About ECOFACT
Leveraging the presence of experienced digital solution & service providers for the industrial sector within the consortium, ECOFACT will improve and put together several innovative technical components adapted to a holistic sustainable management methodology supported by the delivery of a single integrated management platform.
ECOFACT components are proposed from 4 different perspectives which are relevant to accomplish the foreseen objectives for an efficient and sustainable manufacturing:
- Interoperability to combine all available technologies (e.g. smart sensors, IIoT, advanced data-driven services, etc.) through effective communication between IT/OT layers and different devices thanks to the use of standard protocols, common data models and adequate interfaces.
- Energy-aware manufacturing (EMRS) to improve industrial energy efficiency by integrating real-time energy data and real-time predicted energy cost, into the production management systems.
- Operations management (EMRS) to consider all the complexity of manufacturing parameters related with environment, components, usage of materials, machines, cells and lines, which together influence the energy performance of manufacturing processes.
- Environment-aware manufacturing to use LCA and LCCA as valuable tools to address more ambitious sustainability improvements by integrating in its functioning near real-time approaches (dynamic LCA/LCCA).
These components, together with cybersecurity mechanisms underlying the overall platform concept, will act as enablers and provide inputs to a holistic Decision Support System (DSS) on top of the ECOFACT functional view, so that it can ultimately provide useful insights for factory and business managers.
The projects focus is on the effective combination of ICTs for advanced data collection and processing, which enables a streamlined decision-making process within the production chain, also enhancing interoperability and flexibility to maximize the replication, upscaling and standardization potential within different plant sizes and manufacturing sectors.
This purpose will be realised through the following 5 Scientific and Technological Objectives (STO) and 3 Non-Technological Objectives (NTO).
Scientific and Technological Objectives
Enabling the integration of massive energy data into production managment systems thanks to improved connectivity between the Information Technology and Operations Technology domains.
Helping manufacturing operations and maintenance (O&M) staff to forecast problems, do better planning and improve performance in the use of (energy and material) resources thanks to a prognosis-based Energy and Resource Management System (ERMS).
Contributing to better control the environmental signature of manufacturing process and supply chains, enabling green production and product design as a cost-saver and marketing tool for manufacturing businesses.
Development of practical guidelines (ECOFACT methodology) and user-centric tool (ECOFACT software platform) for holistic (process, energy, environment) sustainable manufacturing management supported by the combination of enabling smart ICT.
Demonstration of ECOFACT methodology and platform at TRL7 in four case studies across different manufacturing sectors.
Non-Technological Objectives
Providing inputs to new standardisation, certification, and regulation schemes on integrated, sustainable manufacturing management.
Development of exploitation strategies for the validated ECOFACT approach and platform creating attractive business cases and fostering early replication.
Dissemination, communication and capacity building.
ECOFACT (ECO-innovative Energy FACTory Management System based on enhanced LCA and LCCA towards resource-efficient manufacturing) is a EU Horizon 2020 Programme under Grant Agreement No 958373 running from 2020 to 2024.
The platform is built with high-level layer in a multiservice approach providing an innovative holistic combination of functionalities for advanced energy-efficient, sustainable process/product design and manufacturing management.
In particular ECOFACT will focus on three key areas;
- the development of an adapted methodology and high-level platform enabling manufacturing industries to optimize the energy performance of their production systems in line with their relevant constraints (time and resources), while at the same time;
- introducing a novel green marketing approach through the concept of energy and environmental signature of the manufactured products from a life-cycle perspective. These results will be achieved thanks to the integration of energy-related information through the uptake of advanced ICT and digital solutions & contributing to reduced environmental footprint and;
- enhanced integral sustainability in manufacturing management. Specific platform modules and use case validations will also allow for the particularities of advanced manufacturing processes and flexible production, while facilitating supply chain collaborations through dedicated services.
Work Package 1
WP1 is to define an initial reference framework to sustain and coordinate the developments and demonstrations of the whole ECOFACT project in a consistent way while enabling the most replicable and impactful scope of the whole methodology and tool suite.
Work Package 2
WP2 is the design and development of an innovative holistic monitoring and control network for the improved management of the use of energy and resources in manufacturing. The network will be based on the requirements defined in WP1 and adapted for interoperable integration of smart sensors under IIoT premises.
Work Package 3
WP3 will develop a prognosis-based Energy and Resource Management System (ERMS) for optimized use of the factory energy and material resources. The activities will develop suitable software services for energy information analysis and use for improved predictive production planning and asset management decision-making.
Work Package 4
WP4 is to provide a dynamic LCA/LCC software module that can feed the ECOFACT platform with environmental impact data for improved decision making. The required inputs will be extracted from various source systems across the industrial automation pyramid as well as from other ECOFACT platform services. They will be automatically imported into the LCA/LCC software module. This will enrich the holistic Decision-Support System (DSS) to be developed in WP5by taking into consideration environmental and economic criteria. The solution will use existing LCA software, but an open-source toolkit will be provided so it can be applied in other situations with other LCA software as well.
Work Package 5
WP5 is to design and develop the ECOFACT platform as a whole, as well as the required ICT infrastructure. This platform will be used to collect all the data coming from the local data acquisition systems(WP2) and host all the components of the App & Services layer developed in WP3 and WP4.
Work Package 6
The main objectives of WP6 are to: a) Conduct validation tests of ECOFACT in a pre-demonstration environment b) install the ECOFACT platform at the facilities of the demos c) demonstrate and fully monitor the ECOFACT platform at the facilities of the four demos d) evaluate the results of the ECOFACT in environmental, economic, production performance improvements and social/ behavioural terms.
Work Package 7
WP7 is to leverage best practices derived from project definition, development and implementation tasks (WP1-WP6) to feed in existing and/or new standardization, certification and regulatory initiatives towards promotion of holistic sustainable manufacturing management in EU industry. Through an adequate analysis of current landscape, detailed identification of barriers and weaknesses, support and supervision of development tasks along project to ensure alignment with existing and ongoing activities, and through structured organisation of project outcomes, this WP will aim at preparing ground for future inclusion of project principles into standard industry practices and providing recommendations for related certification schemes and policy measures.
Work Package 8
WP8 is to demonstrate replicability of proposed concept by feasibility analysis of early adopters of ECOFACT tool and elaboration of suitable business models to ensure life-beyond-the-project of developed innovations.
Work Package 9
The main objective of WP9 is to promote and disseminate project concept, platform and relevant outcomes. The goal will be to reach a wide audience and maximise impact in the long term.
Work Package 10
WP10 is to coordinate and supervise all project activities among partners, to monitor quality and timing of project results and to carry out overall administrative and financial management of the project. The coordinator in cooperation with partners will manage new knowledge generated by the project and ensure implementation of Grant and Consortium Agreement.
ARÇELIK (Ulmi, Romania) Arctic Washing Machine Factory (by ARÇ) is located in Ulmi, Romania with 70,000m2 total closed area. The factory has been built in accordance with the concept and principles of Industry 4.0. The construction was completed in 2018 and the plant started to produce in 2019 (2019 and 2020 are the ramp up phases).
ATHENIAN BREWERY (Thessaloniki, Greece) Athenian Brewery S.A. is the largest brewing company of Greece producing more than 2 million hl/day of beer. Specifically, the Thessaloniki plant is the largest brewery in Northern Greece, with around 850,000 hl/day and one of the largest plants in the local industrial area.
GULLON (Aguilar de Campoo, Spain) Gullón S.A. is a Spanish producer of biscuits and cereal-based products with two factories in Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia). The newest factory (110,000m2), Gullón VIDA (2015) is mostly devoted to cereal-based products. It is equipped with the best and latest innovations in cereal-based manufacturing technology in Europe. Its recently upgraded end-product storage building has a total capacity of 57,000 pallets.
TOFAS (Bursa, Turkey) TOFAS with 7,000 employees and 1 million m2 is the Turkey’s 4th biggest industrial establishment and the only automotive manufacturer in Turkey that produced both passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. It manufactures 4 different brands covering 20% of the Turkish automotive industry production.
