Methods and Tools Supporting Digital Product Service System Passport

Project Information

PSS-Pass

Grant agreement ID: 101177594

DOI

10.3030/101177594

EC signature date 20 September 2024

Start date 1 October 2024

End date 30 September 2027

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 5 299 457,51

EU contribution

€ 5 299 457,50

Coordinated by

INSTITUT FÜR ANGEWANDTE SYSTEMTECHNIK BREMEN GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PSS-Pass (Methods and Tools Supporting Digital Product Service System Passport)

Reporting period: 2024-10-01 to 2026-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

In today's rapidly evolving industrial landscape, achieving sustainability in the face of limited resources, environmental degradation and ongoing climate change, while remaining competitive in a global economy, is one of the most difficult challenges for the producing industry. To address this challenge, the PSS-Pass project presents a forward-looking vision aimed to transform industry practices by introducing the concept of a Digital Product Service System Passport (DPSSP) for industrial companies who extend their products with digital services going beyond Digital Product Passports (DPPs) and redefine how products and services are designed, used, refurbished, reused and recycled in order to become sustainable while increasing competitiveness. Sustainable manufacturing requires systemic change supported by robust, interoperable and trusted digital tools. The DPP is already a critical enabler for circularity, providing detailed product-related information to stakeholders throughout the value chain. The PSS-Pass project goes beyond the DPP by incorporating data on both products and the services that surround them within the concept of Product Service System (PSS) building the DPSSP. This approach will be a key driver for improvements in lifecycle assessment of products and services, and in decision making for efficient product reuse, refurbishment and recycling by analysing data from DPSSPs.
PSS-Pass also considers interoperability for DPSSPs by developing a digital environment built on existing architectures like the Asset Administration Shell (AAS), and a Semantic Layer built on existing and new ontologies in a new DPSSP ontology. The DPSSP ontology integrates emerging ontologies, such as the PSS ontology, LCA Oriont and EUDPP, among others, aligning with initiatives like the Industrial Ontology Foundry (IOF) and applies FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles, thus enabling the use of circular economy data for building services. This ensures that manufacturers and other stakeholders can seamlessly share and use DPSSPs across sectors and value chains. To ensure the practical applicability, PSS-Pass integrates its innovations into real-world scenarios in three different project pilots.
The PSS-Pass vision is closely aligned with global sustainability goals and the European Union's ambitions for clean and climate neutral industrial value chains, circular economy & climate-neutral digital systems & infrastructures. By integrating advanced digital tools with a focus on lifecycle thinking, PSS-Pass paves the way for a transformative change in manufacturing practices. Its innovative approach not only improves environmental sustainability, but also creates new business opportunities and supports positioning European industry as leading driver of sustainable innovation.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The sequence of activities during the first 18 month of the project was aimed at ensuring achievement of the objectives of the project and a minimisation of some of the main risks:
1. At the outset of the project, Pilot requirements and scenarios have been specified and prioritised from the viewpoint of each of the industrial users. A review of existing methods, tools and technologies has been updated, in reference to the defined pilot scenarios (WP1).
2. Technical requirements were prioritised jointly from a R&D, as well as industrial users’ point of view, to ensure the R&D tasks in PSS-Pass are driven both by technological innovation and the needs of the manufacturing and supply chain stakeholder communities. This has resulted in a combined set of over 250 prioritised requirements that will drive the development tasks and priorities, as well as the industrial evaluations in the project (WP1).
3. Based on the requirements analysed, the project updated the concept of PSS-Pass Methodological Framework, DPSSP Digital Environment, DT-based Simulation Framework, DPSSP Ontology, Semantic Layer, select/elaborate AI algorithms and services to be provided, etc., to fill the gaps between existing solutions and the requirements. The concept includes also laboratory prototypes to test some algorithms and tools (WP1).
4. The elaboration of methods and digital tools for DPSSP and decision making on circularity of PSS has been started on: Methodology Framework (WP1), DPSSP Environment for DPSSP (WP2), Semantic Layer, Ontology-based interoperability (WP3), DT-based Simulation Framework for PSS lifecycle (WP4) and AI models/services (WP5). The pilot UCs were also further specified in detail, involving employees to refine requirements for the use of the solutions to be developed (WP6). A testing & evaluation methodology (WP6) has been set-up to evaluate all the results.
5. Early Prototypes (EP) of the DPSSP Environment, AI module etc., have been developed (WP2-WP5), and integrated (generic in WP2, pilot specific in WP6), including thorough technical testing. In parallel, the partners started to customise tools for the pilots (WP6), enabling to test and guarantee their efficiency and acceptance by the pilot partners.
6. The pilot partners have started to prepare the infrastructures, ensuring the necessary conditions to apply, install and test the DPSSP Digital Environment and tools (WP6). This also include a detailed specification of necessary interfaces to existing legacy systems, as well as identification and collection of initial knowledge needed.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The examination of existing European projects reveals significant interest in DPP. However, several significant limitations emerge:
• Lack of an integrated approach between PSS and DPP: Projects tend to focus exclusively on the DPP, neglecting the integration with data and services related to the Product Service System.
• Absence of a structured model for DPSSP: There is still no defined framework for creating a DPSSP that integrates product information with customized value-added services.
• Limitations in data interoperability and semantic management: Despite progress in shared ontologies, there is no consolidated framework to ensure semantic interoperability across different sectors throughout the PSS lifecycle.
• Absence of advanced and interoperable DPPs: Current research on DPPs lacks a decentralized, dynamic, and multi-level framework that integrates real-time service data, supports collaboration among stakeholders, and ensures security and interoperability with industry standards.
• Poor integration with advanced simulation and AI tools: Current projects, while focusing on data collection and standardization, do not fully exploit the potential of AI and advanced DT – based simulation in optimizing DPP and DPSSP.

The PSS-Pass project aiming to bridge these gaps by:
• Define and implement the DPSSP concept, creating a model that integrates product data and services to develop new business opportunities based on PSS models.
• Develop a decentralized, dynamic, and interoperable DPSSP framework that integrates real-time service data, supports multi-level product structures, enhances data-sharing practices and collaboration among stakeholders, and ensures security and compliance with industry standards.
• Develop an advanced ontological framework to ensure interoperability between product and service data, with a semantic structure aligned with industrial needs.
• Integrate advanced digital tools for monitoring and managing the PSS lifecycle.
• Promote a sustainability and circular economy-based approach, using DPP data to optimize LCA analysis and support reuse, recycling, and predictive maintenance strategies.
In conclusion, PSS-Pass stands out for its focus on the synergy between DPP and PSS, going beyond the digitalization of Product Passports to create a digital ecosystem oriented towards sustainable and service-oriented business models.