Supply Chain Environmental Impact Certificate
Solution Overview
Problem
Current life cycle analyses for assessing environmental impact in supply chains are unreliable due to reliance on outdated data from upstream suppliers and assumptions, making it difficult to compare and apply across the chain.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that uses an environmental impact certificate passed between entities in a supply chain, where each entity updates the certificate using an electronic ledger, providing a more granular and accurate assessment by cumulatively incorporating impacts at each processing step, with an optional shared database for data accessibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If life cycle analysis is performed using data from upstream suppliers, then environmental impact assessment can be conducted, but the reliability of the analysis is reduced due to outdated data and assumptions
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by establishing a standardized data collection framework and certificate structure in advance. Each entity in the supply chain is pre-configured with templates for reporting environmental impact data, ensuring that accurate and up-to-date information is captured at the source before being passed downstream, eliminating reliance on outdated supplier data
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where environmental impact certificates are continuously updated and validated as they move through the supply chain. Each entity verifies and updates the certificate with current operational data, creating a feedback loop that ensures data accuracy and allows downstream entities to access reliable, real-time environmental impact information
2Measurement precision
If life cycle analysis is performed with detailed assumptions, then environmental impact can be estimated, but the difficulty of comparing and applying analyses across different entities increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal environmental impact certificate structure that can be applied across all entities in the supply chain. The standardized template includes consistent categories for environmental impact data (energy consumption, emissions, waste), allowing precise measurements at each entity while maintaining comparability across the entire supply chain through a common framework
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows parameter changes by enabling each entity to input specific local data while maintaining the overall certificate structure. The certificate can be updated and adapted at each supply chain stage, with entities modifying relevant parameters based on their specific operations while preserving the standardized format for cross-entity comparison
3Measurement precision
If environmental impact data is collected from each entity in the supply chain, then the accuracy of environmental impact assessment is improved, but the complexity of data collection and management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the environmental impact assessment into discrete certificates for each supply chain entity. Each entity maintains its own environmental impact certificate containing specific data about its operations, breaking down the complex overall assessment into manageable, standardized units that are easier to collect, store, and verify independently
4Loss of information
If real-time environmental impact data is tracked through the supply chain, then the comprehensiveness of environmental impact assessment is improved, but the loss of time for data processing and verification increases
Solution Approach 1:
The environmental impact certificate is copied and passed from one entity to the next in the supply chain, with each entity adding their specific data to the existing certificate. This copying mechanism allows comprehensive data collection across all entities without requiring simultaneous data gathering, reducing processing time while maintaining completeness through incremental certificate updates
Data Source
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AI summary
A method (500) of processing an environmental impact associated with a product in a supply chain formed of a plurality of entities, comprising: providing (510), at an environmental impact database (310), data related to environmental impacts of one or more operations associated with one or more products; at an entity (210-2) in a supply chain, receiving (520) a product from an upstream entity (210-1) in the supply chain; logging (530) an identity of the product by means of an electronic ledger (120-2) associated with the entity; identifying (540), from the electronic ledger, by means of a data extractor (132) an identity of the product; accessing (550) an environmental impact certificate (160-1) associated with the identified product from a certificate database (320), the certificate database being mutually accessible to entities in the supply chain; determining (560) an environmental impact associated with one or more operations on the product by the entity by associating the data related to environmental impacts and the identified product; and generating (570) an updated environmental impact certificate (120-2) including the determined environmental impact associated with the one or more operations of the entity on the product.