TECHNOLOGY | DIGITAL MANUFACTURING
Right: Wittmann’s Temi+ dash- board shows product carbon footprint (PCF) at a glance
helps plastics processors meet CO2 targets and increase profit. The company says that most product lifecycle costs occur in the operation phase – through factors such as energy consumption, material, maintenance and downtime – but are typically not quantified in detail. The situation is similar with CO2 emissions, where 60-70% occur during the opera- tion phase. “This means the greatest potential for economic and ecological optimisation is not immediately apparent,” said Markus Lunz, head of service product & portfolio development at KraussMaffei. By calculating individual ecological impacts from
production, the tool also helps fulfil increasingly strict regulations and documentation requirements. The tool guides users through the calculation in six simple steps, taking individual production parameters into account. It starts with an existing challenge – such as fluctuations in material quality or changing environmental conditions leading to increased scrap rates. It can later quantify specific improvements that KraussMaffei solutions can deliver. The calculator is available free of charge in most
European countries and North America and covers both injection moulding and extrusion.
Carbon tracking Wittmann has extended the functionality of its Temi+ manufacturing execution system (MES) with a new feature that tracks carbon footprint. The software will make is easier for manufactur- ers to assess the product carbon footprint (PCF) of an item – which is complex to calculate because it includes all emissions from raw material production through to recycling, says Wittmann. By 2050, the European Union (EU) wants to be
climate-neutral, which will require manufacturing companies to reduce CO2 emissions. This will require detailed information on the carbon footprint of individual products, says the company. When a production cell is clicked on, the dashboard of Temi+ shows a complete overview of the production progress. Key figures are displayed for each individual cycle. CO2 emissions are now included – with each indicated in grammes per cycle. When using a single-cavity mould, this value corresponds to the PCF. When using multi-cavity moulds, the PCF is derived from this value divided by the number of cavities. The calculation of CO2 emissions is based on two values: the energy consumption of the injection moulding production cell; and the shot weight – that is, the amount of raw material pro-
16 INJECTION WORLD | November/December 2024
cessed per cycle. Energy consumption is automati- cally measured for each cycle. The CO2 emissions resulting from this depend on the production location. In Germany, for example –with the current electricity mix – the factor is 0.354 g CO2 per Wh. This is stored in the MES or shared from the customer’s ERP, so the system can automatically calculate the CO2 footprint of the production cell. The CO2 footprint of the raw material is also a predefined value, provided by the material manufacturer and entered into the MES. The software extension was demonstrated at a Wittmann open house event earlier this year.
Cutting scrap Alicia is an EU project that aims to create a circular economy for production assets – by minimising premature scrapping of machines and machine parts. Through the development of innovative digital
tools, industrial companies and the used machinery market will be economically linked, allowing assets to be reused up to 100%. Most machine parts in production, such as robot arms or conveyor belts, do not reach their maxi- mum service life and are discarded prematurely. It is estimated that in the automotive industry up to 70% of production assets are taken out of opera-
www.injectionworld.com
IMAGE: WITTMANN
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