Digital Twins are virtual representations of a product-service-instance and, as a technology, represent an important part of the realization of Industry 4.0. They manage data of the associat-ed product instance and can also have functions for simulation to achieve cost and resource savings while simultaneously increasing product quality. In this paper, a need for action for the implementation of a systematic approach for the returning of data of Digital Twins into the product design is identified and a methodology is developed as an answer. This methodology realizes an information management, which supports holistic data and information flows. It de-fines necessary steps for the implementation of data and information transport, starting from a data management up to information provision in product design. Based on a performed potential analysis for the identification of intended uses in the context of product design, the overall ap-plication focus is narrowed down to the development of new product generations to support the requirements development. The concept structure consists of Digital Twins, a data mining sys-tem for the transformation of data into information and a presentation system for managing the information provided.
Sustainable product development is one key to avoid overshooting the global production resources and to keep the human impact on the climate under control. Life cycle assessment provides methods and tools to monitor and quantify processes. In reality however, this is a complex procedure with a lack of transparency and standardization. Especially small and medium enterprises lack resources and know-how to successfully perform life cycle assessments. Therefore, the need for action is to make methods and tools usable and accessible in practice. This paper presents a concept for the evaluation and categorization of sustainability assessment methods and tools by developing criteria based on a system context and stakeholder analysis. Proven assessment methods from literature and market research are the basis for the development of this concept. The final evaluation of exemplary solutions leads to research gaps which can be addressed in the future development of assessment methods.
CO2 neutrality is an important goal for the upcoming years. It is necessary to ensure that greenhouse gases are emitted as few as possible, particularly for the development of new products. The most important decisions, with impact on the sustainability, are already made by the product designer during the virtual product development phase, such as raw material requirements, selected manufacturing process or thermal and surface treatments. Especially in the case of ablative processes (CNC), raw material has a major impact on the calculated carbon footprint of products.In order to minimize the emissions of greenhouse gases in the virtual product development phase already, this paper presents an approach to provide assistance for the product designer regarding the ecological impact of his decisions. For this purpose, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods are directly integrated into the CAD software. During the design process, the expected CO2 equivalents of the largest influencing factor - the raw material - can be displayed which is observed for most cases of metal material. In addition, the savings potential for reducing the blank volume or changing the raw material is shown and a suggestion is made.
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