Automation and Optimization of Industrial and Business Processes

In today’s industry there are several processes regarding to the production of goods, which are supported by computer systems. In this context four application areas of ICT support of indus- trial and business processes can be differentiated [1]:

• Product Lifecycle Management (PLM): The whole life-cycle of a product, from design to disposal is managed computer-aided. 
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM): ICT provided advanced possibilities to identify business markets and improve customer communication and service. 
• Supply Chain Management (SCM): Logistics systems allowing optimization of acquisition, inventory management and delivery by increased information exchange between and within companies. 
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): ICT systems integrate business data on several internal and external corporate activities and processes to provide a single application to manage all business areas. 

Some of the most energy and resource intense industrial processes are part of the several steps of a product’s life-cycle, from the extraction of raw materials and resources to the disposal of the product. Figure 1 depicts this life-cycle. The first step of production usually is the extraction of raw materials, needed for the production of product components and base materials, which is a process with direct impact on the environment. The extent of this impact depends on the intensity of resource usage in production. After the production of base materials and the assembling and production of the final product, the product has to be packaged and transported to the end-user, where it fulfills its actual purpose during the in-use period. The last stages of a product’s life-cycle after usage, are determined by re-use, recycling or landfilling or incineration. It has to be highlighted that a product causes environmental pollution in every step of the life-cycle, basically in form of energy consumption and emissions. The types of emissions range from greenhouse gas emissions, over dust and noise emissions to waste emissions.

Figure 1: The product life-cycle and its impact on the environment [2]

By considering the environmental impacts of the different life-cycle stages it gets apparent, that methods and tools for Product Life-Cycle Management (PLM) provided by ICT enable environmentally conscious product design and production processes. There are different tools for separated application areas within Product Life-Cycle Management, like Product and Portfolio Management (PPM), Digital Product Development (DPD), Manufacturing Planning Management (MPM) and Product Data Management (PDM) [1]. A research project and awareness raising campaign on behalf of the European Commission came to the conclusion that “80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined in the design phase” [2]. This finding confirms the relevance of product design methods aiming at efficiency and sustainability. Therefore environmental considerations have to be taken into account at the design stage of a product, to determine the processes of the whole life-cycle in a way to conform to economical as well as ecological requirements. This approach is called EcoDesign [2].
There are several computer-aided technologies for Digital Product Development. These automation tools represent the basis of computer-aided production methods [1]:
• Computer-aided design (CAD) is a term for the design of physical objects or processes supported by computer systems. CAD systems are commonly used for on-screen development of physical products or buildings.
• Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) is the use of computers and software tools to manufacture physical products and prototypes, which where engineered with CAD support.
• Computer simulation (CS) provides functionalities to generate computational models of real life products, processes and systems. Computer simulations enable fast and flexible verification of design concepts with low intensity of resource use. CS is a method of dematerialization since it substitutes physical testing systems.
• Computer-aided engineering (CAE) is a general term for analysis, design, planning, manufacturing and simulation tools based on computer systems. By the possibilities of simulation CAE provides functionalities for validation and optimization of products and processes. Therefore CAE tools also act as decision support systems for engineerings in planning and design.

The extent of the environmental benefits by Digital Product Development is hard to determine. Regarding to energy consumption, computer-aided tools definitely enable higher efficiency and savings. These savings arise from process optimization, reducing the effort in production and the needed input of resources to a minimum. Some of the automation tools like computer simulation tools provide all benefits of dematerialization, reducing the demand for energy and physical materials.

Beside the computer automated design of products, production processes are supported by information technology as well. A prominent term in the context of ICT applied in industrial production is process automation. The use of computer systems enables efficiency gains in several steps of production. For example, there are multi functional production machines, which are controlled by computers, an approach called computerized numerical control (CNC), as well as computers controlling movements between production stations, creating flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) [3].

Another example of process automation, which is related to production in the context of procurement, can be found in logistics, more precisely in supply chain management. The management of the supply chain is a business process containing a series of activities, linking vendors, service providers and customers [4]. The development of e-commerce brought fundamental changes in the structure of the supply chain and the flow of information and goods. The processes within todays supply chains are automated to a large extent. Automatic re-orders of raw and production materials result in smaller stocks, enabled by just-in-time delivery for example [5]. The reason for automation are information and communication systems providing efficient methods to exchange information within the whole supply chain, between customers and suppliers. This improves cooperation and therefore optimizes the transportation of goods, for example by improved coordination of transport routes and loading. The term describing such systems for information exchange is interorganisational information systems (IOIS) [4]. It is the possibility to share information, in order to match demand and supply, that enables companies to improve production and distribution planning. There is several research work done on the impact of ICT on improving supply chain management, which shows that ICT can be considered as key enabler in this context [4]. The information that is shared within organizations and within the whole supply chain contains several issues, ranging from demand forecast, over levels of inventory and raw materials, to plans of delivery, sales and production. The shared knowledge about the status and plans of several trade partners provides economical advantages, as well as a positive environmental impact due to lower energy utilization.

All kinds of process automation are generally developed to reach time and cost efficiency gains and therefore primarily serve for economical purposes. This optimization is realized on the basis of information and data about industrial processes, which also contains information that is relevant for sustainability. Energy and resource use can be monitored for each single process, which means that potential improvements can be identified. In this context economical and environmental interests do not conflict, as energy savings have positive impact on aspects. The potential emissions savings by automation of industrial processes are estimated by 0.29 GtCO2e in 2020 [6]. This number is based on the assumption that energy consumption in industrial processes can be decreased by 15 percent, due to a 33 percent penetration of process optimization technology.

References

[1] Bio Intelligence Service. Impacts of information and communication technologies on energy efficiency, final  report. ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/ict/docs/sustainable-growth/ict4ee-final-report_en.pdf, September 2008. Accessed: 2013-02-12.

[2] Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM – Department Environmental Engineering. 1:    Introduction to EcoDesign – What is  it all about? http://www.ecodesignarc.info/servlet/is/810/, 2005. Accessed: 2013-03-06.

[3] M.A.R.M. Salih. Climate change and sustainable development: new challenges for poverty reduction. Edward Elgar, 2009.

[4] M. Kollberg and H. Dreyer. Exploring the impact of ict on integration in supply chain control: A research model, 2006.

[5] B. Cushman-Roisin. Environmental impacts of e-commerce. http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/~d30345d/courses/engs171/eCommerce.pdf, 2011. Accessed: 2013-03-06.

[6] The Climate Group. Smart 2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age. Technical report, The Climate Group on behalf of the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), 2008.