional sustainability check due to insufficient data [13]. LCA and its importance in sustainable product development have been discussed in the literature over the years [14]. After a review of over 100 studies, problems with the current approaches to LCA were revealed and analytical and theoretical solutions were provided. Research suggests that engineers involved in sustainable product development can benefit from the use of MCDM as a tool [15]. An integrated methodology was developed and tested for the material selection of a case component. The results proved that although not alone, when combined with other techniques, MCDM is a tool that can be used in any landscape.

A procedure was devised to help managers decide on important quality control aspects, using RPN to define the relative importance of the factors involved such as suppliers and the creation of homogeneous families over the sole product code approach [16]. FMEA was used to improve OEE using a five-step approach to a bottleneck process by Chong et al. [17]. A potential problem in bearing manufacture was resolved by Thakore et al. (2015) using FMEA based on suggestions proposed to avoid long-term risk and losses. FMEA was applied to the Brazilian Automobile Industry to understand the sequence of events leading to failure in their analysis to understand the cause and effect [18].

A study of an electric vehicle dealing with the application of ECQFD to early product design to ensure sustainability was conducted by Vinodh and Rathod (2010) to ensure the effectiveness of applying a questionnaire-based validation to EMV [19]. The QFD Kano approach categorized product attributes efficiently [20]. This effectively employs complaints and claims as an alternative source of customer needs. A structure was proposed to relate the network and site viewpoints using QFD in various aspects [21]. This study also offers the basis of creating relationship maps of the site and network capabilities, network arrangement and coordination, and the auxiliary and infrastructural paradigms. A QFD approach was designed by Kuo et al. (2009) that combines environmental concerns in the design development stage [22]. To reduce uncertainty and bias, a fuzzy method was integrated into QFD.

The application of TRIZ was elucidated by deploying it for the innovative design of a butterfly valve [23]. TRIZ and a framework methodology with a case study were employed in the problem-solving and forecasting of chemical engineering commercial product development, and a systematic and reliable method of innovative design was proposed [24]. TRIZ and six sigma for the development of a new product were proposed by Wang et al. (2016) [25]. A technique was developed that first systematically integrated QFD and TRIZ for innovative product development and applied it to innovate an existing product by Yamashina et al. (2010) [26].

Environmental supply chain management (ESCM) has received more attention in recent years. Life cycle evaluation (LCA) is one of ESCM’s auxiliary tools. Research organizations and businesses are increasingly supporting the idea of incorporating LCA into supply chains. A method for evaluating the environmental effects of a product over its life cycle is life cycle assessment. This analysis of how the life cycle stages contribute to the overall environmental burden, typically with the goal of prioritizing improvements of products or processes, and the comparison of products for internal use are among the most crucial applications. The LCA method aids in the selection of key environmental behavior indicators for organizations, along with measurement and assessment methods, particularly in relation to the evaluation of the state of the environment, the search for the most suitable life cycles such as those that have little or no adverse environmental impact, and marketing with a connection to the creation of environmental declarations or eco-labeling. The results from LCA can guide strategic planning, inform public policy, and help identify opportunities for improvement in industrial processes. LCAs make it possible to compare various items. LCAs can also be used to identify regions of production with high environmental impact, allowing the design and evaluation of alternative production pathways. This helps to improve the design of products, processes, and systems.

Fuzzy TOPSIS was used to rank barriers to environment conscious manufacturing based on different perspectives by Mittal and Sanghwan (2014) [27]. The fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS models were integrated to determine the assistance to the poor [28]. A comparison between fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS with seven factors determined that overall, fuzzy TOPSIS offers better consistency in the results when additional alternatives, optimal or non-optimal, are introduced [29,30]. Fuzzy TOPSIS was applied to select optimal locations for electric vehicle charging stations and a sensitivity analysis was conducted to evaluate the robustness of the decision. The application was described as “reasonably effective, practical and robust” [31,32,33].

QFD and FMEA were combined to conduct a case study within Ford Motor Company to demonstrate the benefits of using both tools [34]. The integration of ECQFD and LCA has been suggested to be practically feasible for sustainable product development and validated with case studies [35]. The integration of QFD and TRIZ was proposed by Liu et al. (2009), with QFD being used to amend the correlation matrix obtained from TRIZ to attain the ideal result [10]. Hu et al. further integrated FMEA with QFD and TRIZ whereas Vinodh et al. (2013) integrated an MCDM approach (AHP) with QFD and TRIZ [3,36].

One of the most popular techniques for assisting risk analysis in corporate operations is FMEA. Some studies combine FMEA with multicriteria decision approaches in an effort to give it new characteristics. FMEA is an approach for identifying possible difficulties with reliability early in the development cycle, when it is simpler to take steps to address them, hence improving the dependability via the design. Potential failure modes are identified using FMEA, along with their impact on the product’s functionality and potential remedies. TRIZ has been marketed as a strategy or toolkit that offers a rational approach to fostering creativity for innovation and creative problem solving by a number of enthusiasts. Over 35 nations have adopted this approach since it first appeared in Russia in the 1960s. It is currently being taught at a number of universities and has been used by a number of international organizations, which have found it to be especially helpful in fostering the development of new products [37].

From the extensive literature review conducted, it was observed that researchers have tested multiple combinations of methodologies to create a framework for sustainable product development, but no work has combined the FMEA, QFD, TRIZ, and fuzzy TOPSIS techniques. In few studies, ECQFD has been underutilized in sustainable product development works and VOCs have only concentrated on remanufacturing. Additionally, customer requirements have been overlooked in many sustainable development projects to accommodate engineering requirements. Fuzzy theory MCDM approaches, which provide relatively indiscriminate results, have not been integrated with innovative product development. All the similar proposed methodologies involve a high level of complexity in their deployment to improve existing products. Hence, in this study, a novel attempt is made to provide an easy to adopt holistic framework methodology for sustainable product development by integrating FMEA, ECQFD, TRIZ, LCA, and fuzzy TOPSIS.