Softwaretools for Sustainable Product Development

CO2 accounting and reporting requirements for the supply chain will be mandatory for most companies by 2030.
Initiatives such as the European Green Deal and corresponding legislation have already been passed in China and are being developed internationally. In addition to changing consumer expectations, reporting requirements will give ecological factors a greater role in product development.

macs software GmbH and defortec have jointly developed the concept for a software solution that makes the factor of sustainability objectively assessable in product development.
Defortec was responsible for user interface design, as well as for the UX and UI concept. Development is underway with the goal of creating a powerful and future-oriented extension in the macs software.

The software currently under development is designed to do two things: firstly, to support companies in their reporting obligations, and secondly, to integrate sustainability factors into product development in a factual and objectively assessable manner.

The software concept is based on macs' controlling software and, thanks to the extensive controlling data, can already draw on parts lists, work plans, supplier and customer relationships. This provides the perfect basis for performing data-supported evaluations—supplemented by CO2e and other emissions data—for sustainability factors as well.

The software will thus be able to support reporting obligations on the one hand and product development through scenario planning and variant creation on the other. A simple, intuitive interface lays the foundation for continuous use of this innovative application.

A comprehensive research process formed the foundation for the software concept and the resulting interface and software structure. This involved a systematic analysis of both the legal framework conditions, which changed continuously over the course of the project, and qualitative and quantitative interviews with relevant stakeholders, potential and actual customers.

The highly variable availability of data on sustainability factors such as CO2e, CO2 emissions, water and electricity consumption in companies and databases laid the foundation for the concept. While some sustainability factors are neither available in digital form nor transmitted automatically, the data granularity and quality in the available databases varies greatly.

The research phase also revealed important insights into the potential user groups. While sustainability reporting and ESG reporting are to be mapped very differently in many companies, but usually have a connection to controlling, the creation of variants and sustainability optimization in product development will be carried out by the people involved there. Facility or sustainability officers still have to enter some of the data manually if the relevant variables are not available in the company's databases or data sources.

This analysis results in a clear definition of objectives:

The software solution should fulfill three different purposes for three different target groups. These three modules are applied at different stages of the product and have interfaces of varying complexity. They all use and feed into the same database.

Light: For facility or sustainability managers to digitally record the current data situation.

Tool: The developer tool for engineers, developers, and designers. A certain affinity for data is required, but the tool should be as clear and intuitive as possible.

Pro: The solution for controlling and sustainability officers for creating reports and statements. Users are accustomed to complex figures and extensive lists.

The software and UX (user experience) structure was then designed. From the outset, the focus was on the different requirements and experiences of the relevant user groups. The three software offshoots were designed to provide quick orientation and to resemble the software interfaces users encounter in their everyday lives, both in terms of UX and UI (user interface). The initial concepts were evaluated using rapid wireframe models.

The light solution was developed for users whose software experience is mostly on smartphones and tablets. A simple and unidirectional user interface guides the user clearly and quickly through the values to be entered. The transmission of the values to the company's own server and thus for storage in master data and consumption values is reported back as clear user feedback on the screen.

The Tool solution is designed for technically savvy users. They spend a lot of time at the screen designing, planning, detailing, and constructing - so additional software should not distract them too much from their actual work. The interface is kept as lean and simple as possible given the complexity it can display. Scenarios can be easily created from existing parts lists and then compared graphically with each other in terms of a wide variety of factors. The clear separation between the database - highlighted in black - and the scenario created - highlighted in white - always ensures the necessary overview.

The Pro solution is designed with controllers and sustainability officers in mind. This user group is accustomed to complex list structures and data relationships in their everyday work with GUIs (graphical user interfaces). Sophisticated filter functions and a quick overview of the selected variant are key features of the controlling software's user interface.

The software concept is currently under development and is not available at this time.