Use of R strategies on a DPP basis?

The circular economy makes good business sense. It can lead to cost savings and makes the company a pioneer for sustainable and future-proof production concepts.

The circular economy focuses on the conservation of resources, materials and products. This concept is reflected in the R strategies: Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose and Recycling.

In the course of the DACE project (Data Competence Center for Circular Economy Data), the R-strategies are applied for defined use cases, including the R-strategy “Repair”.

However, strategies such as “Repair” require the structured collection and provision of data along the product life cycle. This is done with the help of a Digital Product Passport (DPP). Among other things, this data set contains information on the components, materials and chemical substances of a product. The digital product passport also includes important information on reparability.

In order to successfully implement the circular economy in a company, it must be possible to record and evaluate this data in a meaningful way. This is where research comes in: On the one hand, much of the data that would be important for monitoring and managing the circular economy is not yet available or measurable. On the other hand, the relevant stakeholders are often unaware that such data is even necessary in the context of the circular economy.

To meet these challenges, researchers have developed the Asset Administration Shell as part of an Industry 4.0 initiative, which offers a standardized, machine-readable way to manage data in the Digital Product Passport.

The Collaborative Assembly module (CA module) demonstrates assembly processes that are created based on the asset administration shell of an ordered product. Assemblies are assembled using the information stored in their asset administration shell. An additively manufactured semi-trailer illustrates the R strategy “Repair”: quality data such as the print model, material and tolerance are stored in the submodel of the semi-trailer's asset administration shell. This information enables a dynamic decision to be made about an additional production step: a robot-assisted soldering process that "welds" the edges after bending to give the semi-trailer a permanent shape. This is only necessary for components with excessive tolerances, which would otherwise be unstable or fall apart. This targeted intervention allows trailers with insufficient tolerances to be welded, which would otherwise be considered rejects. The CO2 footprint (PCF, Product Carbon Footprint) is updated in the Digital Product Passport after the soldering process.