System Mapping
Initial situation:
Which circular economy strategy is best for you? Which impacts would you like to achieve through introducing circular product innovations? In one year? In 10 years? Would you like to save CO2? Or cut the purchase of fossil virgin plastics?? Or are you rethinking your products as part of the revised Ecodesign Regulation (ESPR) or other regulations and would like to proceed efficiently? System Mapping is a combined method that elevates your circular product development to the strategic level of the circular economy.
Approach:
Through a current state analysis in a joint workshop with Fraunhofer CCPE experts and the comissioning company, material flows and logistics processes around a product are visualized: from manufacturing, through the use phase with customers to recycling. Based on this, scenarios are developed by implementing circular strategies (the so-called R-Strategies) into your existing product system. Where is it possible to close loops? At material level, product level and business model level? What strategic adjustments are necessary to optimally utilize circular economy opportunities? What consequences do decisions have on product architecture, material selection and component manufacturing (redesign)?
To subsequently simulate the ecological impacts of various circular scenarios, known tools such as System Dynamics or agent-based simulation are combined with proven life cycle assessment approaches.
Advantages of System Mapping in strategic product development:
- The method enables development, analysis and simulation of various scenarios to identify the best strategies for improving circularity and sustainability.
- Complex systems, their elements and most important influencing factors become visible through system visualization, facilitating your decision-making and result communication (internally and externally).
- Through analyzing impacts of various scenarios, products and processes can be optimized and resources used more efficiently.
Further information can be found here: https://www.ccpe.fraunhofer.de/de/aktuelles/newsletter/2024/system-mapping