This post was written and first published in May 2023 by PLM Green co-founder Jos Voskuil in his European Virtual Dutchman blog about PLM.
Last week I enjoyed visiting LiveWorx 2023 on behalf of the PLM Global Green Alliance. PTC had invited us to understand their sustainability ambitions and meet with the relevant people from PTC, partners, customers and several of my analyst friends. It felt like a reunion.
This month we are taking a pause from the typical format of the PLM & Sustainability newsletter to ask PLM Green followers for their valued input in a one-question survey that will help guide our initiative forward.
Welcome to the latest edition of PLM & Sustainability, a news digest from the PLM Green Global Alliance chronicling the role of Product Lifecycle Management enabling technologies in helping companies and industries transition to a more sustainable, low-carbon circular economy. In this newsletter you will find a compilation of recent news about PLM Green, solution providers, industry references, people and jobs that is fast to scan for what might have been missed in your own feeds.
(May, 2022) PLM solution provider Siemens Digital Industries Software announces a new edition of Engineer Innovation focused exclusively on sustainability with the publication of “Engineer Innovation for a Sustainable World.” The authors write:
“Our civilization is quite literally built on oil, coal, and gas. Since the Industrial Revolution humans have become entirely dependent on a cheap and plentiful supply of fossil fuels.”
Image Credit Siemens Digital Industries Software
“They feed us, light our evenings, fuel our movements, keep us warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and provide endless piles of disposable “things” that we use every day. In the past 250 years, we have released over 1.5 trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (and oceans). During 2021, atmospheric CO2 concentrations reached a record-level increase of 50% relative to pre-industrial CO2 levels.
“In the next years to come, we certainly are going to have to engineer a future without fossil fuels. That transition is the biggest engineering challenge that we have ever faced and will only be possible through the use of simulation and test.”
Learn more by downloading the e-book directly from Siemens HERE.
In this new white paper on the role of PLM in creating a more sustainable retail and apparel industry, the digital transformation Fashion PLM experts at DeSL write that sustainability is no loner an option because:
“The bitter truth about the fashion industry is that it is one of world’s most significant
contributors to carbon emissions and waste. Analysts have estimated that the global
fashion industry emits more carbon than the combined economies of France, Germany,
and UK [McKinsey]. Valued at close to 3 trillion dollars, the textile and garment industries represent an immense global system [Fashion United]. And with the booming growth, draws greater attention to the negative impacts it is responsible for.”
Image Credit DeSL
“When examining the challenges that fashion companies must face today, we cannot
separate the joint requirements for sustainable products and ethically produced
products. Both areas must be addressed simultaneously to minimize the negative
impact on our climate and environment while protecting the rights and safety of
those people involved in producing the products. A common method of representing
these ideas is using ESG or environmental, social, and governance criteria.”
Learn more how PLM solutions for the retail and apparel industry can contribute to sustainability by downloading directly from DeSL the white paper “Sustainability – The Future of Fashion.”
The PLM solution provider Aras has announced availability of the white paper “The Circular Economy as a Model for the Future.”
Image Courtesy of Aras
The paper authors write “Awareness of sustainability is growing. Today’s consumers are often making an extra effort to purchase products whose suppliers produce them in an environmentally friendly way, recycle, and use natural ingredients. This represents a fundamental societal shift that puts pressure on every company.”
Answers to the following questions and more can be found in the white paper.
Of particular interest is the discussion on the role of PLM to provide traceability of product data and the use of digital twin models to connect the digital thread.
The paper includes an insightful interview with German automotive supplier Grammer Ag on how they will use PLM data management capabilities to meet their sustainability goals.
Download the paper off the Aras website HERE.
(May 9, 2022)
“Akselos – leader in physics-based Digital Twins – today announces a $16.5 million funding round, with participation from AT Capital Group, Future Energy Ventures, Japan Energy Fund and Shell Ventures.
With the latest investment round, Akselos will acquire an investor base to support the company’s ongoing global growth, enabling it to scale both its team and solutions to optimise the energy industry’s existing infrastructure and accelerate large scale deployment of renewable energy. This is a crucial step toward the company’s aim of providing technology to enable the energy transition in line with Akselos’ commitment to the IEA Net Zero 2050 roadmap.
Image Credit of Digital Twin Modelling from Akselos
Akselos’ solution – which is 1,000x faster and 10x more accurate than the industry standard when modelling large scale assets – simulates exact virtual replicas, or predictive and accurate Digital Twins, of energy assets such as offshore wind turbine and their foundations.”
Learn more by reading the full Akselos press release HERE.
(April, 2022) Just months after formalizing partnerships with Siemens Digital Industries Software and low-code application platform Mendix, Sustaira proudly announces the launch of the beta version of the Sustaira Sustainability and ESG Application Platform.
Among the first customers of Sustaira are organizations of all sizes, in different regions, and within a variety of industries, such as conglomerate Siemens Canada, renewable energy solutions provider Inovateus Solar, Xavier University of Louisiana, and manufacturer Logistick, Inc.
Read the full press release at https://www.sustaira.com/news/sustaira-launches-beta-version-of-sustainability-and-esg-app-platform.
(April, 2022) The simulation provider ANSYS has announced availability of a new white paper on “The Race to Net Zero: Sustainable Aviation.”
The paper provides an introduction to the engineering challenges and different propulsion technologies — including hybrid electric, hydrogen, and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) — that can help make the aviation industry more green and sustainable.
The paper in an highly readable e-book format is available for downloading from ANSYS at https://www.ansys.com/resource-center/white-paper/ansys-race-to-net-zero-e-book.
(April, 2022) Johan Salenstedt, CEO at configuration lifecycle management solutions Configit, explores the benefits of green configuration in manufacturing in this article and interview published on Manufacturing Digital Magazine.
“Concerns around climate change and environmental protection have given rise to the concept of “green configuration,” wherein a configurator can show the user the environmental consequences of a configuration choice. With this, a company can offer options that best suit the sustainability goals of the customer. It’s more about the transparency with which companies are “guiding” their customers to fully understand the environmental consequences of their specific configuration.”
Read the full article at https://manufacturingdigital.com/procurement-and-supply-chain/building-green-configuration-into-manufacturing-processes.
PITTSBURGH, PA, March 22, 2022 – Long-term Ansys customer Vestas extended its use of Ansys (NASDAQ: ANSS) simulation across its entire product chain to help it create safer wind turbine control solutions. Ansys solutions enabled a more complex wind turbine control system design that delivers additional value and numerous competitive advantages to Vestas customers in the race to net zero.
Image courtesy of ANSYS and Vestas
Wind turbine controllers are responsible for optimizing power performance and preventing component damage across the range of wind conditions. Instead of relying on third-party programmable logic controllers (PLCs), Vestas wanted to integrate more safety capabilities into a unique system design, with the flexibility to execute safety functions in more distributed, complex ways. To be successful, the Vestas team needed to address complex sensor fusion (merging data from multiple sensors) and create control algorithms requiring more system power.
Learn how ANSYS helped Vestas y reading the full press release at https://www.ansys.com/news-center/press-releases/3-22-22-ansys-enables-complex-safety-design-for-vestas-wind-turbine-controllers-in-the-race-to-net-zero.
VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, France — February 24, 2022 — Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: FR0014003TT8, DSY.PA) today announced the launch of “Sustainable Innovation Intelligence,” its life cycle assessment solution that enables companies to minimize the environmental impacts of the products, materials and processes they create and help drive the circular economy. Fully embedded in Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform and covering the entire value chain, the cloud-based solution uniquely integrates the ecoinvent database on the impacts of more than 18,000 industrial and agricultural processes, into virtual design, product development, manufacturing engineering, operations and logistics.
Image courtesy of Dassault Systèmes at https://www.3ds.com/newsroom/
“Collectively building a sustainable economy requires transforming the sustainable innovation process, from extracting raw materials to usage, reuse and recycling,” said Florence Verzelen, Executive Vice President, Industry, Marketing and Sustainability, Dassault Systèmes. “Whether in manufacturing, infrastructure and cities or life sciences, data science experiences that combine LCA capabilities with virtual twin technology offer companies new ways to innovate by understanding how their decisions affect natural resources, ecosystems and health. Through our 3DEXPERIENCE platform, we aim to help companies contribute to the United Nations’ ‘Decade of Action’ and thrive while doing so.”
Many businesses are working to reduce emissions in line with climate science and are aiming to develop more circular business models by 2030 by redesigning their product lines and manufacturing systems. However, most business solutions on the market today are still focused on measuring the footprint of yesterday’s economy, retroactively. To drive disruptive sustainable innovation, companies need to integrate ecodesign principles in the upstream thinking about their future products and processes before there is any environmental impact in the real world. Virtual universes provide this opportunity.
By combining LCA data with virtual twin technology, “Sustainable Innovation Intelligence” will empower LCA specialists, industrial designers, product engineers and manufacturing engineers to create circular life cycles by setting up sustainability requirements early on and collaboratively driving them throughout the design, product development and manufacturing engineering phases. It integrates supply of materials, design, manufacturing, operations, logistics, sales, marketing, and end-of-life management, providing real-time insights that allow teams to identify problems or improvements virtually before acting on them, and ensure traceability and reliability.
“Sustainable Innovation Intelligence” relies on the life cycle inventory database of the not-for-profit ecoinvent Association, whose datasets measure and provide information on the natural resources withdrawn from the environment, the pollution released into water and soil, the emissions released into air, the products demanded from other processes, and the products, co-products and waste produced in diverse sectors on global and regional levels.
“Our partnership with Dassault Systèmes is the first one with a software company in which our database is used at the very beginning of the product and manufacturing engineering processes for sustainability assessments,” said Emilia Moreno Ruiz, Interim Director, ecoinvent Association. “LCA brings the metrics needed to evaluate environmental impacts across the product lifecycle. Integrating that with virtual twin technology opens new possibilities to address these impacts early on.”
Read the original press release HERE.
The Addnode Group of European companies has keen focus on the use of PLM-enabling technologies, like Digital Twins, to address the challenge of sustainability. They reference numerous examples in a new report that explores the role of Digital Twins in sustainability.
In the report, the authors write:
“Digital Twins are gaining recognition and popularity as a solution for digitally representing a product, building or even a human being. This is enabling new
opportunities to improve performance, operations, productivity, or quality of life.
Digital Twin strategy to drive sustainability programs can be profoundly effective. Digital Twins offer significant benefits when planning, implementing, and realizing:
Furthermore, Digital Twins provide several advantages in the recycling of a product based on a comprehensive and digital description, allowing for strong traceability and the efficient and controlled dismantling and recycling of material.”
Learn more about their pioneering work HERE where you may download their Digital Twins Report
Leading PLM solution provider Dassault Systemes has announced its commitment to reducing its own carbon footprint at https://www.3ds.com/sustainability/compass.
The company endorses the Science-based Targets initiative and Net Zero Emissions Timeline to help meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and support the global response to the threat of climate change to keep global warming below 1.5°C.
