DigiPrime research project: Digital platform for the circular economy of cross-sectoral and sustainable networks

The worldwide demand for natural resources is growing inexorably due to the enormous increase in the world population as well as rising living standards, so that the topic of resource conservation and resource reuse has become a central issue, especially for industry. The aim of the recycling economy is to add value to products several times over during the product or production life cycle (remanufacturing) in order to reduce the consumption of resources and thus save costs.

The DigiPrime research project has the task of developing a new concept for a digital platform for the circular economy, which should overcome the current information asymmetry between the actors in the value chain. On the basis of data-supported recovery and reuse of functions and materials from products with high added value, new cross-sector business models are to be created.

The services of the platform shall include:

• the cross-sectoral dimension of value chains (de- and remanufacturing-oriented product information management, product co-creation, LCA-LCC for eco-design, demand-supply matching, sustainable value network and reverse logistics barrier identification and legislative support, etc.)
• the operational dimension (presentation of product conditions, de- and remanufacturing decision support system, demand and supply forecasting, circular production planning and control, material testing and certification, etc.).

DigiPrime, will be validated by 6 cross-sectoral pilot projects, further detailed in 20 use cases covering 5 different European industrial sectors (automotive, renewable energy, electronics, textiles, construction) and by additional pilot studies in new sectors.

SimPlan is involved in providing three services in this comprehensive project:

• Demand and Supply Forecasting Tool
• Simulation of a European recycling network from workshops to reuse
• Value Stream Modelling and Value Stream Simulation for Circular Economy

Vision of the digital platform for reducing information asymmetries in the circular economy (Source: wbk/KIT)

The DigiPrime research project is funded by the European Commission (H2020-DT-2018-2020/H2020-DT-2019-1). The project started in January 2020 and is planned for 4 years.