PredictECO

Product development that considers simulation-based sustainability assessment

Businesses will need to work in a more sustainable manner in order to achieve the climate protection targets promulgated by the EU and the German government. This includes topics such as the reduction of carbon emissions, waste avoidance and the reuse of raw materials. The Federal Climate Protection Act’s goals are ambitious: It aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65 percent by 2030 and by at least 88 percent by 2040 – compared to 1990 levels. Companies that do not fulfil the requirements may even face penalties.

In order to support the economy on the path to greater sustainability, the PredictECO team has set itself the goal of optimising real-world production with the help of a virtual replica – a green digital twin. The objective is to develop a platform that is capable of evaluating the sustainability of resource-intensive manufacturing processes during the design and simulation phases. The foundation for this lies in modelling the production process based on a formalised description, akin to a ‘process language’. This contains all the flows of material, energy and information, which means that all the data expected in the process and how it is categorised are known at an early stage – a prerequisite for effectively providing the data structure for a green digital twin. Interfaces can be created based on this to produce a sustainability forecast using life cycle analysis (LCA) software. Numerical predictions and substitute models derived from these are also planned, which will subsequently enable intelligent system control. This in turn will optimise resource requirements in energy-intensive production steps, for example in thermal production processes.

The project team uses highly advanced methods and technologies, such as simulation software, intelligent analysis methods and IIoT applications. There are also parameters for predicting sustainability and for intelligently analysing all available data. The automated and standardised recording and pre-processing of real data along with the documentation and comparison of the data obtained with defined target values serve as the basis for optimisation solutions that can be implemented in practice. PredictECO formulates relevant criteria and factors that can be used to optimise the sustainability of products and how they are manufactured, from factory layout to production simulation.

In the medium term, the project team assumes that the platform will help to establish sustainability assessment as a KPI in product development among partners and customers once it has been launched in the market. This will result in competitive advantages and, ideally, evolving awareness – ultimately leading to efficient and sustainable product development in other industry segments.

Consortium:

• CONTACT Software GmbH
• German Aerospace Centre (DLR)
• Grasse Zur Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH
• INVENT Innovative Verbundwerkstoffe Realisation und Vermarktung neuer Technologien GmbH
• Maschinenbau Scholz GmbH & Co. KG
• Siemens AG
• SWMS Systemtechnik Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH