Deliberable 6.6: Manufacturing Supplier's Intelligence tool overview and technical description

This project has received funding from the European Union’s H2020 Programme under Grant Agreement No. 958448 WP6. Flexible Decentralised Circularity and Sustainability Services Task 6.6 Manufacturing Supplier’s Intelligence Module Deliverable 6.6 Manufacturing Supplier’s Intelligence tool overview and technical description Ref. Ares(2024)6931285 - 01/10/2024 2 DISCLAIMER The opinion stated in this report reflects the opinion of the authors and not the opinion of the European Commission. All intellectual property rights are owned by CIRCTHREAD consortium members and are protected by the applicable laws. Reproduction is not authorised without prior written agreement. The commercial use of any information contained in this document may require a license from the owner of that information. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 958448. 3 Project Data Project Acronym CircThread Project Title Building the Digital Thread for Circular Economy Product, Resource & Service Management Grant Agreement number 958448 Call identifier H2020-LCCI-2020-EASME-twostage Topic identifier CE-SC5-31-2020 Develop, implement and assess a circular economy-oriented product information management system for complex products from cradle to cradle Funding Scheme IA - Innovation action Project duration 48 months (From 1 June 2021) Coordinator FUNDACION CARTIF Website https:// circthread.eu Deliverable Document Sheet Deliverable No. 6.6 Deliverable title Manufacturing Supplier’s Intelligence tool overview and technical description Description Linked to T6.6 Provides the Manufacturing supplier’s intelligence tool overview and technical description for the CircThread projects including as outcomes: a description of the service including its objectives, features, end users, benefits, and use scenarios in relation to the CircThread use cases, a technical description of the services at present and their TRL positioning and advancements during the project, a description of the software implementation of the services including user interface and backend data exchange and API endpoints for CircThread integration. WP No. 6 Related task Task 6.6 – Manufacturing Supplier’s Intelligence Module Lead Beneficiary 5 – SUPSI Author(s) SUPSI 4 Contributor(s) - Type R, DEMO Dissemination L. Public Language English – GB Due Date 30/09/2024 Submission Date 01/10/2024 Version Action Owner Date V.0.1 Definition of the ToC SUPSI 03/09/2024 V.1.0 Manufacturer supplier intelligence service ranking algorithm and interactions SUPSI 06/09/2024 V.1.1 High-level architecture defined SUPSI 10/09/2024 V.1.2 Contribution from SabanciDx SabanciDx 23/09/2024 V.1.3 Full draft with all chapter SUPSI 23/09/2024 V.1.4 Reviewed draft for quality improvement EcoWise 24/09/2024 V.1.5 Completed deliverable SUPSI 27/09/2024 V.1.6 Submitted deliverable with final quality checks CARTIF 01/10/2024 5 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CircThread is a H2020 EU-funded project with the objective to unlock access to product data. The main target is to facilitate information flow exchanges across the extended product life cycle: including product components, their materials and chemicals data, and their related circularity, environmental, social, and economic information. This data will be captured, linked, and shared on a cloud-based, collaborative, open-source initiative that will allow all actors throughout the value chain to share the necessary information, to ensure that more materials stay in the economic loop, benefitting the sustainability of the economy and the environment and reducing carbon emissions. This deliverable D6.6 “Manufacturing Supplier’s Intelligence tool overview and technical description” describes the advancements made in CircThread in the development under Task 6.6 of an suppliers’ tool owned by project partner SUPSI for product environmental assessments, and its practical implementation in a commercial product and services procurement marketplace PRATIS owned by project partner SabanciDx. The Manufacturing Suppliers Intelligence service can be used to provide tailored environmental assessments to specific products, by allowing the introduction of specific data for a production process by changing individual or multiple parameters, within a full LCA context. Thereby specific differences between suppliers for a process can be ascertained to enable LCA driven selection of suppliers in procurement. The deliverable is a public document delivered in the context of CircThread WP6 “Flexible decentralised circularity and sustainability services”. Specifically, the main objectives of Task 6.6 included: 1. Collection of requirements from T3.4; 2. Design of the algorithms, data model, high-level architecture, as well as the REST endpoints and the micro-services; 3. Design the integration with the services and the PRATIS procurement platform; 4. Development of all mentioned topics to obtain the suppliers’ assessment tool; 5. Test and validate the tool through a practical use case. This deliverable describes the efforts carried out to achieve all the objectives. The report is intended for the CircThread consortium as a guidance to the Manufacturing Suppliers’ Intelligence service. Especially in the context of WP7 efforts to pilot it in the Italian and Spanish pilots, and to advance engagements that have already been started to utilise the tool by different economic operators active in CircThread. It is also intended for the EU Research Executive Agency (REA) and reviewers to evaluate the efforts carried out as part of the project. The main external audience of the deliverable are prospective customers of SUPSI’s Manufacturing Suppliers Intelligence service, who are interested in select suppliers that, in addition to a good purchase price, also have a good environmental assessment and materials usage score. 6 Table of Contents 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 5 2 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Project context and use of results ...................................................................................... 9 2.3 Audiences of the report ....................................................................................................... 10 2.4 Structure of the report ......................................................................................................... 10 3 METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH ............................................................................. 11 3.1 SVHC and CRM ....................................................................................................................... 11 3.2 PRATIS platform and RFQs ................................................................................................ 11 3.3 Sustainability suppliers ranking algorithm .................................................................... 12 4 HIGH-LEVEL ARCHITECTURE ......................................................................................... 15 4.1 Overview ................................................................................................................................... 15 4.2 Overall interaction flow ....................................................................................................... 15 4.2.1 Integration between MSIM and GRETA ................................................................. 17 4.2.2 Integration between MSIM and PRATIS ................................................................. 17 5 USE CASE .................................................................................................................................... 20 5.1 Use case description and goal definition........................................................................ 20 5.2 Use case execution ................................................................................................................ 20 5.2.1 Buyer Customer Journey – Creation of the RFQ on PRATIS ........................... 20 5.2.2 Suppliers’ Journey – Submit a Bid for RFQ on PRATIS and direct to GRETA from PRATIS ........................................................................................................................................ 25 5.2.3 Buyer Company Journey – After RFQ Closed for Bidding & Sustainability Based Ranking..................................................................................................................................... 28 6 CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS ................................................................................... 30 6.1 Summary of achievements .................................................................................................. 30 6.2 Continued developments & next steps .......................................................................... 30 7 List of Figures Figure 1. High level flowchart of MSIM algorithm .......................................................................... 13 Figure 2. High level integration flow between MSIM, GRETA and Pratis platform ............ 15 Figure 3. Category selection step to generate RFQ on PRATIS ................................................. 16 Figure 4. The flow of interactions between the PRATIS platform and MSIM service ........ 18 Figure 5. Step 1 to create RFQ on PRATIS ......................................................................................... 20 Figure 6. Event Information to create RFQ on PRATIS ................................................................. 21 Figure 7. Category Selection for RFQ on PRATIS............................................................................ 21 Figure 8. GRETA Selection for RFQ on PRATIS ............................................................................... 21 Figure 9. Filled Event Information for RFQ on PRATIS ................................................................. 22 Figure 10. Items Information page on PRATIS ................................................................................. 22 Figure 11. Detail Information for Scenario Templates from GRETA on PRATIS ................. 23 Figure 12. Scenario Templates from GRETA on PRATIS .............................................................. 23 Figure 13. Invitee suppliers step for RFQ on PRATIS .................................................................... 24 Figure 14. Confirmation step for RFQ on PRATIS........................................................................... 24 Figure 15. RFQ published step on PRATIS ......................................................................................... 25 Figure 16. Viewing Event as Supplier A on PRATIS ........................................................................ 26 Figure 17. Submitting a Bid as Supplier A on PRATIS .................................................................... 26 Figure 18. After Submitted the Bid as Supplier A on PRATIS ...................................................... 27 Figure 19. Directing to GRETA from PRATIS .................................................................................... 27 Figure 20. Product Information Stage as Supplier A on GRETA ................................................. 27 Figure 21. Material Production Stage as Supplier A on GRETA ................................................. 28 Figure 22. Transport Stage as Supplier A on GRETA ...................................................................... 28 Figure 23. Save Customization as Supplier A .................................................................................... 28 Figure 24. Sustainability Based Ranking on PRATIS ...................................................................... 29 8 Acronyms and abbreviations Acronym Definition REACH Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals RoHS Restriction of Hazardous Substances SVHC Substances of Very High Concern CRM Critical Raw Materials LCA Life Cycle Assessment RFQ Request for Quotation API Application Programming Interface REST Representational State Transfer BFF Backend For Frontend ECHA European Chemicals Agency MSIM Manufacturing Suppliers’ Intelligence Module 9 2 INTRODUCTION 2.1 Overview The CircThread project goal is to support decision makers in accessing digital information to support stakeholders across the product life cycle. Its aim is to streamline the collection, updating and sharing of data relevant to the product lifecycle to advance a circular economy, covering all stages from manufacturing up to and including recycling. At many product life cycle stages high value and easily accessible information can enable circular economy driven services, to support businesses in making decisions that can increase product lifespan, enhance repair and reuse and improve product recyclability. The deliverable D6.6 is part of Work Package 6 and is going to showcase the work carried out during Task 6.6 on the Manufacturing Supplier’s Intelligence module. The goal of the task was to deliver a service that helps evaluate chemical and raw materials criticality, screens for supplier’s information assessment for REACH & RoHS as well as the LCA impacts (through GRETA services developed by SUPSI in T6.4). 2.2 Project context and use of results The Manufacturing Supplier’s Intelligence Module (MSIM) is used for selective information management, to improve a supplier request for quotation assessment, so as to obtain sustainability and circularity information within the CircThread integrated Life Cycle Services & Circularity Assessment (iLCS & CA) context. The main purpose is comparison between suppliers using the same boundaries, making comparisons possible. By integrating with the GRETA platform and its functionalities is allows for: • Customisable information entry for production processes • Customisable information requests materials and chemicals assessment • ‘On-the-fly’ indicator assessment capabilities Within a broader CircThread Platform context, the MSIM can also in the future be linked to a product model identifier, referencing the Product Model meta-data catalogue and/or Digital Product Passport that could contain private product & process information about the product, so as to link the service directly to the Circular Digital Thread concept. This extends the CircThread concept to supply chain and manufacturing procurement contexts. This deliverable focuses on how the Manufacturing Supplier’s Intelligence module has been developed. The task was guided by the specifications and methodology that was developed in Task 3.4 in CircThread Manufacturer Suppliers’ Intelligence framework. This module, which provides the assessment of suppliers' sustainability, is integrated with the GRETA service developed under task T6.4 which gives access to the sustainability performance calculation functionalities, as input for the purpose of generating the ranking. 16 Detailed Process Flow As previously mentioned, the PRATIS platform enables customers to create RFQs (Requests for Quotation) for any item they wish to purchase. To generate an RFQ, the customer provides detailed information of the item as well as selects from a predefined list of categories (e.g., electronics, machinery, packaging materials which is based on The United Nations Standard Products and Services (UNSPSC)). UNSPSC are an open, globally used categorization that provides the Department of Commerce with a predefined classification structure: A four-level hierarchy (Segment, Family, Class, and Commodity) codes as an eight-digit number and it includes 50+ Segments, 400+ Families, 2100+ Classes, 10500+ Commodities. These categories help PRATIS match the customer with a pool of suppliers capable of fulfilling the RFQ requirements. These categories help PRATIS match the customer with a pool of suppliers capable of fulfilling the RFQ requirements. For example, when customers wish to purchase bottles, they search “bottle” at category selection steps (Figure 3). They select more appropriate category for their purpose of purchase. A customer who wishes to purchase “Glass Bottles”, find it as a Commodity on Figure 3. Glass bottles is a commodity belonging to the Class of “Bottles”, Family of “Packaging Materials”, Segment of “Material Handling and Conditioning and Storage Machinery and their Accessories and Supplies.” Figure 3. Category selection step to generate RFQ on PRATIS After customers generate the RFQ for pool of suppliers and added the items wish to purchase on PRATIS, they add detailed information for each item to specify Scenario Template which direct to the suppliers on GRETA. Thus, all bidder suppliers fill the same Scenario Template for same item. When suppliers submitted their bid for RFQ, they reach directed link to go to GRETA and fill the Scenario Template related the RFQ. After they filled and submitted inputs on Scenario Template, PRATIS reaches the sustainability scores for each supplier who submitted Scenario Template from GRETA. GRETA’s interface requires the suppliers to provide detailed information necessary for compliance verification and environmental assessment, such as: 17 • REACH and RoHS compliance status • Use of critical raw materials (CRMs) • Presence of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) All other relevant parameters required for a comprehensive LCA assessment. When RFQ is closed for bidding on PRATIS, suppliers ranked by their sustainability scores and the customer review bids in terms of Sustainability Based Ranking. Integration with GRETA and the Ranking Service Once the suppliers have completed their RFQs and provided all the necessary data, the PRATIS platform sends a request to the Manufacturer Supplier Intelligence Service. This request includes all the suppliers participating in the RFQ, as well as a query for an LCA assessment from the GRETA platform. The GRETA platform processes the information, conducting an LCA and applying its assessment algorithms. Simultaneously, the Ranking Service compiles the environmental performance data (such as material composition and sustainability factors) from GRETA. The service then calculates a ranking of the bidding suppliers based on their environmental impact, regulatory compliance, and the materials and substances used in their final products. Final Decision-Making Process Upon completing these steps, the PRATIS platform aggregates the supplier bids along with their sustainability rankings. This allows the customer to review not only the financial offers but also the sustainability scores, enabling them to make an informed purchasing decision that balances cost and environmental responsibility. In summary, the seamless integration of PRATIS, GRETA, and the Ranking Service provides a comprehensive solution for customers looking to procure goods while factoring in sustainability metrics. The entire process ensures compliance with regulatory standards, provides transparency in supplier practices, and promotes environmentally driven decision-making. 4.2.1 Integration between MSIM and GRETA Since MSIM and GRETA are deployed internally inside the same cluster the communication between them does not require any authentication. This integration allows to expose some functionalities already existing in GRETA such as the creation of scenarios and the concept of scenario templates as well as the fast and lightweight calculation capabilities of GRETA. Additionally, MSIM simplifies the complex data structures within GRETA, extracting and returning only the essential information needed for the integration, ensuring efficiency and clarity for MSIM users. 4.2.2 Integration between MSIM and PRATIS The MSIM service exposes a series of REST endpoints which access is limited to users with a designated role, ensuring secure communication and data exchange. For this reason, PRATIS has been granted a long-life token associated with the role MSIM-consumer, allowing it to interact with the service. 18 The entire setup is facilitated by the usage of an API gateway that orchestrates and manages traffic between microservices and manages authentication and authorization by seemingly integrating with an Identity Management System. In this context, the API gateway is responsible for ensuring that only authorized users with the appropriate role can access the MSIM endpoints. MSIM exposes 3 different REST endpoints: • Scenario Template list endpoint: this provides a list of available scenario templates or products that suppliers can customize, allowing therefore to select the correct product depending on the needs of the customer. • Customization Redirect Link endpoint: this is instrumental in creating the required scenario—specific parameters such as the scenario name and description can be defined through query strings. Upon successful creation, a redirect link to the GRETA application is generated. This link ensures a smooth integration between PRATIS and GRETA, allowing for a simple customization process. • Ranking endpoint: this is crucial in supplier evaluation. It takes as input a list of supplier Universally Unique Identifiers (UUIDs) values which correspond to scenario Ids previously generated. Additionally, it incorporates the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) and material criticality weights which allows to tune the objective function giving more importance to the two different components. This service implementation, secured and managed through the before mentioned architecture components, ensures that only authorized parties can access and interact with the system while facilitating processes such as scenario creation, customization, and supplier ranking. Figure 4. The flow of interactions between the PRATIS platform and MSIM service 19 Above stated architecture diagram (Figure 4) illustrates the flow of interactions between the PRATIS platform and the MSIM service, showcasing how various components communicate within the system: • Client Side: Users (Buyers, Suppliers) interact with the system through the PRATIS platform, initiating requests such as logging in, creating tenders, or submitting bids. • Backend For Frontend (BFF): PRATIS's BFF handles the communication between the client-side application and backend services. It orchestrates the requests and responses between the Client, the TenderService, and other integrated services, ensuring smooth communication. • TenderService: This core service within PRATIS is responsible for managing tenders and supplier interactions. It communicates with the MSIM service to request Scenario Templates, generate Redirect Links for suppliers, and fetch the Supplier Rankings from GRETA. • MSIM Service: The GRETAService, part of MSIM, is called by PRATIS for retrieving Scenario Templates, generating Redirect Links, and fetching sustainability scores for ranking suppliers. These interactions allow suppliers to complete evaluations and feed their sustainability data back to PRATIS. • Scheduled Jobs: A ScheduledJobsService periodically triggers requests to the TenderService every minute. This scheduled job ensures that PRATIS continually updates the sustainability scores from GRETA, ensuring that tender data and supplier rankings remain up-to-date. This diagram demonstrates the integration between PRATIS and MSIM and the continuous updates managed by scheduled jobs, which ensure that suppliers are ranked based on sustainability scores. This process is essential for creating tenders, evaluating suppliers, and leveraging GRETA for sustainable procurement practices. 20 5 USE CASE 5.1 Use case description and goal definition In order to validate and demonstrate the usability of the module, a use case is presented and discussed in this chapter. The use case provides for a demonstrator for the manufacturer suppliers’ intelligence module and includes a practical ranking creation based on the information from different suppliers. The use case considers a desk as a reference system and the objective is to select the best suppliers of this product in terms of sustainability performances and materials usage. 5.2 Use case execution In this use case, 1 Buyer company who published the RFQ on PRATIS and 4 suppliers who bided for this RFQ were determined as Supplier A, Supplier B, Supplier C, Supplier D. All 4 suppliers bided for the relevant RFQ on PRATIS, 3 of them (Supplier A, Supplier B, Supplier C) are directed to GRETA and complete the evaluation process on GRETA. Supplier D, although had a bid on PRATIS, did not complete the evaluation process on GRETA. 5.2.1 Buyer Customer Journey – Creation of the RFQ on PRATIS Companies who wish to purchase starts the process by creating RFQ on PRATIS. By clicking to “Create” button on Figure 5, customers direct to Event Information page which is first page at RFQ creation process on Figure 6. Figure 5. Step 1 to create RFQ on PRATIS 21 Figure 6. Event Information to create RFQ on PRATIS At the Event Information page, customers fill the blanks that about RFQ general information such as Event Name, Event Time etc, also select the category to match suppliers from pool. To select the RFQ’s category, customers search the definition the items that wish to purchase. Figure 7 represents one of the customer’s category selection steps who wishes to purchase “Office Desks.” Figure 7. Category Selection for RFQ on PRATIS After category selection step, customers activate GRETA process by clicking checkbox about “Sustainability Assessment by GRETA” on Figure 8. Figure 8. GRETA Selection for RFQ on PRATIS 22 Figure 9. Filled Event Information for RFQ on PRATIS When all inputs at Event Information is filled as Figure 9, customers are ready to go Items Information page which is second page for create the RFQ. Customers specify the item that they wish to purchase, Figure 10 represents one of the customer’s item information who wishes to purchase 150 Pieces of Office Desks. Customers should select the Scenario Template from GRETA by adding detail information for the item. By clicking “Add” button on detail information column on table on Figure 10, customers open the detail information step. Figure 10. Items Information page on PRATIS At detail information steps, on Figure 11 customers can list the available Scenario Templates from GRETA. Figure 12 represents the available Scenario Templates on this use case. For this use case, it is assumed that Scenario Template with title “Desk with Params” is chosen. 23 Figure 11. Detail Information for Scenario Templates from GRETA on PRATIS Figure 12. Scenario Templates from GRETA on PRATIS After the item information process completed, customers have one more step to ready to publish the RFQ. Customers should specify the suppliers who can bid for the RFQ on Figure 13. When they specify it, RFQ will be ready to publish on PRATIS as Figure 14. By clicking “Publish Event” button RFQ is published as on Figure 15. 24 Figure 13. Invitee suppliers step for RFQ on PRATIS Figure 14. Confirmation step for RFQ on PRATIS 25 Figure 15. RFQ published step on PRATIS 5.2.2 Suppliers’ Journey – Submit a Bid for RFQ on PRATIS and direct to GRETA from PRATIS 4 suppliers who bided for this RFQ were determined as Supplier A, Supplier B, Supplier C, and Supplier D. All 4 suppliers bided for the relevant RFQ on PRATIS, 3 of them (Supplier A, Supplier B, Supplier C) are directed to GRETA and complete the evaluation process on GRETA. Supplier D, although had a bid on PRATIS, did not complete the evaluation process on GRETA. The sustainability conditions of the 3 suppliers who completed the evaluation process on GRETA are different and therefore the evaluation results have different ranking values among themselves. The suppliers who evaluated on GRETA and their answers to the evaluation are as follows: Table 1. Suppliers’ Assessment Inputs on GRETA Supplier Supplier A Supplier B Supplier C Supplier D Product Information Since the supplier did not complete the assessment on GRETA, there is no any value for this supplier. Is REACH compliant TRUE TRUE TRUE Is RoHS compliant TRUE TRUE TRUE Material Production Material Plywood Plywood Particleboard Wood mass for desk production [kg] 65.00 60.00 69.00 Density of material [kg/m^3] 570.00 575.00 600.00 Transport Transport Freight train Freight train Lorry Travel distance from supplier to wood working plant [km] 132.00 112.00 132.00 Overall Score 1 0.914559803 0 "-" Supplier Journey is represented by Supplier A whose score is 1.