1 Life Cycle Approaches on Product Realization: meeting the challenges of future production research M. Wiktorsson 1 , G. Sivard 2 , T. Kjellberg (1) 2 1 School of Innovation, Design and Engineering. Mälardalen University, Sweden 2 Computer Systems for Design and Manufacturing, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. Abstract The global increase of manufacturing activities and the need for sustainability, calls for manufacturing strategies and technologies with reduced environmental impact. This paper presents a part of a strategic research initiative in Sweden, established by an ambitious industry-academic collaboration. A cross-organizational and cross-disciplinary focus area has been formulated to develop leading-edge production research for the future: Life cycle approaches on product realization. The research considers the total life cycle of the product and production system on three levels: (1) On a process level, with manufacturing tech- nologies supporting products with high energy efficiency and low materials usage. (2) On a system level, with an extended production system design for the total life cycle of the production and product portfolio. (3) On an infor- mation level, with methods and tools covering the life cy- cles of products and production. Keywords: Life cycle, research program, product realization 1 INTRODUCTION An increase in global manufacturing activities is evident. Globalisation and welfare improvements leads to an increase in product demand and in- creased manufacturing activity – we have seen a 43% increase of manu- facturing activities worldwide 1996-2006 [1]. Meanwhile, the need for sus- tainability and absolute decrease in emissions and negative environmental effects, drive a need for technology and strategies that globally will reduce environmental impact of manufacturing. Thus, there is a need for large improvements in terms of resource productivity – “doing more with less”. [2] Future products will be based on an innovative use of emergent materials and with embedded intelligence for high strength, low weight and high