Systems, methods, and apparatus for minimizing environmental impact across the entire value chain.

Abstract

A device including a processor configured to estimate a first environmental impact value for a first subcomponent of a process for a first user account, as well as related methods and systems, are disclosed. The first subcomponent of the process is affected by a first process parameter. The processor estimates a second environmental impact value for a second subcomponent of the process for a first user account. The second environmental impact value is affected by a second process parameter. The second user account is associated with the second process parameter and the second subcomponent of the process. The processor also modifies the first subcomponent of the process to minimize the environmental footprint according to the first and second environmental impact values.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Related Fields This disclosure relates to the environmental aspects of manufacturing processes. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to systems, methods, and apparatuses for minimizing environmental impacts across the entire value chain of manufacturing processes.

Background Art

[0002] Description of the Prior Art Large-scale industries such as the chemical or automotive industries rely on the resilience, transparency, and flexibility of their supply chains. In some cases, data ecosystems are used to facilitate the sharing of information from one supplier to the next. One prominent data ecosystem for large-scale industries is Catena-X, which was developed for the automotive industry and provides a reliable, collaborative, open, and secure digital environment in which all companies are networked end-to-end from a value chain perspective.

[0003] Digital governance is being developed by initiatives such as Gaia-X. According to Catena-X, all partners are on an equal footing and have sovereign control over their own data, avoiding lock-in effects and providing a sustainable solution for the digitalization of supply chains.

[0004] Government agencies and businesses are increasingly adopting sustainability practices in their daily operations, either in response to new regulations (e.g., the EU Green New Deal) or in the context of proactive targets to mitigate climate change and other environmental degradation (e.g., science-based targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions). Many environmentally important emissions, such as greenhouse gases and wastewater, can be classified into three "scopes": direct emissions (Scope 1), emissions from purchased energy (Scope 2), and emissions from transport, raw materials, and consumption (Scope 3). Scope 3 emissions can be significant in many industries. For example, the manufacture of integrated circuits and displays for IT devices, including materials, could account for 45% of a consumer electronics company's total carbon footprint, while 20% comes from product use (see U. Gupta et al., "Chasing Carbon: The Elusive Environmental Footprint of Computing," 2021 IEEE International Symposium on High-Performance Computer Architecture (HPCA), 2021). Therefore, it may be desirable to calculate the environmental footprint of upstream (i.e., supplier) and downstream (i.e., customer) processes. While the information should be consistently measured, calculated, and shared, the large consortium, Together for Sustainability, points out that "currently, there is no harmonized, specific approach, and the data that is shared is often not directly comparable." [Overview of the project]

[0005] One or more computer systems can be configured to perform a specific operation or action by installing software, firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof on the system that causes the system to perform an action while it is running. One or more computer programs can be configured to perform a specific operation or action by including instructions that, when executed by a data processing device, cause the device to perform an action.

[0006] In a general embodiment, the method may preferably include using a first processor to estimate a first environmental impact value for a first subcomponent of a process for a first user account, which is affected by a first process parameter. The method may also preferably include using a second processor to estimate a second environmental impact value for a second subcomponent of a process for a first user account, which is affected by a second process parameter, where the second user account is associated with the second process parameter and the second subcomponent of the process. Here, the first and second processors may be the same. Furthermore, estimating the first or second environmental impact value may include, for example, using the first and / or second processors as part of a computer system to calculate an estimate of the first or second environmental impact value. In general, for the purposes of this disclosure, estimating a value may include, for example, using a processor, for example, as part of a computer system, to calculate an estimate of the environmental impact value, and may further include calculating one or more parameters from which the estimate of the environmental impact value can be derived. The method may further include modifying a first subcomponent of the process to minimize the environmental footprint according to a first environmental impact value and a second environmental impact value. Embodiments of this aspect may include a computer system, apparatus, and / or a computer program recorded in one or more computer storage devices, each configured and used to perform one or more steps, preferably all, of the method.

[0007] The implementation may include one or more of the following features: a method comprising securely communicating a first process parameter corresponding to a first subcomponent of a process to a computing device for a first user account; using the first process parameter to estimate a second environmental impact value for a second subcomponent of the process on the computing device; and securely communicating the second environmental impact value to the first user account. The method may be implemented such that the first user account is prohibited from accessing at least one component of the second subcomponent of the process. The method may be implemented such that the first process parameter is one of material selection, material usage selection, and material selection and usage.

[0008] The method may be implemented such that changes to the first subcomponent of the process are made before the execution of the second subcomponent of the process. The method may be implemented so that the first subcomponent of the process is executed on a separate and distinct production line from that of the second subcomponent of the process. The method may be implemented so that the first environmental impact value is one of the following: energy consumption, processing time, solvent usage, transport indicators, waste disposal volume, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon footprint, water usage, and ESG indicators. The method may be implemented so that the first user account and the second user account are separate parties.

[0009] The method may include running a process model to determine the environmental footprint. The method may be implemented such that the process model includes at least one process step. The method may be implemented such that at least one process step includes at least one input. The method may be implemented such that at least one process step calculates at least one output. The method may be implemented such that the process model includes a coefficient lookup table configured to associate at least one material with a normalized environmental footprint. The method may be implemented such that the coefficient lookup table includes a hierarchical coefficient value for each entry. The method may include modifying the process model according to a first user account by inheriting the process model and overriding the behavior of the process model to estimate a first environmental impact value.

[0010] The method may include modifying a process model according to a first user account and adjusting at least one transparency parameter in relation to a second user account. For the purposes of this disclosure, the term “transparency parameter” generally means a parameter that affects the transparency of a user account. The method may be implemented so that the process model is implemented as a smart contract on a blockchain. The method may be configured so that the process model interfaces with a common data lake. The method may be implemented so that the process model is implemented on a secure distributed computing network. The method may be implemented so that the process model outputs at least one of a Scope 1 environmental footprint, a Scope 2 environmental footprint, and a Scope 3 environmental footprint. The method may include injecting obscuration noise into a first environmental impact value. The method may include estimating a confidence score corresponding to a first environmental impact value. The method may be implemented so that one or more sub-components not associated with any user account may interpose between the first sub-component and the second sub-component. Implementations of the described technology may include hardware, methods or processes, or computer media. Note that the process models described above and below may be identical, but may differ unless specifically referred to as “process models.” For example, a first process model, a second process model, and a third process model may be used. In particular, different process models may be used for each party receiving a process model, or the same process model may be used for each party receiving a process model. For example, the system described below may be configured to distribute a generic process model to some parties or each party. Preferably, the parties can customize the process model they receive.

[0011] In a general embodiment, a system, preferably a computer system, for minimizing environmental impacts across the entire value chain by communicating between process silos may include one or more processors, each of which is configured to estimate a first environmental impact value for a first subcomponent of a process for a first user account, which is affected by a first process parameter; estimate a second environmental impact value for a second subcomponent of a process for a first user account, which is affected by a second process parameter; and to modify the first subcomponent of the process so that the second user account is associated with the second process parameter and the second subcomponent of the process, and to minimize the environmental footprint according to the first and second environmental impact values. Embodiments of this embodiment may include a corresponding computer system, apparatus, and / or a computer program recorded in one or more computer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the method.

[0012] The implementation may include one or more of the following features: One or more processors may be further configured to securely communicate first process parameters corresponding to a first subcomponent of a process to a computing device for a first user account, to use the first process parameters to estimate a second environmental impact value for a second subcomponent of a process on the computing device, and to securely communicate the second environmental impact value to the first user account. The system may optionally be configured to prohibit the first user account from accessing at least one component of the second subcomponent of the process. The system may optionally be configured such that the first process parameter is one of material selection, material usage selection, and material selection and usage. The system may be such that changes to the first subcomponent of a process are made before the execution of the second subcomponent of a process. The system is configured such that the first subcomponent of a process is executed on a separate and distinct production line from the second subcomponent of a process.

[0013] The system may be configured such that the first environmental impact value is one of the following: energy consumption, processing time, solvent usage, transport indicators, waste disposal volume, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon footprint, water usage, and ESG indicators. The system may be configured such that the first user account and the second user account are separate parties. The system may be configured such that one or more processors are further configured to run a process model to determine the environmental footprint. The system may be configured such that the process model includes at least one process step. The system may be configured such that at least one process step includes at least one input. The system may be configured such that at least one process step calculates at least one output. The system may be configured such that the process model includes a coefficient lookup table configured to associate at least one material with a normalized environmental footprint. The system may be configured such that the coefficient lookup table includes a hierarchical coefficient value for each entry. One or more processors may be further configured to modify the process model according to a first user account by inheriting the process model, and to override the behavior of the process model in order to estimate a first environmental impact value.

[0014] One or more processors may be further configured to modify the process model according to a first user account and to adjust at least one transparency parameter in relation to a second user account. The system may optionally be configured so that the process model is implemented as a smart contract on a blockchain. The system may be configured so that the process model interfaces with a common data lake. The system may be configured so that the process model is implemented on a secure distributed computing network. The system may be configured so that the process model outputs at least one of the following: a Scope 1 environmental footprint, a Scope 2 environmental footprint, and a Scope 3 environmental footprint.

[0015] The system may include one or more processors further configured to inject obscuration noise into a first environmental impact value and / or estimate a confidence score corresponding to the first environmental impact value. The system may be configured such that one or more sub-components not associated with any user account may be interposed between the first sub-component and the second sub-component. Implementations of the described technology may include hardware, methods or processes, or computer media.

[0016] In a general embodiment, the apparatus may include one or more processors. The apparatus may also include a plurality of processor-executable instructions configured to run on one or more processors, the plurality of processor-executable instructions may be configured to cause one or more processors to estimate a first environmental impact value for a first subcomponent of a process for a first user account, which is affected by a first process parameter; to estimate a second environmental impact value for a second subcomponent of a process for a first user account, which is affected by a second process parameter; and to cause the first subcomponent of a process to be modified so as to minimize the environmental footprint of the second user account, which is associated with a second process parameter and a second subcomponent of the process, according to the first and second environmental impact values. Other embodiments of this embodiment include a corresponding computer system, apparatus, and computer program recorded in one or more computer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the method. The apparatus may include a system according to the present disclosure, where one or more processors of the apparatus are one or more processors of the system.

[0017] In a general embodiment, the system and / or apparatus provided by the Disclosure is used to carry out the method provided by the Disclosure.

[0018] The methods described herein may be performed using the systems and / or apparatus described herein. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0019] These and other embodiments will become more apparent from the following detailed description of various embodiments of the present disclosure, with reference to the drawings. [Figure 1] This document shows a block diagram of a cloud-based system for minimizing the environmental footprint of a manufacturing process along a value chain, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] This invention presents a block diagram of a computing device for minimizing the environmental footprint of a manufacturing process along a value chain, according to one embodiment of this disclosure. [Figure 3] This figure shows objects in an object-oriented programming paradigm for providing a process model for minimizing the environmental footprint of a manufacturing process along a value chain, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] A flowchart illustrating a method for minimizing the environmental footprint of a manufacturing process along a value chain, according to one embodiment of this disclosure, is shown. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0020] Figure 1 shows a block diagram of a cloud-based system 100 for minimizing the environmental footprint of a manufacturing process along a value chain, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. System 100 includes a cloud service provider 102, one or more personal computers 104, and a mobile device 106. System 100 also includes an environmental impact adjustment component 112. The environmental impact adjustment component 112 can provide coordination capabilities between multiple entities, so that the manufacturing process as a whole minimizes its environmental impact across the entire value chain, as will be described in more detail below.

[0021] System 100 is configured to reduce the environmental footprint of a manufacturing process distributed among multiple parties by mitigating information silos through a method of co-optimizing sub-components of the manufacturing process. It should be noted that the sub-components to be co-optimized do not necessarily have to be adjacent or consecutive to each other; for example, there may be zero or more process sub-components between the co-optimized sub-components. System 100 is configured to distribute a general-purpose process model to each party. The parties do not necessarily have any relationship with each other, such as formal, legal, or informal relationships, but they may have relationships including being each other's suppliers, equipment providers, delivery providers, or customers. There are numerous established and new methods for calculating the environmental footprint, such as product / process mass intensity, the GHG protocol, ISO standard 14067:2018, and the Together for Sustainability protocol. However, sharing information among different parties is not so straightforward. A major obstacle to sharing is the confidentiality of sustainability information.

[0022] A product's environmental footprint depends on the specific inputs and processes used to manufacture it. However, sharing all or part of the sub-components involved in a product or process carries the risk of revealing sensitive information that could lead to the disclosure of trade secrets. A compromise that allows companies to comply with regulations and objectives while protecting a degree of privacy is the concept of stamps, stickers, "price tags," or passports. A product's footprint can be estimated using one of the aforementioned standards, and the final footprint (without the underlying calculation) can be provided as a digital or physical sticker accompanying the product. In some embodiments, the sticker can be configured to protect privacy while containing enough information for downstream members of the value chain to make specific product choices. This sticker may have analogous concepts to budgeting, where if a company has a specific environmental footprint "budget" for producing a product, the company can select raw materials and processes that fit this budget, provided that the individual footprints are known. In some embodiments, the sticker can be configured to increase transparency while still maintaining the security of sensitive information. For example, clustering environmental impacts based on a specific class of materials or process types, obfuscating or normalizing some data, adding noise, employing differential privacy algorithms, and adopting paradigms from federated analysis are all methods that System 100 could implement.

[0023] In further additional embodiments, system 100 can be employed in the chemical industry to minimize environmental impact across the value chain by facilitating the use of various data ecosystems and / or data sharing platforms, such as a simple file sharing service to a more advanced platform having tools for data analysis and visualization. System 100 can include interfaces to Siemens' SiGreen, SAP's GreenToken, and BCG's CO2AI. System 100 can be utilized to share metadata, quality assessments of the exchanged data, automatic updates, and notifications in accordance with existing quality standards such as the GHG Protocol or ISO standards.

[0024] Cloud service provider 102 can be configured to facilitate coordination of different users to minimize environmental impact across the value chain. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, cloud service provider 102 can be a hosted service, such as a company that provides cloud computing services to enterprises and individuals, whereby cloud service provider 102 provides the infrastructure, software, and platform necessary to host, manage, and deliver cloud-based services.

[0025] In some embodiments, cloud service provider 102 can provide infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, software as a service, and / or can be an interface to a blockchain infrastructure, which may or may not be hosted by cloud service provider 102. Cloud service provider 102 can be configured to scale up or scale down its computing resources based on requests from users at a given point in time.

[0026] In yet another embodiment, the cloud service provider 102 may be implemented on a blockchain that leverages smart contracts configured to minimize environmental impact by coordinating sub-components of the manufacturing process among users (as further described below). The cloud service provider 102 may use a distributed ledger to store and verify environmental impact data generated by one or more process models 300 (see Figure 3) and communicate one or more of the following between different users: step 302, input 304, output 306, and footprint 310. Users may be authenticated and / or authorized by secure digital certificates, encryption keys, or other secure mechanisms. Data may be stored and computed in a secure and tamper-proof manner to provide transparency and accountability to all users. The smart contract may include executable code that defines the manufacturing process for one or more process models 300 in a manner consistent with the transparency and security settings.

[0027] Referring to the system 100 as a whole, the personal computer 104 and the mobile device 106 communicate with each other via a network 108. The network 108 could be Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth®, etc., and could utilize the Internet and associated protocols such as TCP / IP. The network 108 could be a local area network, a wide area network, a physical bus (such as a universal serial bus), the Internet, or any combination thereof.

[0028] The personal computer 104 and the mobile device 106 may interface with the cloud service provider 102 to coordinate the minimization of total environmental impacts as determined by the environmental impact estimator 114. In some embodiments, a dedicated application may be used to interface with the environmental impact adjustment component 112, such as a mobile application on the mobile device 106 or a desktop application on the personal computer 104. Communication may involve sending data in HTML, XML, JSON, YAML, or any data format. The environmental impact adjustment component 112 may provide users with user-level accounts via a typical login mechanism. The environmental impact adjustment component 112 may be a web application, web server, web service, etc., and may utilize one or more protocols to communicate data.

[0029] The cloud service provider 102 may provide the environmental impact adjustment component 112 as a web page, web application, or program for download and execution on a computer 104 or mobile device 106. The environmental impact adjustment component 112 includes an environmental impact estimator 114, a communication component 116, a GUI component 118, and a process model executor 120.

[0030] The environmental impact estimator 114 may, but may not, utilize one or more of the following to determine the environmental footprint: Scope 1, Scope 2, or Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, wastewater emissions, environmental impact values, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the environmental impact estimator 114 sums up the total environmental impact values ​​of various sub-components of the process, according to type, as reported by the process model implementer 120. In other embodiments, the environmental impact estimator 114 may use any number of linear, nonlinear, parametric, nonparametric, etc. functions to estimate the total environmental footprint. For example, the amount of waste of one type of waste may be summed from all sub-components of the process and multiplied by a first constant, which is then added to the sum of carbon dioxide emissions from all sub-components and multiplied by a second constant. In some specific embodiments, the resulting value may be considered a heuristic for measuring the total environmental footprint of the process. In further additional embodiments, the environmental impact estimator 114 may be omitted, so that the raw environmental impact values ​​are reported to the party associated with the relevant user account 150.

[0031] In some embodiments, the environmental impact estimator 114 may be assigned a confidence score. If the environmental impact estimator 114 makes some or all of its estimations based on data, models generated from the data, or Monte Carlo simulation data, a confidence score may be assigned to the estimated environmental impact values ​​to indicate the quality of the estimates. This may be included directly in the output or derived from the standard deviation or variance of the sample data used for estimation, the minimum to maximum values ​​of all environmental impacts for a particular class of material, etc.

[0032] In one embodiment, a frequentist confidence store may be derived using frequentist statistics. For example, the confidence score may use sample data such as distributions, hypothesis tests, p-values, significance tests, and confidence intervals. In an additional embodiment, the confidence score is calculated for each environmental impact sample value (or set thereof) using the posterior probability in Bayesian estimation, which represents an updated belief about the environmental impact value estimate. Thus, the confidence score may be, for example, the posterior distribution or the confidence interval of the Bayesian estimator.

[0033] In further additional embodiments, the environmental impact estimator 114 may introduce random noise, for example, from Gaussian noise or white noise, in addition to the constants used to generate the estimated environmental impact values. This noise may be configured, for example, according to a differential privacy algorithm, so that the sum of noisy environmental impact estimates for a particular product or process component does not exceed a certain amount or a predetermined threshold, thereby distorting the true environmental footprint. The environmental impact estimator 114 may be configured to use noise to further protect privacy with respect to the identity of the components, or to prevent inference attacks that may be carried out by reverse (or other) lookups in the database 132.

[0034] The process model executor 120 may execute one or more of the stored process models 144 (see also process model 300 in Figure 3) to determine the environmental impact values ​​of one or more subcomponents of a target process along the value chain. The process model executor 120 may be executable code configured to execute, interpret, or utilize process models, for example, using a virtual processor 124, in a manner that reports the environmental impact values ​​to the environmental impact estimator 114.

[0035] The environmental impact adjustment component 112 also includes a communication component 116. The communication component 116 can facilitate seamless communication and data exchange between multiple software applications, devices, and systems. Specifically, the communication component 116 may include protocol processing, message formatting, data serialization, encryption, and authentication to facilitate communication with the computer 104 and / or mobile device 106. The communication component 116 may utilize a message formatting mechanism to format messages into formats such as XML, JSON, binary format, and / or a proprietary message format. The communication component 116 may utilize various encryption algorithms such as RSA, AES, ECC, symmetric encryption, and asymmetric encryption to enable secure communication between the environmental impact adjustment component 112 and the computer 104 and / or mobile device 106.

[0036] The environmental impact adjustment component 112 also includes a real-time data ingestor 123. The real-time data ingestor 123 may be a real-time or near-real-time ingestor configured to collect and match process data 151. The process data 151 may be stored in a database 132. The process data 151 may be associated with a user account 150, a process model 144, one or more process parameters 142, a coefficient lookup table 146, and / or transparency parameters 148. The real-time data ingestor 123 may be configured to securely communicate with Internet of Things devices, edge devices, control blocks, DIN controllers, various sensors, etc., that are connected to or communicate with a process or subcomponent of the manufacturing process.

[0037] The GUI component 118 can render a display used by the computer 104 and / or the mobile device 106. The GUI component 118 may be a web page-based provider such as Flask, an HTML server, or a web framework. The GUI component 118 can provide widgets, information, buttons, options, and menus, thereby facilitating user interaction with the environmental impact adjustment component 112.

[0038] GUI component 118 can be used to log in to user account 150, thereby allowing the user to create, save, or retrieve process models 144, adjust transparency parameters 148, adjust process parameters 142, review retrieved process data 151, or otherwise interface with any account functions. Additionally or alternatively, GUI component 118 can save favorites, select default parameters, or adjust coefficient lookup tables 146. GUI component 118 can instruct other components to execute commands based on workflows initiated by the user. That is, GUI component 118 can receive events such as mouse clicks, button presses, or GUI widget interactions to initiate routines, a series of steps, or a series of actions. For example, GUI component 118 can guide the user step-by step on how to configure and interact with process models 144 in database 132.

[0039] The GUI component 118 can also be used to visualize the process model and environmental impact values ​​as a whole in the simulation, and / or provide various visualization tools for analyzing the data. The data may be stored in a database 132 containing process data 151. Thus, each user can log in to a user account 150 to view the results of their process, the results of changes to their process across the entire value chain, and / or the historical accuracy of the environmental impact value estimates for their process.

[0040] The resource dispatcher 110 may dispatch a request to perform an action to one or more virtual servers 122, each of which has a virtual processor 124, virtual memory 126, and virtual disk space 128. Once dispatched and activated by the resource dispatcher 110, the virtual servers 122 may run on one or more servers 121 on the server farm 119.

[0041] Figure 2 shows a block diagram of a computing device 200 for minimizing the environmental footprint of a manufacturing process along a value chain, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The computing device 200 in Figure 2 may be the computer 104 or mobile device 106 in Figure 1. The computing device 200 includes an I / O interface 210 for communication within it. The computing device 200 includes a data store 204, a processor 206, a network interface 208, memory 225, and a user I / O device 226. The data store 204 stores data and may be a hard drive, flash drive, thumb drive, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, semi-volatile memory, etc. The processor 206 can execute one or more processor-executable instructions 212 that may be stored in the data store 204 and / or memory 225. For example, the processor 206 can execute a processor-executable instruction 212 retrieved from the data store 204 and stored in memory 225. Memory 225 also includes program data 214 which may contain information related to the processor-executable instructions 212. The computing device 200 may include user I / O devices 226 such as a cursor device 230 (e.g., a touchscreen or mouse), a keyboard 232 (virtual or physical), and / or a monitor 228 (which may be a touchscreen). The computing device 200 communicates with the network 202 via a network interface 208.

[0042] The computing device 200 in Figure 2 may be used as part of the system 100 in Figure 1, but in some embodiments, the environmental impact minimization function may be entirely contained within the computing device 200 in Figure 2. For example, the environmental impact adjustment component 112 in Figure 1 may be contained within the processor executable instruction 212 in Figure 2 as the environmental impact adjustment component 242. For example, the environmental impact estimator 234, communication component 236, GUI component 238, process model executor 240, and real-time data ingestor 241 in Figure 2 may have the same or similar functions as the environmental impact estimator 114, communication component 116, GUI component 118, process model executor 120, and real-time data ingestor 123 in Figure 1, respectively. The database 244 may be similar to the database 132 in Figure 1. The database 244 may be, for example, an SQLite 3 database embedded in the computing device 200.

[0043] Therefore, in some embodiments, the environmental impact adjustment component 242 may reside entirely on a local device (such as on a computer 104 or a mobile device 106), partially within a cloud service provider 102, and / or be organized in a hybrid local-cloud configuration. In some embodiments, the environmental impact adjustment component 242 may also be an application, which may run on a computer 104, a mobile device 106, a cloud service provider 102, a computing device 200, or any combination thereof.

[0044] Database 244 in Figure 2 may be similar to or identical to database 132 in Figure 1. That is, process parameters 246, process model 248, coefficient lookup table 250, user account 252, transparency parameter 254, and process data 245 may be similar to or identical to process parameters 142, process model 144, coefficient lookup table 146, user account 150, transparency parameter 148, and process data 151 in Figure 1, respectively.

[0045] Figure 3 shows objects in an object-oriented programming paradigm for providing a process model 300 for minimizing the environmental footprint of a manufacturing process along a value chain, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The process model 300 may be inherited by a supplier process 314 or a customer process 312. The process model 300 includes step 302, which is an attribute list, which is an attribute of input 304 and other attributes such as output attribute 306. The attribute of input 304 may be, for example, a list of tuples of name, quantity, and optionally a coefficient value. The attribute of output 306 may be a list of tuples of name, quantity, and optionally a coefficient value. The attribute 306 of output 306 may be an input to the next item in the list of attributes in step 302 (which may also be an attribute of input 304 (this type of data relationship can be achieved by a list such as a linked list)).

[0046] Accordingly, the process model 300 may consist of a series of one or more steps 302, each step 302 having one or more inputs 304 (including, but not limited to, raw materials, consumables, catalysts, equipment, waste treatment, water usage, and energy) and one or more outputs 306. The outputs 306 may be products, intermediate products, or final products. Each of the inputs 304 and outputs 306 may have one or more quantities associated with them (e.g., mass, volume, density, purity, isotope ratio, contamination rate, reaction completion rate, degree of hydrolysis, precipitate amount, salinity, concentration, energy used, etc.).

[0047] Process model 300 also includes a coefficient lookup table 308 as an attribute. The coefficient lookup table 308 associates a particular material with a specific normalized environmental footprint, such as specific coefficients for water and carbon dioxide. For example, a solvent may have a carbon footprint of 2.3 kg of CO2 equivalents per kg of solvent, while a formulation raw material may have a carbon footprint of 5.5 kg of CO2 equivalents per kg of solvent. Each of these individual footprints may be a link to an external database containing a “default” footprint, or may be imported into the coefficient lookup table 308 from an external source. Certain items may have a hierarchy of coefficients, possibly with different levels of precision or certainty. For example, values ​​from empirical measurements or certified lifecycle analyses may have a different degree of certainty than values ​​drawn from an external database, and values ​​drawn from an external database may have an average value for all materials in a particular class. For each individual input of input 304, the coefficients may be overridden by different numbers, e.g., a regional geographic average or a number obtained from measurements in supplier process 314 or customer process 312.

[0048] The process model 300 also includes a getOutputFootprint() method 310 for calculating the footprint, which typically involves multiplying the amount of each input 304 by its associated coefficient from a coefficient lookup table 308 and summing them up as needed. The sum may be stored as the footprint output, and the coefficient of the output may be calculated as the footprint divided by the amount of the output.

[0049] The process model 300 can also utilize various units of measurement, including mass and other quantities associated with the process data 245 in Figure 2 or the process data 151 in Figure 1, as well as coefficients. Thus, each parameter of the function (i.e., method) can be a vector, list, or other data structure, rather than a scalar. Consequently, the function getOutputFootprint() may return a footprint value involving the sum of the dot products of the quantities and coefficient vectors (or any mathematical operation that achieves the same result). An average footprint over a period of time can also be calculated, similar to the average footprint of a quantity of material. The real-time data of process data 245 can be time-series data that can be scaled based on the type of quantity. In some embodiments, the time-series data is a unit quantity per unit time, and therefore, an integral over a period of time corresponds to the total amount of environmental impact value during that time. For example, if the environmental impact value is real-time data measuring the wattage used at a point in time, this data can be integrated over a period of time to obtain the total amount of joules (or kilowatt-hours, etc.) consumed during that time.

[0050] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the coefficient lookup table 146 may be dynamic. For example, coefficients related to energy use may be a function of time (at a specific location or a set reference location). For example, during the day, the environmental impact may be lower because more energy production is based on solar cells, but at night, the environmental impact may be higher because the demand for energy production using natural gas increases. Thus, the coefficient lookup table 146 may have coefficients that are a function of time, a function of time, or a function of date, and may be based on a time-varying reference or generated by querying external data. For example, the coefficient lookup table 146 may query energy producers to adjust the impact coefficient values ​​at regular intervals if the energy producers make that kind of data available.

[0051] As described above, a supplier can inherit a process model 300, such as supplier process 314, and a customer can inherit a process model 300 as customer process 312. Each party receiving a process model 300 (for example, a supplier receives supplier process 314, and a customer receives customer process 312 along the value chain) can customize it. For example, consider a chemical supplier of ALD precursors and a semiconductor chip manufacturer. Both perform processes linked in the value chain. The supplier's process is a manufacturing process that converts raw materials into chemical precursors. The customer's process combines the chemical precursors with other materials to produce thin films. Each party can use the general-purpose process model 300 to map their own process and then calculate their portion of the footprint using the provided coefficient table 308 or their own custom coefficients 308, or each party can use an inherited version of the process model 300, such as supplier process 314 or customer process 312.

[0052] One aspect of object 300 is that each party can control the level of transparency of its footprint by providing interfaces to other members of the ecosystem through inheritance and / or method declarations. For example, a supplier can override the getoutputfootprint()324 method for calculating the footprint by using supplier process 314 to expose the footprint with different levels of transparency, for example by providing only the footprint generated through a standard process (basic sustainability sticker), or by providing alternative methods that allow the substitution of one or more materials as shown by getoutputfootprint(input1, input2)326. By providing various customizable methods as interfaces instead of individual inputs, outputs, and processes, each member of the value chain can calculate or estimate the footprint without revealing all the details about the sub-components involved. In some embodiments, the process model 300 may provide interfaces (e.g., Java® interfaces) that can be implemented using any preferred access control system, such as privileges in a common data lake, distributed system, blockchain, etc. If an even higher level of security is desired, process model 300 can incorporate any appropriate method to enhance privacy, including data obfuscation, normalization, differential privacy, or algorithms from federated analytics.

[0053] For example, consider a customer that uses a customer process 312 inherited from process model 300. The customer process 312 may add to, override, or simply inherit the steps 328, inputs 330, outputs 332, coefficient lookup table 334, the getOutputFootprint() method 336, the getOutputFootprint(Input1) method 338, and / or the getOutputFootprint(Input1, Input2, ...) method 340. In some embodiments, a call to "super()" may be made to refer to process model 300. In further additional embodiments, one or more attributes or methods of process model 300 may be declared as "abstract" in some language, indicating that they must be implemented by an inheriting object. Continuing this example, if a supplier wants to use the customer process 312 object to test how an alternative precursor would run in the customer's process, the customer can call the customer's footprint calculation method 338 or 340, using the alternative precursor as input (e.g., input1, input2, ...). Therefore, suppliers can experiment with different input products to test the substance of downstream aspects of the manufacturing process, thereby giving suppliers an ecosystem perspective rather than an individual or siloed one. Thus, multiple members of the value chain have the agency to reduce the overall value chain footprint, as each party has the ability to measure the impact of manufacturing decisions on the downstream footprint, even if the footprint within each individual party does not change much.

[0054] Consider another example in which supplier process 314 may be inherited from process model 300. Step 316, input 318, output 320, coefficient lookup table 322, getOutputFootprint() 324, or getOutputFootprint(input1, input2) 326 may override step 302, input 306, coefficient lookup table() 308, and / or getOutputFootprint(input1, input2) according to the syntax of the computer language used.

[0055] Consider yet another example comparing two different processes for producing solvent-dispersed graphene. A raw material provider may have the option of producing two solvents: Solvent 1 is petroleum-derived, and Solvent 2 is wood pulp-derived. Solvent 2 requires fewer resources to produce and therefore has half the carbon footprint compared to Solvent 1. The stickers indicating the footprint for the solvent caused by specific subcomponents of the process differ by only twice as much. However, when used in the graphene production process, Solvent 2 has other advantages. The production of solvent-dispersed graphene is far more efficient, resulting in a more concentrated solution, less waste, and more efficient packaging, transport, etc. These advantages can further reduce the footprint in this process by about 10 times, which is not reflected on the sticker. Process Model 300 allows the supplier in this example to propose a lower-footprint process to the customer without compromising customer security. By using Process Model 300, entities can adjust to minimize their overall environmental footprint. Each party is also free to explore alternatives to reduce the total footprint.

[0056] Figure 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary process 400. In some implementations, one or more process blocks in Figure 4 may be executed by one or more of the following: computer 104, mobile device 106, cloud service provider 102, computing device 200, or any combination thereof. Process 400 may include operations 402-412, additional operations, or fewer operations.

[0057] Operation 402 estimates a first environmental impact value for a first subcomponent of a process for a first user account. The first subcomponent of a process may be affected by a first process parameter. Operation 404 securely communicates the first process parameter corresponding to the first subcomponent of the process to the computing device for the first user account. Operation 406 uses the first process parameter to estimate a second environmental impact value for a second subcomponent of the process on the computing device. The second environmental impact value may be affected by a second process parameter. The second user account may be associated with a second process parameter and a second subcomponent of the process. The first and second user accounts may be owned and / or controlled by separate parties, such as different parties in the production value chain.

[0058] Operation 408 executes a process model (e.g., process model 300 in Figure 3) to determine the environmental footprint. The process model may include one or more process steps (as used in this context, steps refer to manufacturing steps represented by software executed by a computer). A process step may include one or more inputs and may compute at least one output. The process model may include a coefficient lookup table configured to associate one or more materials with a normalized environmental footprint. The coefficient lookup table may include hierarchical coefficient entries for each entry. The process model may be implemented as a smart contract on a blockchain and / or interface with a common data lake.

[0059] The process model of Method 400 may be implemented on a secure distributed computing network. Optional actions may include allowing a user to modify the process model according to a first user account by inheriting the process model, or to override the behavior of the process model to estimate a first environmental impact value. Another optional action includes adjusting one or more transparency parameters in relation to a first and / or second user account.

[0060] Operation 410 securely communicates a second environmental impact value to the first user account. The first environmental impact value may be energy consumption, processing time, solvent usage, transport indicators, waste disposal volume, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon footprint, and ESG indicators, and / or water usage. The process model may additionally, alternatively, or optionally output at least one of the Scope 1 environmental footprint, Scope 2 environmental footprint, and Scope 3 environmental footprint.

[0061] Operation 412 modifies the first subcomponent of the process to minimize the environmental footprint according to the first and second environmental impact values. Thus, the user may modify the first subcomponent of the process under user control via the first user account to reduce downstream negative environmental impacts. Therefore, modifications to the first subcomponent of the process may be made before the execution of the second subcomponent of the process. The first subcomponent of the process may be executed on a separate production line from the second subcomponent of the process.

[0062] Figure 4 shows an exemplary block of process 400, but in some implementations, process 400 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or blocks arranged differently than those shown in Figure 4. Additionally or alternatively, two or more blocks of process 400 may be executed in parallel.

[0063] A person skilled in the art can devise various alternative and modified forms without departing from this disclosure. Therefore, this disclosure is intended to encompass all such alternative, modified, and variant forms. In addition, while some embodiments of this disclosure have been shown in the drawings and / or discussed herein, this disclosure is intended to be as broad as the art allows, and this specification is intended to be interpreted similarly; therefore, this disclosure is not intended to be limited to these embodiments. Accordingly, the above description should not be construed as limiting, but merely as an example of a particular embodiment. A person skilled in the art will also anticipate other modifications within the scope and spirit of the claims appended herein. Other elements, steps, methods, and techniques substantially different from those described above and / or in the appended claims are also intended to be within the scope of this disclosure.

[0064] The embodiments shown in the drawings are presented solely to illustrate specific examples of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the drawings are illustrative and not limiting. For illustrative purposes, the sizes of some elements in the drawings may be exaggerated and may not be drawn to a specific scale. Additionally, elements with the same number shown in the drawings may be identical or similar elements, depending on the context.

[0065] Where the term “including” is used in this specification and in the claims, it does not preclude other elements or steps. Where an indefinite or definite article, e.g., “a,” “an,” or “the,” is used when referring to a singular noun, it includes the plural form of that noun unless otherwise specified. Therefore, the term “including” should not be interpreted as being limited to the items listed thereafter, and it does not preclude other elements or steps, so the expression “device including items A and B” should not be limited to a device consisting only of components A and B. This expression means that, with respect to this disclosure, the relevant components of a device are only A and B.

[0066] Furthermore, terms such as “first,” “second,” and “third,” whether used in the specification or claims, are provided to distinguish similar elements and are not necessarily provided to describe a sequential or chronological order. Terms used in this manner are (unless otherwise expressly disclosed) interchangeable under appropriate circumstances, and it should be understood that embodiments of the disclosures described herein may operate in an order and / or arrangement other than those described or illustrated herein.

Claims

1. A method for minimizing environmental impact across the entire value chain by communicating between process silos, To estimate a first environmental impact value for a first subcomponent of a process for a first user account, which is affected by a first process parameter, The method involves estimating a second environmental impact value for a second subcomponent of the process for the first user account, which is affected by a second process parameter, wherein the second user account is associated with the second process parameter and the second subcomponent of the process. Modifying the first sub-component of the process to minimize the environmental footprint according to the first environmental impact value and the second environmental impact value, Methods that include...

2. The first process parameters corresponding to the first subcomponent of the process are to be securely communicated to the computing device for the first user account, Using the first process parameters, estimate the second environmental impact value for the second subcomponent of the process on the computing device, The second environmental impact value is to be securely communicated to the first user account, The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first user account is prohibited from accessing at least one component of the second subcomponent of the process.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first process parameter is one of material selection, material use selection, and material selection and use.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the modification of the first subcomponent of the process is performed before the execution of the second subcomponent of the process.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first subcomponent of the process is executed on a separate and distinct production line from the second subcomponent of the process.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first environmental impact value is one of energy consumption, processing time, solvent usage, transport indicators, waste treatment volume, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon footprint, water usage, and ESG indicators.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first user account and the second user account are separate parties.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising running a process model to determine the environmental footprint.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the process model includes at least one process step.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the at least one process step includes at least one input.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the at least one process step calculates at least one output.

13. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the process model includes a coefficient lookup table configured to associate at least one material with a normalized environmental footprint.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the coefficient lookup table includes a hierarchy coefficient value for each entry.

15. Modifying the process model according to the first user account, Adjusting at least one transparency parameter in relation to the second user account, The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, further comprising:

16. By inheriting the process model, the process model is modified according to the first user account, In order to estimate the first environmental impact value, the behavior of the process model is overridden, The method according to any one of claims 9 to 15, further comprising:

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the process model is implemented as a smart contract on a blockchain.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the process model interfaces with a common data lake.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the process model is implemented on a secure distributed computing network.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the process model is configured to output at least one of a scope 1 environmental footprint, a scope 2 environmental footprint, and a scope 3 environmental footprint.

21. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 20, further comprising injecting obscuration noise into the first environmental impact value.

22. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 21, further comprising estimating a confidence score corresponding to the first environmental impact value.

23. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, wherein one or more sub-components not associated with any user account may be interposed between the first sub-component and the second sub-component.

24. A system for minimizing environmental impact across the entire value chain by communicating between process silos, It includes one or more processors, and one or more processors A first environmental impact value is estimated for a first subcomponent of a process for a first user account, which is affected by a first process parameter. A second environmental impact value is estimated for a second subcomponent of the process for the first user account, which is affected by the second process parameter, and the second user account is associated with the second process parameter and the second subcomponent of the process. Modify the first sub-component of the process to minimize the environmental footprint according to the first environmental impact value and the second environmental impact value. It is structured in such a way. system.

25. The one or more processors described above The first process parameters corresponding to the first subcomponent of the process are securely communicated to the computing device for the first user account. Using the first process parameters, the second environmental impact value is estimated for the second subcomponent of the process on the computing device. The second environmental impact value is securely communicated to the first user account. It is further structured in such a way. The system according to claim 24.

26. The system according to claim 24 or 25, wherein the first user account is prohibited from accessing at least one component of the second subcomponent of the process.

27. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 26, wherein the first process parameter is one of material selection, material use selection, and material selection and use.

28. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 27, wherein the modification of the first subcomponent of the process is performed before the execution of the second subcomponent of the process.

29. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 28, wherein the first subcomponent of the process is executed on a separate and distinct production line from the second subcomponent of the process.

30. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 29, wherein the first environmental impact value is one of energy consumption, processing time, solvent usage, transport indicators, waste treatment volume, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon footprint, water usage, and ESG indicators.

31. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 30, wherein the first user account and the second user account are separate parties.

32. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 31, wherein one or more processors are further configured to execute a process model to determine the environmental footprint.

33. The system according to claim 32, wherein the process model includes at least one process step.

34. The system according to claim 33, wherein the at least one process step includes at least one input.

35. The system according to claim 33 or 34, wherein the at least one process step calculates at least one output.

36. The system according to any one of claims 32 to 35, wherein the process model includes a coefficient lookup table configured to associate at least one material with a normalized environmental footprint.

37. The system according to claim 36, wherein the coefficient lookup table includes a hierarchical coefficient value for each entry.

38. The one or more processors described above By inheriting the process model, the process model is modified according to the first user account. In order to estimate the first environmental impact value, the behavior of the process model is overridden. It is further structured in such a way. The system according to any one of claims 32 to 37.

39. The one or more processors described above The process model is modified according to the first user account, Adjust at least one transparency parameter in relation to the second user account. It is further structured in such a way. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 38.

40. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 39, wherein the process model is implemented as a smart contract on a blockchain.

41. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 40, wherein the process model interfaces with a common data lake.

42. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 41, wherein the process model is implemented on a secure distributed computing network.

43. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 42, wherein the process model is configured to output at least one of the following: a Scope 1 environmental footprint, a Scope 2 environmental footprint, and a Scope 3 environmental footprint.

44. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 43, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to inject obscuration noise into the first environmental impact value.

45. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 44, wherein one or more processors are further configured to estimate a confidence score corresponding to the first environmental impact value.

46. The system according to any one of claims 24 to 45, wherein one or more sub-components not associated with any user account may be interposed between the first sub-component and the second sub-component.

47. One or more processors, A plurality of processor-executable instructions configured to run on one or more processors, A device including the plurality of processor-executable instructions, wherein the plurality of processor-executable instructions are provided to one or more processors, A first subcomponent of a process for a first user account, which is affected by a first process parameter, is used to estimate a first environmental impact value for the first subcomponent. A second environmental impact value is estimated for a second subcomponent of the process for the first user account, which is affected by the second process parameter, and the second user account is associated with the second process parameter and the second subcomponent of the process. Modify the first sub-component of the process to minimize the environmental footprint according to the first environmental impact value and the second environmental impact value. It is structured in such a way. Device.

48. The apparatus according to claim 47, wherein the apparatus includes the system described in any one of claims 24 to 46, and the one or more processors of the apparatus are the one or more processors of the system.

49. Use of the system and / or apparatus according to any one of claims 24 to 46 and / or the apparatus according to claim 47 or 48 for carrying out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 23.

50. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 23, performed using the system and / or the apparatus according to any one of claims 24 to 46.

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