Production Process PCF Comparison for Change Impact Prediction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods struggle to accurately determine the impact of changes in production processes on product carbon footprints, especially in complex production environments with multiple outputs and interconnected processes, hindering effective greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method to compare the carbon footprints of two production processes, allowing early prediction and evaluation of the impact of changes on product carbon footprints, enabling optimization and control of production processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If production processes are made more complex to handle multiple outputs and interconnected processes, then the accuracy of PCF calculation is improved, but the difficulty of determining impact of changes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The production process is divided into individual process steps, each with its own PCF calculation. This segmentation allows the complex overall PCF to be broken down into manageable components, making it easier to determine the impact of changes in specific steps while maintaining overall accuracy through summation of segmented results.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary calculation of PCF for each process step and maintains these calculations in advance. When a change is detected, the system uses these pre-calculated values to quickly determine the impact without needing to recalculate the entire production chain, thus reducing the difficulty of impact determination while maintaining precision.
2Productivity
If early determination of PCF impact is performed prior to production process changes, then the ability to optimize production is improved, but the complexity of data processing and comparison increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculation and storage of PCF values for each process step before changes occur. This allows early determination of impact by comparing pre-stored values with updated values, enabling production optimization without requiring complex real-time data processing during the actual change implementation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a copy or snapshot of the current production process data and its associated PCF calculations. This copy can be stored and later compared with updated data to determine impact, simplifying the data processing complexity by working with replicated data structures rather than complex in-memory comparisons of live systems.
3Measurement precision
If detailed PCF calculations are performed for all production process steps, then the accuracy of environmental impact measurement is improved, but the time required for calculation and analysis increases
Solution Approach 1:
The detailed PCF calculation is segmented into individual process step calculations that can be performed independently and stored. This allows the system to maintain high measurement precision through detailed calculations while reducing analysis time by retrieving and comparing pre-calculated segment results rather than performing complete recalculations whenever changes occur.
Solution Approach 2:
Detailed PCF calculations are performed in advance for all process steps and stored for later use. This preliminary action allows the system to maintain measurement precision through comprehensive calculations while significantly reducing the time required for subsequent impact analysis by using pre-computed values instead of performing calculations in real-time.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a system and method for determining an impact of a difference between two production processes on a product carbon footprint, PCF, of a product produced using the production process. The computer-implemented method comprises receiving first production process data comprising information about a first production process for a product, receiving second production process data comprising information about a second production process different to the first production process, determining, based on the first production process data, a first PCF of the product associated with producing the product using, the first production process; determining, based on the second production process data a second of the product associated with producing the product using the second PCF production process, determining the impact of the difference between the first and second production process by comparing the first and second PCF with each other, and outputting the determined impact on the product's PCF.