AT&T's goal is to be a leader in applying sound environmental policies in the manufacture and operations of its products. To provide a benchmark assessment for one of AT&T's major product lines, this paper reviews the design for environment (DFE) attributes of the AT&T 5ESS® switch. Although formal DFE processes did not start in 5ESS design until 1993, the efforts thus far have resulted in a 5ESS design and assembly process that is environmentally responsible. This benchmarking exercise also is an opportunity to identify items in design and assembly that can be improved on, and modifications suggested by this review are now being made to the design rules used by AT&T Network Systems' physical designers.

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