by Gary Mintchell | Apr 23, 2025 | Software, Standards, Sustainability
While I am on a standards reporting kick, this news reflects the growing collaboration among formerly competitive standards development organizations. I wrote recently about how OPAF is actively taking an end user view into standards collaboration and rationalization. Working together usually brings benefits to users.
From the statement of purpose: Accurate energy consumption data is essential for companies aiming to achieve climate-neutral production. To support this goal, a consortium of organizations has recently published a groundbreaking specification for interoperable and efficient energy management in industrial and process automation.
\A key goal of the mechanical and plant engineering industry is to achieve climate-neutral production in the future. This effort is supported by the European Union’s European Green Deal, which aims to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050. In order to achieve this goal and implement many other use cases, accurate data on energy consumption in production is crucial. The consortium, consisting of the organizations ODVA, OPC Foundation, PI and VDMA, has now jointly published version 1.0.0 of their groundbreaking specification for interoperable and efficient energy management in industrial automation and process automation. This group is chaired by the VDMA.
Dietmar Bohn, Managing Director of PNO, explains: “The measurement and analysis of energy consumption in machines and systems is an extremely important topic for the future. We are pleased to make an active contribution to this important initiative to optimize energy consumption and thereby reduce the harmful effects on the environment caused by waste and surplus.”
This specification defines a standardized information model based on OPC UA that enables comprehensive energy management in industrial automation. “This Power Consumption Management collaboration ensures that end users have a highly standardized and interoperable means of achieving their environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals,” explains Dr. Al Beydoun, President and CEO of ODVA.
The introduction of this standard will make energy management in industry considerably easier: companies can now record, analyze and use precise and consistent energy data even more efficiently in order to further increase their energy efficiency. This not only helps to reduce operating costs, but also to reduce the ecological footprint. Standardization makes it possible to implement innovative technologies and best practices faster and more effectively, which contributes to more sustainable and environmentally friendly production in the long term.
The specification essentially comprises two main content fields: Firstly, monitoring, i.e. the display of all types of energy consumption, including electrical energy as well as energy from air, water or coal. Secondly, standby management, which is understood to mean the control and display of various energy-saving modes on machines and components. It is based on the results of the research project “Development of energy management interfaces for IoT technologies (IoTEnRG)”. “The aim of the IoTEnRG research project was to make the results available to industry. We were able to contribute our results directly to the Joint Working Group and thus significantly accelerate the development of the OPC UA Companion Specification,” says Prof. Dr. Niemann from the Institute for Sensor Technology and Automation at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hannover.
“For digitalization, we need an agreement on a common understanding and description of data, including in the energy sector. OPC UA provides exactly that. I am proud that with this joint group, we can also contribute to the energy transition and thus promote optimized energy savings through standardized and efficient monitoring,” says Stefan Hoppe, President of the OPC Foundation.
The VDMA has defined a fundamental standard for the entire mechanical and plant engineering industry, known as “OPC UA for Machinery”. Various functional building blocks are specified in this standard. A new building block for energy management is being developed based on the publication. “The four organizations have been working hard to harmonize and standardize information on energy consumption in manufacturing. This is an excellent first step towards defining an upcoming OPC UA Building Block for mechanical engineering that will bring the machine and plant manufacturing industry a big step closer to the goal of climate-neutral production,” says Andreas Faath, director of the VDMA Machine Information Interoperability department.
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 26, 2025 | Sustainability
I seldom hear from PTC anymore what with some of the areas interesting to me being devalued. This blog post came to my attention. I know that “sustainability” can be a political phrase, but I view it from the standpoint of Lean—waste avoided.
Product Sustainability For Dummies: A Practical Guide, which details how the company continues to demonstrate its leadership in product sustainability with its new guide for manufacturing/product leaders.
Many people in discrete manufacturing are finding themselves navigating sustainability for the first time, only to realize that information is scattered, complex, and overwhelming. There’s no single blueprint for how to approach sustainability in this industry—so we wrote Product Sustainability For Dummies to be that guide. It’s a no-nonsense resource designed specifically for manufacturers and lifecycle practitioners who need clear, practical insights and strategies.
This book doesn’t focus on specific vendor software offerings. It focuses on the industry, processes, digital approaches, and business value of sustainability beyond just reducing environmental footprints. We cover proven methods for building sustainability programs, informed by hundreds of customer and partner collaborations around the world.
Inside, you’ll find:
- How to profitably incorporate sustainability in product lifecycle designs and execution
- Strategies for decarbonizing, controlling hazardous materials, and improving circularity
- Insights into evolving regulations and how to stay ahead of compliance challenges
- Value drivers of sustainability beyond regulatory compliance
by Gary Mintchell | Oct 16, 2024 | Sustainability
Seth Godin writes, Don’t Buy Cheap Chocolate.
We are all in the business of making manufacturing and production processes run more smoothly, efficiently, effectively, safely. Our decisions determine these outcomes. Sometimes we do not think beyond these systems. Perhaps our products are not healthy for our customers. Perhaps beyond that, the feedstocks and raw materials may not be sustainable or may cause harm to the providers.
Seth Godin writes on a recent blog, “The chocolate we buy at the supermarket furthers the goals of the system, and directly harms the lives of the impoverished farmers who grow the cacao.”
We have built a system to optimize mass production of chocolate treats. Competing at the lowest common denominator drives us to find the lowest cost of everything. Lowest cost for commodities such as cocoa or coffee (in another context) begins a vicious cycle that culminates in the farmers at the end of the chain living on subsistence income.
And the quality suffers. Have you ever tried a pour over of a direct trade coffee versus a coffee from Starbucks? The same with chocolates. The quality of the source matters. My first experience of good chocolates came from automation industry legend Dick Morley.
Back to Seth Godin.
My friend Shawn Askinosie has written about this eloquently, and I’m thrilled to be working with him and his daughter to create a collectible chocolate bar. You can find the details here.
As you contemplate chocolate purchases this month, don’t buy cheap chocolates.
by Gary Mintchell | Sep 18, 2024 | Business, Sustainability
A German company called Makersite has developed a product in a genre it calls product lifecycle intelligence focused on managing product sustainability. Managing sustainability for a manufacturing organization begins with product design. Makersite has expanded its strategic partnership with product design software developer Autodesk. Makersite’s sustainability and cost data will now be available to Autodesk Inventor users, enabling engineers to analyze their products’ design, sustainability, and compliance factors during the design phase. Makersite’s platform is already available for Autodesk Fusion users through the Makersite add-on.
Makersite and Autodesk’s partnership empowers product designers and engineers to innovate more sustainable products at a faster pace by putting deep-tier supply chain and sustainability data directly into their hands, inside the CAD tools they’re already using.
Since 80% of an organization’s environmental footprint is determined during the product design stage, insight into sustainability metrics during the product development process is crucial – but can make optimizing products more complex. Makersite’s solution provides AI-enhanced digital twin models of products and their supply chains, sourcing data from more than 140 material, process, and supplier databases. This brings organizations more clarity into their supply chains and insight into their overall environmental impacts.
by Gary Mintchell | Aug 13, 2024 | Commentary, News, Sustainability
I bought and EV about a year ago, so I have a special interest in what’s happening in the lithium and lithium battery markets. A guy who comes to our community fitness center almost as often as I do has written a book on lithium. More on that later.
Let’s combine an interest in lithium battery technology and manufacturing with a market analysis by the research firm I’ve found to have the best methodology, Interact Analysis. Research Associate Renee Ju has written about her latest report, “Li-ion Battery and Manufacturing Equipment”, that provides a deep analysis of the current battery recycling market.
Interact Analysis’ upcoming report “Li-ion Battery and Manufacturing Equipment” , and this insight explores some of the key themes in the report.
Manufacturers that establish recycling businesses come from across the battery industry chain, including upstream raw mineral and material suppliers, midstream battery manufacturers, vehicle OEMs and businesses specializing in battery recycling. In China, there are fewer large-scale companies that specialize in lithium battery recycling and currently companies with battery recycling plants tend to be manufacturers from elsewhere in the lithium battery industry chain. In contrast, in other major country markets the li-ion battery recycling market is dominated by large-scale recycling manufacturers that specialize in recycling businesses, such as Li-cycle. Other companies in the lithium battery industry chain predominantly participate in the battery recycling market through collaboration with recycling companies.
Aside from signing cooperative research agreements, cooperation on battery recycling among companies in the lithium battery industry chain usually takes the form of signing supply agreements. These can be divided into directional supply and establishing a closed-loop recycling ecosystem. Directional supply involves OEMs and battery manufacturers supplying scrap batteries or scrap materials to recycling companies, and recycling companies supplying recycled materials obtained from processing scrap batteries to raw material manufacturers.
In contrast, some companies collaborate with the aim of establishing a closed-loop recycling ecosystem. If we take the collaboration announced by GEM in February 2023 with Mercedes-Benz China, CATL, and Brunp as an example: Mercedes-Benz China’s retired waste batteries will be processed by GEM and Brunp, with the recycled key raw materials such as nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium supplied to CATL’s supply chain and used to produce new batteries for Mercedes-Benz. The cooperation in battery recycling between upstream and downstream companies in the lithium battery industry chain not only meets environmental protection requirements but also maximizes battery value and reduces battery production costs.
Some companies whose main operations are not directly related to batteries are also exploring the market for battery recycling, such as sanitation companies and other recycling enterprises (including those specializing in metal recycling and solid waste recycling). Typically, these companies run the battery recycling businesses through collaboration with lithium battery-related companies, with the recycling business supplying the products of their recycling plants to raw material manufacturers for further application in the lithium battery industry and for use in other industries. For example, the recycled nickel, cobalt, and tungsten powders can be utilized in the production of hard alloys, rather than being directly used in the production of lithium battery-related products.
With the rapid expansion of lithium battery capacity and the imminent wave of retired power batteries, recycling has become a safe, environmentally friendly, and economical way to dispose of scrap batteries and raw materials. As relevant policies and regulations are continuously improved and implemented by different countries, the battery recycling market is entering a new stage of professionalization and scale, with market opportunities continuously emerging. As a restructuring of the industry ecosystem takes place, optimizing resource allocation, strengthening technological research and development, accelerating upstream and downstream collaboration, and promoting the integration of the industrial chain may become the keys to success.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 2, 2024 | Data Management, Manufacturing IT, News, Operations Management, Sustainability
- “Spotlight on the Future” Report Highlights How PLM and Digital Thread Solutions Address Key Challenges with Sustainability Data Accuracy, Availability, and Analysis
- Aras Research Finds That Three Out of Four Companies Feel Pressured by Regulation, Customers, Investors, and Employees to Become More Sustainable
Most news invading my email client these days involves companies sending out some questionnaires and compiling a report. This one from PLM and Digital Thread developer Aras called “Spotlight on the Future 2024,” focuses on sustainability.
The report highlights that three out of four companies say they feel pressured by customers, investors, and even their own workforce to operate more sustainably. The research also uncovered a potential reason why in-demand sustainability initiatives are not implemented sooner: a majority of companies reported that in order to do so, they must greatly improve the collection and processing of their data.
“Progress towards greater sustainability is key to continuing economic advancement,” said Roque Martin, CEO of Aras. Whether in the U.S., Europe, or Japan, 90% of companies who took our survey say that management has already recognized that sustainability is an important contributor to future business success.”
The so-called three Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle – already play a central role in the implementation of companies’ sustainability goals. 83% of the companies surveyed said that the lower consumption of raw materials and products is already a high priority. In addition, 70% of companies are already relying on the use of recycled machines, the conversion of existing systems, and the return of materials to the economic cycle. Interestingly, with 84% of companies reducing, 72% reusing, and 70% recycling, industrial companies in the United States are at the front of the pack when compared to other nations’ sustainability efforts.
74% of respondents acknowledge that they are missing data (i.e. from suppliers); 72% of companies said they have poorly prepared data; and 67% admit that they simply lack the ability to properly manage their data.
A throwaway economy is being replaced by a production model based on reuse. However, for the transition from linear resource processing to a circular economy to succeed, companies have to think about and plan their development and production processes differently. To fully take advantage of the green potential, companies must not only collect and analyze their data from the design and manufacturing phase, but also integrate the supply chain.
Aras’ “Spotlight on the Future 2024” study, conducted in December 2023, surveyed 835 executives from Europe, the US, and Japan. Survey participants work in companies with a minimum turnover of 40 million euros in the automotive, aerospace & defense, mechanical engineering, medical technology, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food industries.
