Methods for monitoring the environmental impact of products

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a system (1) and a computer-implemented method for monitoring and / or managing a product carbon footprint (PCF) of a product produced in a manufacturing process. The method includes receiving PCF-related data (PCFRD) at a first time point and / or a second time point (S100), calculating a first PCF (PCF1) of a product (P) at the first time point and a second PCF (PCF1) of the product (P) at a second time point based on the PCF-related data (PCRFD) (S200), and calculating at least a first PCF (PCF1) of an intermediate (I) of the product at the first time point and a second PCF (PCF2) of the intermediate (I) of the product at the second time point based on the PCF-related data (PCRFD). The method includes calculating a second PCF (PCF2) of the intermediate (I) at a time point (S300), identifying at least one influence factor (IF) in the manufacturing process for a change in value between the first PCF (PCF1) and the second PCF (PCF2) of the product (P) based on the first PCF (PCF1) and the second PCF (PCF2) of the intermediate (I) (S400), and outputting the identified at least one influence factor (IF) (S500).

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Description The present invention relates to a method for monitoring and / or managing the environmental impact of a product. In particular, the present invention relates to a computer-implemented method for monitoring and / or managing the carbon footprint of a product (PCF), a system for monitoring and / or managing the carbon footprint of a product produced in a manufacturing process, the use of impact factors in a manufacturing process identified by such a method, and a non-transitory computer readable data medium relating to such a method. [Background technology]

[0002] The importance of climate action is rapidly growing in the minds of the general public, regulators, and financial investors. Leading companies have announced ambitious short-term CO2 reduction targets, including emissions associated with purchased materials, as required, for example, by the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTI). This has led to increased demand for transparency on product carbon footprints (PCFs) and options for reducing PCFs.

[0003] The PCF is an indicator for determining the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused in the manufacture of the respective product. The PCF is an important tool to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, when products with the lowest PCF are selected for consumption or further processing downstream in the value chain. To this end, it is very important that the reported PCF of any product is as accurate as possible.

[0004] PCFs are often calculated by a computer program, which receives the necessary inputs and applies them to an algorithm that calculates the PCF. However, the calculation of the PCF can be affected by various potential influences, errors, etc., that must be detected quickly and reliably eliminated. In the case of complex manufacturing sites, where multiple products are produced in interconnected process chains, identifying the influencers that affect a changing PCF is a difficult and, in fact, often an impossible task.

[0005] There may therefore be a need to provide improved means for monitoring and / or managing PCFs in terms of influencing factors, the object of which is solved by the subject matter of the independent claims, with further embodiments being incorporated in the dependent claims. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In a first aspect, a computer-implemented method is provided for monitoring and / or managing a product carbon footprint (PCF) of a product produced in a manufacturing process. The environmental burden may be measured by the PCF of the product. The method includes: receiving PCF-related data for a first point in time and for a second point in time, - calculating a first PCF of the product at a first time point and a second PCF of the product at a second time point based on the PCF-related data; - calculating at least a first PCF of an intermediate of the product at a first time point and a second PCF of the intermediate at a second time point based on the PCF related data; - identifying at least one influencing factor in the manufacturing process for a change in value between the first PCF and the second PCF of the product based on the first PCF and the second PCF of the intermediate product; and - outputting the identified at least one influence factor.

[0007] In this way, influence factors and / or errors that affect the calculation of the PCF can be identified. In particular, influence factors and / or errors that affect the difference in the PCF between two points in time can be identified. The at least one identified influence factor can be used in various ways for and / or during the production of the product. For example, it can be ensured that the PCF of the product at least approaches or matches the target PCF, or is documented in terms of the link to the product, if the influence factor, in particular as a source of interference in the production process that affects the PCF of the product, is at least reduced or eliminated, i.e., corrected. Furthermore, based on the knowledge of the influence factors, control measures and / or interventions in the production process can be initiated to maintain or not exceed the target PCF. Furthermore, with the knowledge of the influence factors, it is possible to adjust the production to ensure that the PCF value is reduced and lower, since at least one influence factor, possibly the influence factor with the greatest impact on the PCF of the product and / or the influence factor with the greatest sensitivity, is known. It is noted that more than one influence factor that affects the PCF can be identified and / or determined. The method described herein or the influence factors derived therefrom can be used in many ways in the manufacture of products with regard to influencing the PCF. For example, since a certain PCF is usually targeted or must be reached or not exceeded for a product, knowledge of influence factors that influence the PCF, such as influence factors that worsen and / or increase the PCF, can be used at many points in production management. For example, by determining the influence factors, the manufacturing process or the manufacturing network can be checked for errors in a more targeted way, the identified influence factor may already be a cause of errors or at least one of the causes of variations or non-conformities from the targeted PCF.

[0008] In the context of this disclosure, the expression "monitoring production" may be understood broadly and may refer to any type of monitoring of a manufacturing process, for example, in terms of tracking the PCF of a product, verifying and / or evaluating the PCF, ensuring that the PCF of a product reaches or does not exceed a target PCF, etc., by monitoring the manufacturing process.

[0009] Furthermore, the expression "managing production" may refer to any control action or intervention in production, in a production network (e.g., a chemical production network), in a production step, etc., that affects the environmental impact parameters and / or PCF of a product. This may include the generation of control signals that modify data in production, such as in or through a production control system, an enterprise resource planning system, etc. For example, such control action or intervention may include managing production in terms of, for example, the PCF of raw materials, for example, by changing raw materials, their suppliers, etc., by technical modification of a production step, for example, by modifying the energy used in a process step, by modified physical or chemical effects on the input materials of a production step, etc. In other words, by managing production, one or more manufacturing process parameters at the production site may be changed, whereby the PCF of a product may be directly or indirectly managed.

[0010] However, "monitoring and / or managing production" can also include creating or modifying product information, such as a PCF, of a product. For example, if an impact factor is determined to change the PCF of a product, the product information, such as a PCF, of the product can be modified accordingly. The latter can be done via modifying corresponding information, e.g., a data set, in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that manages the corresponding product information and assigns it to products in a traceable manner.

[0011] In other words, the method described herein aims to verify that the PCF of a product can be reliably calculated by determining the PCF of the product at at least two points during production. In one example, these points may be different from each other and refer to different time points. Preferably, these points may be different from each other and refer to different production steps and / or different time points. If the calculations of the two PCFs of a product are different from each other, there should be at least one influencing factor for the PCFs of these different products of the product. Then, a method is provided for checking the upstream intermediates of the product to see if the PCF of the product has also changed.

[0012] This is repeated for each process step in the process chain all the way up to the raw material to determine at least one influencing factor of the PCF that is changing and can be corrected by managing interventions or actions in the production, the process chain and / or the production network.

[0013] For example, the PCF-related data may be received via an interface, such as a data interface, a communication interface, etc. As used herein, "PCF-related data" may be understood as data that is available, measurable, and / or determinable for a manufacturing network, a manufacturing plant, or more generally, for the production of a product, and that is suitable for providing information about the PCF of the product. The PCF-related data may refer to one or more points in time in the production of raw materials, process steps, intermediates, final products, etc. For example, the PCF-related data may include one or more process data including information about the process steps from the required raw materials to the product, the PCF of each raw material, and energy data including information about the energy consumption for each process step. The first and second points in time may be two different points in time during the operation of a manufacturing facility, such as a manufacturing plant, a manufacturing network, etc., used to carry out the manufacturing process. It is also possible that the first and second points in time refer to different batches of the same product. For example, a first point in time may be set during the production of a first batch of a product and a second point in time may be set during the production of another second batch of the same product, the first point in time and the second point in time may also be set taking into account respective same links of the same manufacturing chain, e.g., the same manufacturing step, the same intermediate, etc.

[0014] Calculating a first PCF of the product at a first time point and a second PCF of the product at a second time point based on the PCF-related data may be performed, for example, by a suitable data processor, which may be operably connected to an interface through which the PCF-related data is received. Furthermore, determining the at least one impact factor may be performed, for example, by a suitable data processor, which may be operably connected to an interface through which the PCF-related data is received. Outputting the determined at least one impact factor may be performed, for example, by a suitable interface, for example a data interface, a communication interface, etc.

[0015] Furthermore, as used herein, an "influence factor" to be identified may be any aspect related to the manufacturing process that can change or affect the PCF of the product in some way, which may occur throughout the manufacturing chain, i.e., the manufacturing process.

[0016] The main factors that can affect the PCF value are the PCF of the raw materials, the distribution of intermediates, the input-output relationship of the process step, and the process step itself. For example, for the PCF of the raw materials, one raw material may be obtained from multiple suppliers, or part of the raw material is obtained from one or multiple suppliers and the rest is manufactured in-house. Usually, the greenhouse gas emissions of each of these sources are different. Therefore, any change in how much of the raw material is obtained from which source will affect the PCF. For the distribution of intermediates, for example, an intermediate may be manufactured in multiple factories and used in multiple subsequent processes. Usually, the greenhouse gas emissions are different in each factory, so any change in the distribution of such intermediates will affect the PCF of the product in which this intermediate is used. For the input-output relationship, for example, the ratio between the amount of product manufactured in this process step and the amount of raw material used in the process step may vary. One of the reasons for this may be the degradation of the catalyst over time. The higher this ratio, the lower the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of product and therefore the lower the PCF of the final product. With regard to process steps, each process step may be subject to changes, e.g., if hardware is replaced to recycle reaction energy and therefore the need for heating is reduced, such changes affecting the PCF of all products downstream in the value chain.

[0017] As used herein, "outputting" at least one impact factor may be understood as writing the PCF to a non-transitory data storage medium, displaying it on a user interface, or both. It is also possible to provide the output through an interface to a customer, for example to the customer's supply chain system or ERP system. It is also possible to provide the output through an interface to the manufacturer's own ERP system, from where it can be distributed to where this information is needed.

[0018] If at least one influencing factor is output on the user interface, the user interface preferably uses graph techniques. In this way, it is possible to analyze its contribution along the manufacturing process in order to monitor and / or control the manufacturing process and thereby minimize the PCF of the product. It is also possible to monitor and / or control the change in the PCF when the manufacturing process is changed. In addition, the output can be used to simulate the effect of a change, for example by manually changing certain values, to see its effect on the PCF of the product. For example, for each product, the effect of replacing a certain raw material with one having a lower PCF can be analyzed.

[0019] Furthermore, the term "PCF" as used herein may be understood as the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted or removed in the entire process, from the extraction of the natural resource to when the product leaves the manufacturing plant. In the context of this disclosure, the PCF does not include any greenhouse gas emissions later in the life of the product. For example, in the case of a car, in the context of this disclosure, the PCF is the amount of greenhouse gases emitted to manufacture the car, not the emissions that result from using the car after it leaves the manufacturing plant. The amount of PCF is typically expressed as the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide, and therefore the amount of carbon dioxide that has the same impact on the global climate as the greenhouse gases actually emitted.

[0020] Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, methane, ozone, chlorofluorocarbons, and hydrofluorocarbons, which can be converted to their carbon dioxide equivalents according to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (see standards such as ISO 14067 or Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Standards WRI & WBCSD, 2011 for PCFs of products).

[0021] The methods described herein can be applied to a wide range of products made from raw materials. The term "product" as used herein generally refers to any item and / or finished product that can be sold to others at any point in the value chain. This can include final products for end consumers, such as cars, paints, toys or medicines. It can also include items that are typically sold to other companies that further process them, such as steel parts for machines, plastic pellets for extrusion or chemical compounds, such as acrylic acid to make superabsorbents for diapers. It can also include items very early in the value chain, such as crude oil fractions, such as naphtha, agricultural products, such as soybeans, or refined sand for glass production.

[0022] The term "raw material" as used in this disclosure refers to any item purchased from a supplier and delivered to a manufacturing plant. Raw materials can be at any step along the value chain, such as the products mentioned above. This means that the product of one manufacturing plant can be the raw material of another manufacturing plant. Raw materials can also include very basic items such as air, water, natural gas, or salt.

[0023] An "intermediate" refers to an item, such as a substance, that is not a raw material or a product, but is made from raw materials or earlier intermediates, further processed into other intermediates, and ultimately processed into a product. An intermediate may be associated with a corresponding process step in which it is produced, used, transported, etc.

[0024] A "manufacturing plant" as used in this disclosure is any facility capable of producing any type of goods that are sold to an end customer or further processed in a different manufacturing plant. A manufacturing plant may be in one single location or in multiple locations. If manufacturing plants are in multiple locations, they must typically be under common management, which is the case when they belong to the same company or related companies. Examples of plants are power plants, steel mills, oil manufacturing plants, oil refineries, chemical plants, pharmaceutical plants, building material manufacturing plants, machinery manufacturing plants, automobile manufacturing plants, textile manufacturing plants, furniture manufacturing plants, food manufacturing plants, consumer electronics manufacturing plants such as mobile phones, paper and / or paper converting plants such as printing presses.

[0025] A "process step" as used herein may be understood as a sequence of operations on raw materials that cannot be reasonably separated in time or space. Typically, all operations of one process step are carried out in one premises using specific dedicated equipment.

[0026] The method according to the invention is particularly useful for manufacturing plants performing interconnected process steps. In the context of the present invention, the term "interconnected" means that at least one process step uses two intermediates of different other process steps, or uses one intermediate of different other process steps that each produce this intermediate, or results in two intermediates that are used in two different other process steps. Thus, preferably, the manufacturing plant performs interconnected process steps. Even more preferably, the manufacturing plant is a chemical manufacturing plant performing interconnected process steps. In many cases, the interconnected process steps are performed in different factories, possibly at different locations and potentially operated by different group companies.

[0027] According to one embodiment, the PCFs of two or more intermediates may be calculated, and the manufacturing process may include a number of process steps, in which at least one input material is processed into at least one output material. In other words, the process chain may be divided into further upstream process steps, in which the PCFs of the corresponding intermediates may be calculated, in which the calculation of the PCFs may be performed at a first and a second time point. This allows influencing factors to be more precisely identified from calculation to calculation, i.e. from intermediate to intermediate, and some influencing factors may be excluded and other factors to be focused on.

[0028] In one embodiment, the step of calculating the PCF of multiple intermediates may be performed across multiple process steps until the raw material of the product is reached. In other words, all process steps and / or intermediates are considered until the respective raw material is reached. This allows the influencing factors to be more accurately identified from calculation to calculation, some influencing factors to be excluded, and others to be focused on.

[0029] According to an embodiment, the at least one impact factor may be associated with one or more of the PCF of the raw materials, the distribution of intermediates, the input / output relationships of the corresponding process steps, and the process steps themselves. As mentioned above, these are the main factors that affect the PCF and / or its calculation. Furthermore, these impact factors may be contained in or derivable from the PCF related data, knowledge data about the manufacturing network, the raw materials, intermediates, process steps used, etc., and may be obtained from an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. When the PCFs of these components of the manufacturing chain are taken into account, e.g., calculated in comparison with the PCF of the product described herein, the PCF may be monitored and controlled, or the production of the product may be controlled, so that the PCF has a desired value, or ideally a minimum value. For example, the process steps may be influenced in many ways by the at least one impact factor and may be modified accordingly based on the knowledge of the at least one impact factor. For example, the process steps may be influenced or modified by using recycled input materials instead of newly manufactured input materials in that process step. Or when a more efficient manufacturing facility in terms of input / output ratio is used, i.e. when a second more efficient manufacturing facility is used instead of a first manufacturing facility, etc. Or when the manufacturing process, especially when it involves chemical processes, the energy released therefrom is reused or further recycled, etc. Also, the batch size may change yields or energy losses, etc.

[0030] In one embodiment, identifying the at least one influence factor comprises: determining whether a change in one or more process parameters has occurred for at least one intermediate, including ratios of raw materials, input / output relationships of a process step, and / or the process step itself; - if only one of these process parameters changes, the change in the intermediate is attributable to the determined change in the process parameter; -If more than one of these process parameters is changed, the relative contribution of each change is determined and attributed to each.

[0031] Knowledge of the manufacturing process, which may be obtained, for example, from one or more databases and / or ERP systems, may be used to identify when the manufacturing process or intermediate of interest has changed in some way. If only one of the above process parameters has changed, it may be determined that it may be the cause of the change in the PCF of the product and / or intermediate, and thus this is the influencing factor sought and may be identified accordingly. However, if more than one of these process parameters has changed, for example, the relative contribution of each process parameter to the change in the PCF may be determined, e.g., calculated, and multiple influencing factors may thus be identified. In either case, one or more of these process parameters may be adjusted to adjust, modify, and / or optimize the PCF of the product and / or intermediate in order to manage the manufacturing and / or PCF of the product.

[0032] According to one embodiment, identifying the at least one influencing factor comprises: - determining whether there is a change in value between the first and second calculated PCFs of the intermediate; and - if there is a change in value between the first and second PCFs of the intermediate, determining the rate and / or sign of this change and comparing this change with the change between the first and second PCFs of the product, thereby identifying at least one influencing factor.

[0033] In other words, the change in the effect of the PCF, both when it is related to the PCF of the product and when it is related to the PCF of the intermediate, may have a corresponding amount of change, from which a ratio may be determined. Furthermore, each determined change in the PCF may have a sign, and the sign of the change in the PCF related to the product and the sign of the change in the PCF related to the intermediate may be the same, i.e., positive and positive, or negative and negative, or different, i.e., positive and negative, or vice versa, i.e., pointing in the same direction or in different directions. That is, both changes in the PCF may increase their value from the first PCF to the second PCF, or decrease their value from the first PCF to the second PCF. For example, if a change occurs between the first and second PCF of the intermediate, the ratio and sign of this change are determined and compared to the change in the PCF of the final product, i.e., between the first and second PCF. That is, the respective signs and respective amounts of the changes in the PCF may be compared to each other. If the change has the same sign, i.e., both changes (on the product level and the intermediate level) have a positive (+) or negative (-) sign, it is recorded as the driver of the change and its relative contribution to the PCF change of the final product is calculated. Furthermore, the process step that creates this intermediate can be analyzed by determining if differences in the ratios of raw materials, differences in inputs and outputs, and differences in the process itself occurred. If only one of these factors has changed, the change in the intermediate can be attributed to this change. If not, the relative contribution must be determined and recorded. Based on this, the influencing factors can be determined.

[0034] In one embodiment, if the change between the first and second PCFs of the intermediate and the change between the first and second PCFs of the product point are in the same direction, this is identified as a driving force of the change in PCF and the contribution of this driving force to the first and / or second PCFs of the product can be determined. In this way, the determined influence factors can be further narrowed down until they can be determined to a high degree as the cause of the changed PCF of the product.

[0035] According to an embodiment, the method may further comprise a step of determining, from the at least one identified and / or outputted influence factor, at least one action related to the adjustment, preferably reduction, of the PCF of the product to be performed within the manufacturing process. In other words, the method allows to determine measures, i.e. actions, for managing and / or correcting the PCF of the product towards a desired value via the identified influence factors, which may affect, in particular negatively, the PCF of the product. For example, in the manufacturing chain, management actions can be taken to appropriately control and / or correct the PCF. For example, one or more of the above-mentioned process parameters, such as raw materials or their sources, process steps, intermediates, etc., can be controlled to be changed. This control can be performed, for example, by a computing device executing the method for controlling an ERP system or the like, which computing device controls the process chain according to the identified influence factors.

[0036] According to one embodiment, the calculation of the first PCF and / or the second PCF of a product or intermediate product comprises: - obtaining process data comprising information about the process steps from raw materials to the product; - obtaining the PCF of each raw material; - obtaining energy data comprising information on the energy consumption of each manufacturing process step; and - calculating a first PCF and / or a second PCF of a product or intermediate taking into account the process data, the PCF of each raw material, and the energy data.

[0037] For example, calculating the PCF of a product or intermediate involves summing the PCF of each raw material used in a particular process step as included in the process data. If a process step requires intermediates from different process steps, the sum of the carbon footprints of the raw materials of this earlier process step is determined and used as input for the later process step. This may need to be repeated if the earlier process step uses intermediates of an earlier process step again. If a process step produces more than one intermediate, for example two or three intermediates, the PCF of the raw materials needs to be shared between these intermediates. The allocation for each intermediate should reflect the raw material usage for each intermediate. In some cases, two intermediates are formed in the same amount and therefore the PCF of the raw materials can be shared equally between them. In other cases, one intermediate is formed significantly more than the other, for example 90% intermediate 1 and 10% intermediate 2. The PCF should be shared accordingly. Thus, preferably, in the method of the present invention, determining the PCF involves calculating the PCF of an intermediate manufactured in a preceding process step and using the PCF of the intermediate as input for the calculation of the PCF of the subsequent process step. Particularly in interconnected manufacturing processes, the calculation of the PCF may be facilitated by breaking it down into similar calculation parts, one for each process step.

[0038] The process data may include information about which by-products are obtained and in what quantities. Some process steps may not produce any by-products, such as the assembly of steel parts. In this case, the process data does not include information about the by-products. However, many process steps produce by-products. In the context of this disclosure, "by-product" refers to any item that is inevitably obtained in a process step but cannot be used in a different process step. Sometimes, a by-product may be recycled to obtain a raw material or intermediate that can be used as a reagent in a process step, i.e. may undergo another process step or multiple process steps. However, in some cases, there is no economically feasible use of the by-product. In this case, the by-product must be disposed of. It may be burned, for example, in an incinerator. If the incinerator is part of the manufacturing plant, the recovered heat and / or electrical energy must be taken into account.

[0039] The process data may include information on what intermediate product or products are obtained at each process step and in what yield. In the context of the present invention, "yield" refers to the ratio of the outcome from a particular process step to the theoretical maximum. If the yield is 100%, for example, if the components are mixed during compounding, the process data may not include information on the yield.

[0040] However, the yield may be less than 100% if there are losses in the process steps. In chemical reactions, the yield is typically less than 100% due to side reactions and losses during purification. In other processes, the yield may be less than 100%, for example when a steel part is cut or drilled, losses may occur unless the offcuts are recycled.

[0041] The process data may include information on any direct greenhouse gas emissions due to the process steps. Such direct greenhouse gas emissions often result from chemical reactions of raw materials that contain greenhouse gases or generate greenhouse gases during the process steps, for example by heating. A typical example is cement production, where carbon dioxide is released from heating the raw materials, in particular heating limestone. Information on direct greenhouse gas emissions usually includes information on what greenhouse gases are emitted and in what quantities. The quantities may be given in terms of the amount of raw materials or the amount of products or intermediates of the respective process steps. The latter may be derived from the former by multiplying with the yield of the process step.

[0042] In the simplest case, one or more raw materials may be processed in one process step to arrive at a product. An example would be raw materials for a particular cable and plug that are assembled to form a cable tree as a product sold to an automobile manufacturer. In most cases, however, the manufacturing process is more complex. Several raw materials are processed into various intermediates that are processed into various products, one raw material may be used to manufacture two or more intermediates, and one intermediate may be used to manufacture two or more products. In such a situation, the final PCF of one product depends on the amount of other products manufactured in the manufacturing plant. Thus, typically, the process data includes information on what reagents are needed for each process step and in what quantities for all products that have at least one reagent or intermediate in common. For many manufacturing plants, the process data includes information on what reagents are needed for each process step and in what quantities for at least two products that have at least one reagent or intermediate in common. In the case of a complex manufacturing plant, the process data includes information on what reagents and in what quantities are needed for each process step for at least five or at least ten products that have at least one reagent or intermediate in common.

[0043] The process data is typically acquired, received, etc., through an interface, e.g., a data interface, a communication interface, etc. The process data may be acquired, for example, from a manufacturing plant. The process data may be acquired through an interface to a local or remote database. Preferably, the process data is acquired through an interface to an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. In this way, the process data may be acquired from the ERP system. The ERP system may acquire information from the manufacturing plant. In this case, the process data is acquired from the manufacturing plant via the ERP system. In this way, once any change occurs in or around the manufacturing plant, the process data is updated immediately. Depending on the ERP system, "immediately" usually means within one day, preferably within six hours, especially within one hour. A typical example of such a change would be that the manufacturing plant receives insufficient reagents from a different factory and has to use an external supply instead. Such an external supply usually has a different PCF than the internal intermediates, thus changing the PCF of the product manufactured in the manufacturing plant. Another advantage of the ERP system is that the data is standardized and verified, i.e. the data is reliable and typically does not require further validation.

[0044] In the context of this invention, "ERP system" shall have its general meaning. A typical ERP system uses a common database maintained by a database management system to provide an integrated and continuously updated view into core business processes. An ERP system typically tracks business resources such as cash, raw materials, manufacturing capacity, and business commitments, i.e., the status of orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system typically share data across the various departments that provide the data, such as departments responsible for manufacturing, purchasing, sales, and accounting.

[0045] When a manufacturing plant is made up of several group companies, e.g., in different countries, the different group companies often use separate ERP systems. If an intermediate manufactured in one group company is shipped to another group company and this intermediate is used in another process step, the ERP system must treat such an operation as an external transaction for legal reasons. However, for the purposes of the present invention, such data must be integrated to identify intermediates manufactured by one group company and used by different group companies. Such information may be accessible from the ERP system or may require other data sources, such as a shared database. Thus, preferably, process data is obtained through an interface into the ERP systems of the different group companies, and the process data is integrated to identify intermediates manufactured by one group company and used by different group companies.

[0046] Energy data typically includes the amount of energy consumed, the energy form and its origin. The amount is often given as a specific energy per piece or mass of the product or intermediate of its respective process step. The amount can be positive, i.e. energy is consumed, or negative, i.e. the process step produces energy. An example of the latter is the production of sulfuric acid from sulfur. Sulfur reacts with oxygen to release thermal energy that can be used in different process steps. Energy forms include electricity, thermal energy such as hot water or steam, cooling or fossil fuels such as gas or gasoline. In the case of fossil fuels, they are also raw materials, but their PCF refers only to the greenhouse gas emissions for their production. However, the consumption of carbon dioxide during their combustion must be considered as well. The origin of energy refers to the source from which the energy is taken. For example, thermal energy can come from a power plant, another process step or solar panels. Thus, the origin can have a considerable impact on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy consumption. For example, to compensate for seasonal variations, it can be useful to average the energy data over a certain period, for example a three-year period. Energy data is typically converted to PCFs by considering the energy source and its specific greenhouse gas emissions.

[0047] Energy data is typically acquired, received, etc., through an interface. Energy data may be acquired through an interface to a local or remote database, or to an ERP system. Thus, energy data may be acquired from an ERP system. Typically, energy data is acquired through interfaces to two or more databases. Thus, it is often necessary to convert information retrieved from different databases into a single format to allow for further processing.

[0048] Energy data may also be available directly from the energy source, e.g., a power plant with sensors attached to the processing system that provides that information through an interface. Manufacturing plants also typically have sensors for determining the amount of energy consumed by the power plant. Often, manufacturing plants have multiple sensors that provide data on the energy consumption of a particular process step or of a particular piece of equipment. Thus, energy data may be obtained from the manufacturing plant. However, in many manufacturing plants, such information, i.e., energy data, is first transferred to an ERP system and may be obtained from there. In another example, sensors may be adapted for the specific detection of greenhouse gases. This means that sensors for determining energy consumption and / or greenhouse gas emissions may transfer their data to an ERP system and may be obtained from there.

[0049] Typically, multiple energy sources are available, especially for larger manufacturing plants. For example, manufacturing plants may be located in larger locations with power plants such as gas power plants or solar panels, and in addition, manufacturing plants may obtain energy from the public power grid. Depending on the energy source, the contribution to the PCF may be very different, for example, essentially no contribution when receiving energy from solar panels or wind turbines, or a significant contribution when receiving energy from a public power grid that provides energy from coal power plants. Therefore, the energy data preferably also includes information about the source from which the energy is received. This information is typically obtained from sensors in the manufacturing plant or a central power facility. The energy data preferably includes information about the carbon emissions caused by each energy source that receives energy. In this way, it is possible to calculate the energy contribution to the PCF.

[0050] Energy data may not be readily available for each process step, but may only be available in a more aggregated form, e.g. the energy consumption of a factory in which several process steps are performed. In this case, the energy consumption of each process step has to be derived from such aggregated data. This may be achieved by determining the distribution of the energy consumption of each process step in the aggregated data. For this purpose, suitable criteria are defined, e.g. in a simple manner, based on the distribution of the production volume, measured in physical quantities, e.g. mass, of each of the process steps. A more accurate way of allocating the energy consumption is by using data on energy-related production costs at product level, e.g. obtained from an ERP system.

[0051] In one embodiment, one or more of the process data, the PCF of each raw material, and the energy data may be obtained from the manufacturing plant via the ERP system. For most raw materials, the PCF may be obtained from a supplier provided or a public or private database. Usually, different suppliers provide different PCFs for the same raw material due to differences in their manufacturing process or logistics. Therefore, preferably, the PCF of the raw material is obtained for each supplier together with the supplier's identifier. This information may then be used to calculate the PCF of that particular raw material depending on how much raw material from what supplier is used. The results may be taken into account to determine the PCF in the method of the present invention. In rare cases, the PCF is not available. In this case, the PCF must be estimated, for example, by comparison with very similar products in the market. The PCF of each raw material is typically obtained through an interface. The PCF of each raw material may be obtained from a local or remote database or through an interface to the ERP system, in particular its supply chain module. Thus, the PCF of each raw material may be obtained from the ERP system. Typically, the PCF for each raw material is retrieved through interfaces into two or more databases. It is therefore often necessary to convert the information retrieved from the different databases into a single format to allow further processing. In particular, the PCF retrieved from the databases must be attributed to the raw material, i.e. the raw material identification in the database must be converted into the raw material identification in the process data used in the method described herein.

[0052] According to one embodiment, the PCF of the raw material is obtained for each supplier together with the identifier of the supplier, and determining the PCF takes into account the amount of raw material from a particular supplier and its associated PCF. For example, the information about the supplier can then be used to calculate the PCF of that particular raw material depending on how much raw material is used from which supplier. The result can be taken into account to determine the PCF in the method of the present invention. In rare cases, the PCF is not available. In this case, the PCF can be estimated, for example, by comparison with very similar products on the market.

[0053] A second aspect is directed to the use of at least one influence factor obtained by the method of the first aspect to monitor and / or control the production of a product. The influence factor generally indicates at what point in the production process the PCF or its calculation is affected, in particular the PCF is increased. Thus, in general, by identifying and / or determining the at least one influence factor, a validation of the PCF can be achieved. By identifying the influence factor, appropriate measures or actions can be taken to adjust, preferably reduce or bring the PCF of the product closer towards a target value. For example, from knowledge of the at least one influence factor, possibly together with additional knowledge of the production process, such as its raw materials, intermediates, process steps, etc., an overview can be generated showing the influence of the at least one influence factor for the production process as a whole and / or for each individual process step in the process chain. This can be done, for example, via a user interface, in particular a graphical user interface (GUI), by which the production can be controlled. For example, modifications in the production chain can be determined to take into account or eliminate influence factors and / or to lower the PCF. Also, modifications to the manufacturing process can be made, for example using an ERP system, i.e., production can be managed in an at least partially automated manner such that the PCF is reduced or a particular PCF is achieved.

[0054] In a third aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable data medium storing a computer program comprising instructions for carrying out the steps of the method according to the first aspect. The computer readable data medium comprises for example a hard drive on a server, a USB storage device, a CD, a DVD or a Blu-ray disc. The computer program may contain all the functionality and data required for carrying out the method according to the invention and it may provide an interface to allow parts of the method to be processed on a remote system, for example a cloud system.

[0055] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a system for monitoring and / or managing a product carbon footprint (PCF) of a product produced in a manufacturing process. The above description of the method, including the preferred embodiments, also applies to the system, unless expressly stated differently below. The system may be a computing device, such as a computer, tablet, smartphone, or other suitable computing device. In at least some embodiments, the computing device may have a communication interface and / or a network connection to communicate with other computing devices, such as a server or a cloud network.

[0056] The system comprises an input interface configured to receive PCF-related data at a first time point and / or a second time point. The system further comprises a processor configured to: calculate a first PCF of the product at the first time point and a second PCF of the product at the second time point based on the PCF-related data; calculate at least a first PCF of an intermediate of the product at the first time point and a second PCF of the intermediate at the second time based on the PCF-related data; and identify at least one influencing factor in the manufacturing process for a change in value between the first PCF and the second PCF of the product based on the first PCF and the second PCF of the intermediate. Further, the system comprises an output interface configured to output the identified at least one influencing factor for further processing.

[0057] According to one embodiment, the output interface may include a user interface configured to display the at least one impact driver identified. The user interface is preferably configured to display the impact drivers and / or PCFs of the product and each contribution, preferably including the raw material contribution, the energy contribution and the direct emission contribution of each process step. Preferably, the user interface uses graph techniques. The user interface may provide an overview of each process step, its raw materials and energy required, connections with other process steps. The user interface may also provide the PCF of each process step, in particular it may display the PCF resulting from raw materials, energy consumption and direct greenhouse gas emissions in a separately aggregated form.

[0058] Preferably, the system is adapted to receive updated data at any time and can update the output in real time, where real time typically means within a few minutes, preferably within a minute, for example within 1-30 seconds.

[0059] It should be noted that several embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to different subject matters. In particular, some embodiments are described with reference to method type claims, while other embodiments are described with reference to apparatus or device type or system type claims. However, a person skilled in the art will infer from the above and following description that, unless otherwise noted, any combination of features belonging to one type of subject matter, as well as any combination between features relating to different subject matters, is also disclosed in the present application. Moreover, the combination of all features can achieve more synergistic effects than the mere sum of the features.

[0060] These and other aspects of the disclosure will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

[0061] Exemplary embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the following drawings: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0062] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a system for monitoring and / or managing a product carbon footprint (PCF) of a product produced in a manufacturing process in accordance with the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a system and principles for monitoring and / or managing the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) of products produced in a manufacturing process according to the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary manufacturing process in which the systems and methods of the present disclosure may be applied. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary manufacturing process in which the systems and methods of the present disclosure may be applied. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary manufacturing process in which the systems and methods of the present disclosure may be applied. [Figure 6] 1 is a flowchart of a computer-implemented method for determining the onset and / or onset time of a plant disease in agriculture in accordance with the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0063] The drawings are only schematic representations and serve only to illustrate the invention. Identical or equivalent elements have been given the same reference signs throughout.

[0064] 1 illustrates in a schematic block diagram a system 1 configured to monitor and / or manage a product carbon footprint (PCF) of a product produced in a manufacturing process. System 1 may be any suitable computing device and comprises an input interface 10, a data processor 20, and an output interface 30. Processor 20 is operatively connected to each one of the input interfaces 10 and output interfaces 30.

[0065] The input interface 10 is, for example, a data interface, a communication interface, etc., and is configured to receive PCF-related data PCFRD at a first time point and / or a second time point. In at least some embodiments, the PCF-related data PCFRD may be data available at the respective time point or generally associated therewith. For this purpose, the input interface 10 is operatively connected to one or more suitable data sources, such as, for example, an enterprise resource planning system (ERF), a supplier database, etc., which may collect and / or provide the PCF-related data PCFRD. For example, the PCF-related data PCFRD may include one or more of process data including information on the process from the required raw materials to the product, the PCF of each raw material, and energy data including information on the energy consumption of each process step. The first time point and the second time point may be two different times in a manufacturing process, different links in a manufacturing chain, etc.

[0066] The processor 20 is configured to calculate, based on the PCF-related data, a first PCF of a product "P" at a first time point and a second PCF of the product at a second time point, for example by executing a respective computer program. The first and second PCFs are referred to in the drawings as PCF1 and PCF2 at the (final) product level "P" (see, for example, FIG. 2). Furthermore, the processor 20 is configured to calculate, based on the PCF-related data, at least a first PCF of an intermediate I of the product P at a first time point and at least a second PCF of the intermediate I at a second time point, for example by executing a respective computer program. The first and second PCFs of the intermediate I are referred to in the drawings as PCF1 and PCF2 at the intermediate level "I" (see, for example, FIG. 2). In other words, at least two PCFs are calculated at different times in different stages, i.e. for the product and its at least one intermediate. Furthermore, the processor 20 is configured, for example by executing the respective computer program, to identify at least one influencing factor IF in the manufacturing process for a change in value between the first and second PCF of the product P based on the first and second PCF of the intermediate I. In other words, by considering the PCF of an intermediate upstream of the final product, to determine whether this or a related process step is causing the observed change in the PCF of the product. According to an embodiment, the at least one influencing factor may be associated with one or more of the PCF of the raw materials, the distribution of the intermediates, the input-output relationship of the corresponding process step, and the process step itself.

[0067] The output interface 30 is any suitable data interface, communication interface, etc., configured to output the identified at least one impact factor IF for further processing. The output interface 30 may, for example, comprise or be operatively connected to a user interface for displaying the at least one impact factor. However, it is also possible to be connected to a production control system, for example an ERF, so that the system 1 can appropriately manage the production process in order to eliminate or at least reduce the at least one impact factor IF, by controlling it based on the at least one impact factor IF and thereby controlling the production parameters, for example raw materials, energy consumption, etc., to appropriately control the PCF of the product.

[0068] Optionally, processor 20 is configured to determine whether a change in one or more process parameters has occurred for at least one intermediate, such as the ratios of raw materials, the input / output relationships of the process steps, and / or the process steps themselves. If only one of these process parameters has changed, the change in intermediate I is attributable to the determined change in the process parameter. However, if two or more of these process parameters have changed, the relative contributions of the individual changes are determined and each attributed.

[0069] Further optionally, the processor 20 is configured to determine whether there is a change in value between the calculated PCF1 and PCF2 of the intermediate I. If the PCF1 and PCF2 of the intermediate I have a change in value, the processor 20 is configured to determine the ratio and / or sign of this change and compare this change with the change between the PCF1 and PCF2 of the product 1 to identify at least one influencing factor, whereby, if the change between the PCF1 and PCF2 of the intermediate I and the change between the PCF1 and PCF2 of the product P are in the same direction, this is identified as a driving force of the change and its contribution to the PCF1 and PCF2 of the product P is determined.

[0070] Figure 2 shows the system 1 shown in figure 1 in more detail. As mentioned above, the input interface 10 is connected to receive at least PCF-related data PCFRD, which may include one or more data, such as process data including information on the process steps from the required raw materials to the product, the PCF of each raw material, and energy data constituting information on the energy consumption of each process step. The PCF-related data PCFRD is used by the processor 20 to calculate PCF1 and PCF2 at the level of the product P, for example the final product P, and to determine whether there is a change between PCF1 and PCF2. In particular, if there is a change between PCF1 and PCF2, meaning that there is a discrepancy in the determination of the PCF of the product, the processor 20 further uses the PCF-related data PCFRD to determine at least one intermediate of the product and to calculate PCF1 and PCF2 for that intermediate, for example at the level of the intermediate I. As mentioned above, the processor 20 is further configured to identify at least one influence factor IF for the change in PCF1 and PCF2 of the product P based on the PCF1 and PCF2 of the intermediate I of the product P. The identified influencing factors IF are then output via an output interface 30, which may comprise a user interface or the like, or may be connected to a manufacturing control system such as an ERF.

[0071] FIG. 3 shows a block diagram that shows a schematic example of a manufacturing process and / or a schematic block diagram of a manufacturing network, to which the above-mentioned system 1 may be applied. In FIG. 3, some example influence factors IF that affect the PCF or its calculation, i.e., the calculation of PCF1 and / or PCF2, are shown in dashed circles, where these influence factors are not limited to the present description. The example manufacturing process of FIG. 1 starts with two example raw materials R1 and R2, which may be obtained from different suppliers. At the level of this manufacturing process, the PCF of the raw materials specified by the R-PCF may be determined, which may be obtained from a supplier database, for example, from the ERF, or calculated from PCF-related data. For example, the ratio of raw materials R1 and R2 may form another influence factor IF that may be determined by the processor 20. The raw materials R1 and R2 are processed in a first process step PS1 that produces an intermediate I from the raw materials R1 and R2. This intermediate I, which may also be sourced externally, may be further processed in a subsequent process step PS2 where it may be further combined with another raw material R3, which may be obtained from yet another third supplier, where the ratio of intermediate I to raw material R3 may form another influence factor IL.

[0072] Figure 4 shows another example of a general manufacturing process of product P. Again, raw materials are denoted R1, R2 and R3, products are denoted P1 and P2, intermediates, i.e. all items that are neither raw materials nor products, are denoted I1, I2 and I3, the energy required for each manufacturing process is denoted E1, E2, E3 and E4, and the process steps are denoted PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4. Raw materials R1 and R2 are processed in a first process step PS1 to produce intermediate I1 using energy E1. In the next process step PS2, intermediate I1 is processed together with intermediate I2 using energy E3 to arrive at product P1. Intermediate I2 is also made in the same manufacturing plant in process step PS3 by processing raw material R3 using energy E2. In process step PS3, another intermediate I3 is obtained, which can be further processed in another process step PS4 using energy E4 to another product P2. It can be easily recognized that the emissions generated during the production of raw materials R1, R2, and R3, and energies E1, E2, and E3, especially energies E1, E2, and E3, affect the PCF of P1. However, the use of I3 also has an impact, because if the demand for product P2 changes, the demand for product P2 is too low to fully use the input of I3, and a higher proportion of the PCF of R3 and the emissions due to E2 must be attributed to I2 and, consequently, to P1. It is therefore usually necessary to provide complete information on all raw materials and all process steps in a manufacturing plant, at least when there is a relationship between the different chains of process steps from raw materials to products.

[0073] The system 1, in particular the processor 20, is configured to determine each of the raw materials R1, R2, R3, each of the process steps PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4, each of the energies E1, E2, E3 and E4 required for each manufacturing process, and / or each of the intermediates I1, I2 and I3 as at least one impact factor IL. The system 1 is therefore configured to manage the manufacturing process in these terms, for example through controlled interventions in the manufacturing system and / or the manufacturing process, to manage the PCF of the product P based on the impact factors IL.

[0074] Figure 5 shows another example that may occur especially in the chemical industry. Raw materials R1 and R2 are processed in a first process step PS1 to produce intermediate I1 using energy E1. In the next process step PS2, intermediate I1 and raw material R3 are processed using energy E2 to reach product P1, while also obtaining reagent R2. R2 can be reused in process step PS1, thus forming a cycle. In this situation, the process data must contain information about how much of R2 is used from the supplier and how much of the recycled R2 obtained in process step PS2 is used.

[0075] Again, the system 1, and in particular the processor 20, is configured to determine each of the raw materials or reagents R1 and R2, each of the process steps PS1 and PS2, each of the energies E1 and E2 required for each manufacturing process, and / or each of the intermediates I1 as at least one impact factor IL. The system 1 is therefore configured to manage the manufacturing process in these terms, for example through controlled interventions in the manufacturing system and / or the manufacturing process, to manage the PCF of the product P based on the impact factors IL.

[0076] 6 shows a method flow chart for a computer-implemented method for monitoring and / or managing the carbon footprint (PCF) of a product produced in a manufacturing process. The method may be implemented by the system 1 described above and / or applied to the exemplary manufacturing process shown in FIGS. 3-5 to identify at least one impact factor IL on the PCF of the product.

[0077] In step S100, PCF-related data PCFRD for a first time point and / or a second time point is received. The PCF-related data PCFRD may be received, for example, via the input interface 10 of the system 1, as described above. For example, the PCF-related data PCFRD may be received from an ERP system, as described above, or any other suitable data source.

[0078] In step S200, a first PCF of the product at a first time point and a second PCF of the product at a second time point are calculated based on the PCF-related data. The calculation of the first PCF, also referred to herein as PCF1 of product P, and the calculation of the second PCF, also referred to herein as PCF2 of product P, may be performed by the processor 20 of the system 1 described above.

[0079] In step S300, based on the PCF-related data PCFRD, at least a first PCF of an intermediate I of product P at a first time point and a second PCF of the intermediate I at a second time point are calculated. The calculation of the first PCF, also referred to herein as PCF1 of intermediate I, and the calculation of the second PCF, also referred to herein as PCF2 of intermediate I, may be performed by the processor 20 of system 1 described above.

[0080] In step S400, based on the first and second PCFs of the intermediate, at least one influencing factor IL in the manufacturing process for the change in value between the first PCF and the second PCF of the product is identified. In other words, the above step of step S300 is performed, in particular, when a change between PCF1 and PCF2 of the product P from step S200 is determined or detected. In this case, PCF1 and PCF2 of the intermediate I are determined or calculated. Then, step S400 can be performed to determine factors in the manufacturing process that are causal or contributing to this change in PCF value. The identification or determination of at least one influencing factor IL can be performed by the processor 20 of the above-mentioned system.

[0081] In step S500, the identified at least one impact factor IF is output for further processing, for example via an output interface 30, which may include a user interface and / or be operatively connected to a production control system, ERF, etc., where the identified at least one impact factor IF may be used to manage the manufacturing process in terms of managing the PCF of the product P.

[0082] While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and the foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered as illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive. The invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the dependent claims.

Claims

1. A computer implementation method for monitoring and / or managing the product carbon footprint (PCF) of products manufactured in a manufacturing process, Receiving PCF-related data (PCRFD) at the first and second time points (S100), Based on the aforementioned PCF-related data (PCRFD), the first PCF (PCF1) of the product (P) at the first time point and the second PCF (PCF2) of the product (P) at the second time point are calculated (S200), Based on the aforementioned PCF-related data, calculate at least a first PCF (PCF1) of the intermediate product (I) at a first time point, and a second PCF (PCF2) of the intermediate product (I) at a second time point (S300), Based on the first PCF (PCF1) and the second PCF (PCF2) of the intermediate product (I), identify at least one influencing factor (IF) within the manufacturing process for the change in the value between the first PCF (PCF1) and the second PCF (PCF2) of the product (P) (S400), Outputting the aforementioned identified at least one influencing factor (IF) (S500), Methods that include...

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the PCF of two or more intermediates is calculated, and the manufacturing process comprises a plurality of process steps, in which at least one input material is processed into at least one output material.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein calculating the PCF of the plurality of intermediates (S200) is performed over the plurality of process steps until the raw materials of the product are reached.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one influencing factor is associated with one or more of the following: the carbon footprint of the raw materials, the distribution of intermediates, the input-output relationships of the corresponding process steps, and the process steps themselves.

5. Identifying at least one of the aforementioned influencing factors is This includes determining whether a change has occurred in one or more process parameters, including the ratio of raw materials, the input-output relationship of the process step, and / or the process step itself, for at least one intermediate product. If only one of these process parameters changes, the change in the intermediate is attributed to the determined change in the process parameter. If two or more of these process parameters change, the relative contribution of each change is determined and assigned accordingly. The method according to claim 1.

6. Identifying at least one of the aforementioned influencing factors is To determine whether there is a change in value between the calculated first PCF and the second PCF of the intermediate, If there is a change in value between the first PCF and the second PCF of the intermediate, the ratio and / or sign of this change is determined, and this change is compared with the change between the first PCF and the second PCF of the product, thereby identifying at least one influencing factor. The method according to claim 1, including the method described in claim 1.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein if the change between the first PCF and the second PCF of the intermediate and the change between the first PCF and the second PCF of the product point are in the same direction, this is identified as the driving force for the change in the PCF, and the contribution of the product to the first and / or second PCF is determined.

8. From the identified and / or outputted at least one influencing factor, determine at least one action related to adjusting, preferably reducing, the PCF of the product to be performed within the manufacturing process. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

9. The calculation of the first PCF and / or second PCF of the product or the intermediate is, To obtain process data that includes information about the process steps from raw materials to finished products, Obtaining the carbon footprint of each raw material, To acquire energy data including information on the energy consumption of each manufacturing process step, The first and / or second PCF related to the final product is calculated taking into account the process data, the carbon footprint of each raw material, and the energy data. The method according to claim 1, including the method described in claim 1.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein one or more of the process data, the carbon footprint of each raw material, and the energy data are obtained from the manufacturing plant via an enterprise resource planning system.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the carbon footprint of the raw materials is obtained for each supplier along with the supplier's identifier, and determining the carbon footprint takes into account the amount of raw materials from a specific supplier and its associated carbon footprint.

12. The use of at least one influencing factor obtained by the method of claim 1 for monitoring and / or controlling the manufacture of a product.

13. A non-temporary computer-readable data medium for storing a computer program which includes instructions for performing steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

14. A system (1) for monitoring and / or managing the product carbon footprint (PCF) of products manufactured in a manufacturing process, An input interface (10) configured to receive PCF-related data (PCFRD) at a first and second time point in time, A processor (20), Based on the aforementioned PCF-related data (PCRFD), the first PCF (PCF1) of the product (P) at the first time point and the second PCF (PCF2) of the product (P) at the second time point are calculated (S200). Based on the aforementioned PCF-related data, at least a first PCF (PCF1) of the intermediate product (I) at a first time point, and a second PCF (PCF2) of the intermediate product (I) at a second time point are calculated (S300). Based on the first PCF (PCF1) and the second PCF (PCF2) of the intermediate product (I), at least one influencing factor (IF) within the manufacturing process is identified for the change in the value between the first PCF (PCF1) and the second PCF (PCF2) of the product (P) (S400). A processor (20) configured as follows, An output interface (30) configured to output the at least one of the identified influencing factors, A system (1) comprising:

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the output interface (30) includes a user interface configured to display the at least one identified influencing factor.

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