Process for Climate Strategy Development in Industrial Companies

Climate neutrality has been gaining more and more attention as a long-term goal for companies among different industries. Since this goal can hardly be achieved in the short term and requires a complex interaction of different measures, it calls for a strategic approach. This article presents a strategy process for manufacturing companies striving for climate neutrality. The strategy process consists of three macro phases: preparation phase, strategy development phase and operational implementation phase, which are iteratively carried out. The macro phases are each divided into different meso phases, which include guiding questions that must be answered by different internal stakeholders and process participants. Moreover, necessary results are described which must be available after each phase to enter the next one. The procedure is based on existing models for the description of strategy processes and approaches from the field of energy and environmental management. It combines them into a strategic approach for deriving climate strategies of industrial companies. The developed strategy process is applied to and evaluated at the ETA factory at the Technical University of Darmstadt

Design Model For Traceability-Supported Assessment Of Product Carbon Footprint

The established approaches for calculating the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) only allow a cause-related determination of used resources to a limited extent. Even in situations where the direct measurement of resource consumption is recommended, PCF calculation is mainly carried out by means of allocation or estimations in industrial practice. In contrast, the use of traceability data offers promising opportunities for increasing the component specific transparency by linking continuously recorded resource flows and data available in software systems with time stamps and component/order IDs (traceability data). Based on the available component-specific database, companies can identify drivers and hotspots of carbon emissions for individual products and derive targeted measures to reduce these emissions. This paper outlines a concept for a traceability-supported design model to determine the PCF based on the existing framework of LCA. Therefore, a literature review is conducted to identify and analyze existing concepts regarding the determination of PCF as well as requirements for a traceability-supported approach. By conducting an expert survey, these requirements derived from literature are evaluated and prioritized. Finally, the results are used to develop a design model for a traceability supported approach to determine the PCF and to indicate future research needs

Sustainability and Circular Economy in Learning Factories – Case Studies

Since the mitigation of climate change is one of the biggest challenges to face on a global scale, the topic has become more relevant also in industrial context. Learning factories have proven to be suitable environments to address and convey competencies to tackle industrial challenges in an interactive way. Hence, several learning factories are already dealing with sustainability topics in various use cases. This paper strives to present a state of the art of sustainability and circular economy in learning factories. Therefore, a classification framework is developed based on the state of the art of several learning factories and existing literature regarding the topic. This framework is then used to systematically describe the different activities regarding sustainability and circular economy that are currently ongoing in learning factories worldwide. This can be used to get an idea about the different aspects of the topic and how to address them, but furthermore also offers assistance to identify “blind spots” which could and should be addressed in learning factories in the future

Process for climate strategy development in industrial companies

Climate neutrality has been gaining more and more attention as a long-term goal for companies among different industries. Since this goal can hardly be achieved in the short term and requires a complex interaction of different measures, it calls for a strategic approach. This article presents a strategy process for manufacturing companies striving for climate neutrality. The strategy process consists of three macro phases: preparation phase, strategy development phase and operational implementation phase, which are iteratively carried out. The macro phases are each divided into different meso phases, which include guiding questions that must be answered by different internal stakeholders and process participants. Moreover, necessary results are described which must be available after each phase to enter the next one. The procedure is based on existing models for the description of strategy processes and approaches from the field of energy and environmental management. It combines them into a strategic approach for deriving climate strategies of industrial companies. The developed strategy process is applied to and evaluated at the ETA factory at the Technical University of Darmstadt

Approach for design of low carbon footprint paint shops in the automotive industry

To mitigate the ongoing progress of climate change, the European Commission announced in the European Green Deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% until 2030 compared to the reference year 1990 and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 [1]. In this context, the industry in particular faces environmental challenges due to its high energy demand. To achieve the objective of becoming climate-neutral, increasing the energy and resource efficiency in the industry is crucial, because a large proportion of the greenhouse gases released are emitted during the provision of energy. In the automotive industry, paint shops are among the most energy-intensive processes and have great potentials for efficiency measures. These potentials can be identified with the assistance of energy or CO2 balancing methods. This publication presents a tool to analyse the energy efficiency potentials of automotive paint shops. The approach offers the possibility to parameterize different painting processes and their sub-processes. After defining the process requirements, a thermodynamic and process engineering simulation of the individual process steps enables the identification of potentials for energy and resource savings and CO2 reduction in existing or planned painting processes. In a validation on a real reference scenario, the simulated CO2 emissions of a paint shop were reduced by up to 24%

Model-based method for low-effort part-specific CO2-accounting during the production on machine tools using PLC data

Against the backdrop of advancing climate change, the pressure on industry as the second largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide is increasing. Climate neutrality and the effects on the climate of products or services are gaining more and more political and social attention. Thus, this paper is dedicated to the investigation of the holistic influence of machined components on greenhouse gas emissions. Optimisations can only be achieved through a profound understanding of the important factors in relation to climate neutrality of industrial production. To this end, a method is developed that allows the low-effort quantification of part-specific greenhouse gases emitted during the production on a CNC machine tool. Validating experiments are conducted in a real industrial environment. Finally, potential for improvement is outlined

Approach for the implementation of resource analysis methods in learning factories

ABSTRACTSeveral analysis methods exist to identify hotspots regarding resource efficiency in industry and consecutively find measures to reduce environmental impact. Still, many companies do not use systematic methods to analyse and improve their resource efficiency, partly because they do not have the competencies to apply them. In this context, learning factories support by providing a realistic environment to teach methodological competencies. This paper systematically derives criteria and compares hotspot analysis methods for the identification of resource efficiency hotspots. Based on these results, an approach is developed to derive needed competencies and a list of required technical infrastructure for learning factories. The developed tool includes the general ratings of the methods depending on prerequisites as well as the possibility to weight the criteria. Learning factory operators and trainers can use this tool to identify suitable hotspot analysis methods and get guidance on how to implement the methods in their learning environment

Ressourceneffizienz in der Produktion: Vorgehen zur Quantifizierung und Steigerung der Ressourceneffizienz am Beispiel von Altkühlgeräteentsorgungsanlagen

Vor allem im Bereich der Industrie ist aufgrund der eingesetzten Ressourcen- und Energiemengen Potenzial zur Steigerung von Ressourceneffizienz und damit zur Einsparung von Kosten vorhanden. Dieses Potenzial wird allerdings häufig nicht erfasst und bleibt ungenutzt. In diesem Beitrag wird ein Vorgehen am Beispiel von Altkühlgeräteentsorgungsanlagen vorgestellt, um Ressourceneffizienz in der Produktion quantitativ zu erfassen und Potenziale von Ressourceneffizienzmaßnahmen zu bewerten.*

Energieeffizienz als ein Ausdruck der Nachhaltigkeit produzierender Betriebe

Zur Steigerung der Energieeffizienz stehen Unternehmen des produzierenden Gewerbes verschiedene Maßnahmen zur Umsetzung zur Verfügung. Trotz einer hohen Anzahl möglicher Maßnahmen ist die Umsetzungsrate gering. Die Kenntnis von positiv wirkenden organisationalen Einflussfaktoren kann zur Realisierung von Energieeffizienzmaßnahmen unter dem Aspekt der Umsetzung von Nachhaltigkeitsstrategien in Unternehmen beitragen. Die in diesem Beitrag beschriebenen Untersuchungen zeigen, dass interne Faktoren Einfluss auf Nachhaltigkeitsentscheidungen in Unternehmen haben. Mit diesem Wissen können Unternehmen Einflussfaktoren auf Nachhaltigkeitsstrategien bewusst steuern, um einen effizienten Einsatz von Energie sicherzustellen und somit einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur Energieeffizienz sowie Nachhaltigkeit des Industriesektors zu leisten

Systematic Comparison of Analysis Methods to Identify Resource Efficiency Hotspots in Production Sites

Several analysis methods exist to identify hotspots regarding resource efficiency in industrial environments and consecutively find measures to reduce environmental impact. Still, many companies do not use systematic methods to improve their resource efficiency, partly because they do not have the competences to apply them. In this context, learning factories support in providing the realistic environment to teach the methodological competences. Therefore, learning factory operators and trainers need to choose the most suitable hotspot method(s) for their target group. This paper systematically derives criteria to compare the most relevant hotspot analysis methods for the identification of resource efficiency hotspots. The methods range from simple ones like checklists or the ABC analysis applied to the connection power of machines to more complex ones like the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). To evaluate these methods according to criteria like required time and costs, all methods are applied in the production environment of the ETA Learning Factory at TU Darmstadt. The gained rating of each method is then transferred towards general statements that apply as well in other production lines. Based on these results, a tool was developed that includes the general ratings of the methods as well as the possibility to weight the criteria so that the rating system can be adjusted according to user requirements. Learning factory operators and trainers can use this tool to identify the hotspot method(s) most suitable for their target audience