Regulations are becoming stricter, resources are becoming scarcer and society's demand for sustainability is growing. At the same time, industrial companies are faced with the challenge of designing their products and processes in such a way that they meet the requirements of a circular economy - without jeopardising their competitiveness.
This is precisely where the GoProZero research project comes in. Under the leadership of our "Advanced Systems Engineering" specialist group, an interdisciplinary consortium from science and industry is working to support companies on their path to circular value creation. The project is funded with a total of €3,902,933 by it's OWL, Project Management Organisation Jülich and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The aim of the project is to develop practical methods, digital tools and reference processes that enable companies to systematically design resource-efficient and recyclable products. Key technologies such as artificial intelligence, model-based engineering and digital twins are used to utilise product and process data along the entire life cycle. On this basis, digital sustainability analyses are made possible - i.e. data-based assessments of environmental impact, resource efficiency and recyclability that support companies in their decision-making at an early stage.
The central result of GoProZero is an integrated methodology with which companies can implement the transformation to circular business models in a structured way - from strategic planning to operational implementation in the product development process.
The approaches developed are being tested directly in practice in six lighthouse projects. Together with partner companies such as CLAAS, DENIOS, GEA, HARTING, WAGO and Weidmüller, concrete solutions are being developed - from modular product architectures and data-based sustainability assessments to circular business models for durable and traceable products.
The strong consortium brings together 14 partners from science and industry, including Bielefeld University, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, OWL University of Applied Sciences, Fraunhofer IEM, Fraunhofer IOSB-INA and InnoZent OWL as an additional research partner. S&N Invent and the AI Marketplace are supporting the project as associated partners with their expertise in the fields of data infrastructures, artificial intelligence and digital services.
Together, the partners are pursuing the vision of an Industry.Zero - an industry in which products are designed sustainably from the outset, optimised based on data and supported digitally.
