sustainable production

Real-Time Monitoring of the Carbon Footprint for SMEs

Real-Time Monitoring of the Carbon Footprint for SMEs

Sustainability in real time — from operation to finished products
Henning Strauß ORCID Icon, Julian Sasse ORCID Icon
Although SMEs are not directly affected by the statutory reporting obligations for carbon accounting, as suppliers they are obliged to meet the requirements of sustainability reporting. In addition to a holistic life cycle analysis, this requires a high-quality database within production in order to determine the specific CO₂ footprint. A central element is the implementation of a Machine Carbon Footprint (MCF). This article aims to develop and implement an MCF focusing on its applicability for SMEs. For this purpose, data is recorded and visualized in real time on a machine tool. The measurement data is then processed, stored and visualized using open-source low-code platforms. Real-time data flows enable the precise determination of the production-specific carbon footprint and, in conjunction with order data, the Product Carbon Footprint.
Industry 4.0 Science | Volume 41 | Edition 3 | Pages 102-109
I4S 1/2025: 40 Years of Digital Transformation in Manufacturing

I4S 1/2025: 40 Years of Digital Transformation in Manufacturing

Key research questions for tomorrow's production and logistics
Digital transformation has been a central focus of scientific discussions for years. Questions relating to data-driven decisions, artificial intelligence and resilient supply chains are at the heart of current research. The articles in this issue explain key trends and present scientific findings and practical solutions - from automation and the circular economy to cloud computing.
Digitization of the work environment for sustainable production

Digitization of the work environment for sustainable production
Sustainability is gaining importance and the economy is changing into a circular economy, especially with regard to climate change and the need to create more resilient value chains. The organization of work is meeting these challenges with, among other things, the digitalization of increasingly changeable production. Collecting and understanding data is becoming increasingly complex, as not only internal production data is of interest, but also cross-company sustainability indicators play a role in decision-making. The research results presented under the main topic “Digitization of the work environment for sustainable production” address this problem of compliance with sustainability requirements by means of digitization and its impact on the workplace and workers. The members of the Scientific Society for Work and Business Organisation (WGAB) present innovative concepts and research results for practitioners and scientists and thus provide valuable input for current challenges.
Industry 4.0 Science | 2022 | | DOI 10.30844/wgab_2022
Requirements for the Use of Digitization and AI

Requirements for the Use of Digitization and AI

Applications for increasing energy efficiency
Dennis Bode, Henry Ekwaro-Osire, Klaus-Dieter Thoben ORCID Icon
Innovative digital and AI solutions for more energy-efficient production can decisively contribute to the environmental impact and competitiveness of companies, especially in the manufacturing industry. Requirements for the functionality and implementation of these solutions are complex and diverse; multiple stakeholders need to be addressed when eliciting requirements and various technology and business aspects have to be considered. This article presents a procedure for requirements elicitation for energy efficiency digitalization and AI projects.
Industrie 4.0 Management | Volume 38 | 2022 | Edition 1 | Pages 17-22 | DOI 10.30844/I40M_22-1_17-22
Optimizing Energy Flows the Smart Way

Optimizing Energy Flows the Smart Way

EnyFlow-App optimiert Energieströme intelligent in produzierenden Gewerben
Gerrit Posselt, Jan Füllemann
The world’s rising energy and raw material costs are a reason for many companies to reduce energy and resource waste in their own production. Based on this plan, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) initiated in 2009 the project EnHiPro. Until May, 2012 the Technische Universität Braunschweig and three other research partners developed a system to make the energy demand of machines tangible by utilizing smart metering strategies. For the analysis and visualization of the energy flows, the c4c Engineering company was brought into the team in order to engineer the EnyFlow app that makes the energy flows and states of machines transparent on an tablet PC.
Industrie 4.0 Management | Volume 32 | 2016 | Edition 1 | Pages 55-57
Green Supply Chain Evolution – Green Logistics as Business Success Factor

Green Supply Chain Evolution - Green Logistics as Business Success Factor

Grüne Logistik als Erfolgsfaktor für Unternehmen
Matthias Wohlfahrt, Denny Rusche
Global warming is one of the major challenges of the 21th century. The reduction of the greenhouse gases is therefore of special interest. Companies have to face several challenges if they want to measure and reduce greenhouse gases. Two studies have asked the question how companies evaluate the efforts for a green supply chain. These surveys were conducted by the management and technology consultancy BearingPoint. A change in mindset of executives can be revealed by comparing the corresponding results of both studies. This article highlights the position for green logistics of more than 600 companies in the 2010-2011 survey. The results are compared with the former study of 2008. An evolution over the past years becomes visible: from awareness to implementation actions.
Industrie Management | Volume 27 | 2011 | Edition 6 | Pages 43-46