WO2025098950A1

WO2025098950A1 - Evaluating and/or optimizing environmental attributes associated with a coating process

Info

Publication number: WO2025098950A1
Application number: PCT/EP2024/081105
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tim BANIK; Christian Beckhaus; Markus Piepenbrink; Marco BENEN
Original assignee: BASF Coatings GmbH
Current assignee: BASF Coatings GmbH
Priority date: 2023-11-06
Filing date: 2024-11-05
Publication date: 2025-05-15
Anticipated expiration: 2026-05-06

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of sustainable coating processes, in particular the evaluation, monitoring and/or optimization of environmental attributes associate with the coating processes, e.g. processes to produce a coating on at least a part of the surface of a substrate. The disclosure relates to methods, apparatuses and computer elements for a method for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof. The disclosure further relates to methods, apparatuses and computer elements for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof. The disclosure further relates to a chemical material associated with a chemical material identifier related to a digital asset as generated according to the methods and/or by the apparatuses disclosed herein, a coating process associated with environmental attribute(s) determined or optimized according to the methods and apparatuses disclosed herein and uses of the determined and optimized environmental impact attribute(s).

Description

BASF Coatings GmbH

1

EVALUATING AND/OR OPTIMIZING ENVIRONMENTAL ATTRIBUTES ASSOCIATED WITH A COATING PROCESS

TECHNICAL FIELD

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

Around 70% of a vehicle assembly plant energy is consumed during coating the vehicle and/or parts thereof. Due to the increasing awareness of environmental concerns there is a need to evaluate and/or optimize the environmental impact associated with such coating processes.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In one aspect disclosed is a method, in particular a computer-implemented method, for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, wherein the coating process or the step(s) thereof result in the production of a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s), the method comprising:

• providing data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof,

• providing environmental attribute data associated with consumption processes and/or generation processes occurring within the coating process,

• determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the coating process based on the provided data associated with the coating process and the provided environmental attribute data,

• providing the determined environmental impact attribute(s).

In another aspect disclosed is a method, in particular a computer-implemented method, for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, wherein the coating process or the step(s) thereof result in the production of a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s), the method comprising:

• providing a digital representation of the coating process or the step(s) thereof, wherein the digital representation defines equipment(s), material(s) and condition(s) used within the coating process or the step(s) thereof and the operation(s) performed within the coating process or the step(s) thereof,

• providing coating process data associated with the coating process and location data associated with location of coating process based on the digital representation, wherein the coating process data includes process step identifier(s) per process step, production data associated with the production of the coating layer(s), application data associated with the application of one or more material(s) to the surface(s) of the object and/or material data associated with the one or more material(s),

• determining per process step - based on the coating process data and the location data - the material(s) consumption, the electric energy consumption, the thermal energy consumption, the generated waste and/or the generated release to air, soil and/or water,

• providing environmental attribute data associated with consumption processes and/or generation processes occurring within the coating process and determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the coating process based on the provided environmental attribute data and the determined material(s) consumption(s), the electric energy consumption(s), the thermal energy consumption(s), the generated waste(s) and/or the generated release(s) to air, soil and/or water,

• providing the determined environmental impact attribute(s).

In another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, wherein the coating process or the step(s) thereof result in the production of a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s), the apparatus comprising:

• a data providing interface configured to provide data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof and environmental attribute data associated with consumption processes and/or generation processes occurring within the coating process,

• an environmental impact determination unit configured to determine environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the coating process based on the provided data associated with the coating process and the provided environmental attribute data,

• an environmental impact providing unit configured to provide the determined environmental impact attribute(s).

• a data providing interface configured to provide o a digital representation of the coating process or the step(s) thereof, wherein the digital representation defines equipment(s), material(s) and condition(s) used within the coating process or the step(s) thereof and the operation(s) performed within the coating process or the step(s) thereof, o providing environmental attribute data associated with consumption processes and/or generation processes occurring within the coating process

• an environmental impact determination unit configured to o gather coating process data associated with the coating process and location data associated with location of coating process based on the digital representation, wherein the coating process data includes process step identifier(s) per process step, production data associated with the production of the coating layer(s), application data associated with the application of one or more material(s) to the surface(s) of the object and/or material data associated with the one or more material(s), o determine per process step - based on the coating process data and the location data - the material(s) consumption, the electric energy consumption, the thermal energy consumption, the generated waste and/or the generated release to air, soil and/or water, o determine environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the coating process based on the provided environmental attribute data and the determined material(s) consumption(s), the electric energy consumption(s), the thermal energy consumption(s), the generated waste(s) and/or the generated release(s) to air, soil and/or water an environmental impact providing unit configured to provide the determined environmental impact attribute(s).

In yet another aspect disclosed is a method for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, wherein the coating process or the step(s) thereof result in the production of a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s), the method comprising:

• providing data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof,

• generating a digital asset including material identifier(s) associated with the one or more material(s) and associated environmental impact attribute(s),

• linking the digital asset to the one or more material(s). In yet another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, wherein the coating process or the step(s) thereof result in the production of a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s), the apparatus comprising:

• a digital asset generator configured to generate a digital asset including material identifier(s) associated with the one or more material(s) and associated environmental impact attribute(s),

• a linking unit configured to link the digital asset to the one or more material(s).

In yet another aspect disclosed is a method for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, wherein the coating process or the step(s) thereof result in the production of a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s), the method comprising:

• providing target environmental impact data associated with the coating process or the step(st) thereof,

• providing candidate data associated with one or more candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof,

• providing candidate environmental attribute data associated with consumption processes and/or generation processes occurring within the candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof,

• optimizing the provided candidate data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof using the provided target environmental impact data and the provided candidate environmental attribute data,

• providing the optimized candidate data including one or more optimized environmental attribute(s).

In yet another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, wherein the coating process or the step(s) thereof result in the production of a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s), the apparatus comprising:

• a data providing interface configured to provide target environmental impact data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof, candidate data associated with one or more candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof and candidate environmental attribute data associated with consumption processes and/or generation processes occurring within the candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof, • an optimizing unit configured to optimize the provided candidate data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof using the provided target environmental impact data and the provided candidate environmental attribute data,

• an optimized data providing unit configured to provide the optimized candidate data including one or more optimized environmental attribute(s).

In yet another aspect disclosed is a chemical material associated with a chemical material identifier related to a digital asset as generated according to the methods and/or by the apparatuses for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) as disclosed herein.

In yet another aspect disclosed is a coating process associated with one or more environmental attribute(s) as generated according to the methods and/or by the apparatuses for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) as disclosed herein.

In yet another aspect disclosed is a coating process associated with one or more optimized environmental attribute(s) as generated according to the methods and/or by the apparatuses for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) as disclosed herein.

In yet another aspect disclosed is a use of environmental impact attribute(s) as determined by the methods and/or by the apparatuses for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) disclosed herein to monitor a coating process for producing a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s).

In yet another aspect disclosed is a use of optimized environmental impact attribute(s) as generated by the methods and/or by the apparatuses for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) disclosed herein to control a coating process for producing a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s).

In yet another aspect disclosed is a computer element, in particular a computer program product or a computer readable medium, with instructions, which when executed on one or more computing node(s) are configured to carry out the steps of any of the methods disclosed herein.

In yet another aspect the present disclosure relates to a computer element with instructions, which when executed on one or more computing node(s) is configured to carry out the steps of the method(s) of the present disclosure or configured to be carried out by the apparatus(es) of the present disclosure.

Any disclosure, embodiments and examples described herein relate to the methods, the apparatuses, the uses, the chemical materials, coating processes and computer elements lined out above and below. Advantageously, the benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples equally apply to all other embodiments and examples. Embodiments

In the following, embodiments of the present disclosure will be outlined by ways of embodiments and/or examples. It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to said embodiments and/or examples.

To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number in which that element is first introduced.

To evaluate, monitor and/or optimize environmental attributes associated with a coating process, such as energy consumption, coating material consumption, water consumption and/or waste generation associated with the coating process, transparency on such environmental attributes is crucial.

By using a digital representation of the coating process or the step(s) thereof, the environmental impact of single process step(s) or the whole coating process may be determined in line with the coating process layout, e.g. in line with the included process step(s) as well as the material(s) and equipment(s) used in such process step(s) and the operation(s) performed during such process step(s). This allows to determine and/or monitor and/or evaluate the environmental impact associated with a wide range of different coating processes. The transparency achieved with respect to the environmental impact associated with each process step may be used to optimize the environmental impact of single process step(s) and/or the whole coating process.

By using environmental impact factor(s) associated with different environmental impact categories, the environmental impact attribute(s) may be determined for different environmental impacts, hence providing a broader understanding of the environmental impact associated with the process step(s) or the coating process. By using environmental impact factor(s) determined according to different environmental impact methods regulatory requirements with respect to the environmental impact method to be used to determine the environmental impact attribute(s) may be fulfilled, hence rendering the use of different methods or systems superfluous.

By using a digital asset that is linked (or assigned, attributed, allocated, attached) to a chemical material and optionally an associated coating process, customers can easily request and select sustainable materials (e.g., materials having reduced environmental impact) and/or perform a more sustainable coating process (e.g. a coating process having a reduced environmental impact). They can use the digital asset to identify ways to make the coating process more sustainable. The digital asset also provides a way for coating process operators to speed the transformation of the use of sustainable materials and the operation of sustainable coating processes. Specifically for entities that use more than one coating process and a variety of materials within such coating process, the use of digital assets enables determination of the environmental impact of the various coating processes in line with the respective layout of the coating process. This way the environmental impact of the coating process can be determined in line with the physical set up of the coating process. Moreover, the environmental attribute(s) of the chemical material(s) can be made transparent to customers using said materials within coating processes.

By using target environmental impact data reflecting the physical layout of the coating process and/or material(s) to be used therein, the optimization of the environmental impact of the coating process may be performed in line with a given process layout of a physical coating process or line with given material(s) to be used by using different variations or option(s) of a process step associated with different environmental impact attribute(s). This may ensure that the optimized data may be applicable to a real coating process to reduce the environmental impact of such coating process. Optimization of environmental attribute(s) associated with a coating process may allow to identify savings in terms of input material(s) and/or generated output product(s), hence allowing to reduce the environmental impact of coating processes and thus also the overall environmental impact associated with the vehicle production.

By generating control data based on the optimized data, the coating process can be controlled in a reliable manner such that the optimized environmental impact is achieved by said coating process.

Various units, entities, nodes or other computing components may be described as “configured to” perform a task or tasks. Configured to shall recite structure meaning “having circuitry that” performs the task or tasks on operation. The units, circuits, entities, nodes or other computing components can be configured to perform the task even when the unit/circuit/component is not operating. The units, circuits, entities, nodes or other computing components that form the structure corresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuits and/or memory storing program instructions executable to implement the operation. The units, circuits, entities, nodes or other computing components may be described as performing a task or tasks, for convenience in the description. Such descriptions shall be interpreted as including the phrase “configured to.”

In general, the methods, apparatuses, systems, computer elements, nodes or other computing components described herein may include memory, software components and hardware components. The memory can include volatile memory such as static or dynamic random-access memory and/or nonvolatile memory such as optical or magnetic disk storage, flash memory, programmable read-only memories, etc. The hardware components may include any combination of combinatoric logic circuitry, clocked storage devices such as flops, registers, latches, etc., finite state machines, memory such as static random-access memory or embedded dynamic random-access memory, custom designed circuitry, programmable logic arrays, etc.

The environmental impact attribute may be a digital asset associated with the material, in particular the chemical material, and optionally the coating process. The environmental impact attribute may digitally specify the environmental impact of input(s) to the coating process or step(s) thereof, such as consumed chemical material(s) and/or consumed energy, and/or the environmental impact of output(s) produced by the coating process or step(s) thereof, such as generated waste and/or releases to air, soil and/or water. Reduction of the environmental impact of input(s) and/or output(s) may hence result in an environmental impact reduction of the coating process. The environmental impact attribute(s) may allow to monitor and/or control the coating process, e.g. to monitor and/or control the coating process such that the coating process is associated with a given environmental impact. The environmental impact attribute may digitally specify the environmental impact of the coating process and/or step(s) of the coating process. The environmental impact attribute may include a qualitative data point relating to the type of impact e.g., in view of the input(s) and/or the output(s). The environmental impact attribute may include further environmental characteristics of the input(s) or the chemical product(s). Environmental impact attribute(s) may refer to any property or characteristic related to the environmental impact. Such property may be a property or characteristic of input(s) and/or output(s) associated with one or more process steps(s) of the coating process and/or the coating process. The environmental impact attribute may indicate an environmental performance of input(s) and/or output(s) associated with one or more process steps(s) of the coating process and/or the coating process. The environmental impact attribute may be derived from properties of the input(s) and/or the output(s) associated with one or more process steps(s) of the coating process and/or the coating process. The environmental impact attribute may be associated with the environmental impact of one or more material(s), such as chemical material(s), at any stage during their lifecycle. The stages of the chemical material lifecycle may include the stages of providing raw material, producing chemical material(s), such as coating material(s) and using chemical material(s), such as within step(s) of a coating process. The environmental impact attribute may be tracked through any activity of one or more entities participating at any stage of the lifecycle of one or more chemical material(s). Environmental impact attributes associated with any activity of one or more entities participating at any stage of the lifecycle of one or more chemical material(s) may be accumulated or aggregated. The environmental impact attribute may include one or more characteristic(s) that are attributable to environmental or sustainability impact of the input(s) and/or output(s) associated with one or more process steps(s) of the coating process and/or the coating process. The environmental impact attribute may include environmental and/or technical characteristics(s) associated with the environmental impact of the input(s) and/or output(s) associated with one or more process steps(s) of the coating process and/or the coating process.

Environmental characteristic(s) may specify or quantify ecological criteria associated with the environmental impact of input(s) and/or output(s) associated with one or more process steps(s) of the coating process and/or the coating process. Environmental characteristic(s) may be or may be produced or derived from measurements taken during the lifecycle of input(s) and/or output(s) associated with one or more process steps(s) of the coating process and/or the coating process. Environmental characteristic(s) may for example include impact categories such as carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions or global warming potential, primary energy demand, cumulative energy demand, biotic and abiotic resource consumption, air emissions, stratospheric ozone depletion potential, ozone formation, terrestrial and/or marine acidification, water consumption, water depletion, water availability, water pollution, noise pollution, freshwater and/or marine eutrophication potential, human carcinogenic and/or non-carcinogenic toxicity, photochemical oxidant formation, particulate matter formation, terrestrial, freshwater and/or marine ecotoxicity, ionizing radiation, agricultural and/or urban land occupation, land transformation, land use, indirect land use, deforestation, biodiversity, mineral resource consumption, and/or fossil resource consumption. Environmental characteristic(s) may be calculated from combinations of one of more impact categories.

Technical characteristic(s) may specify or quantify material or product performance at least indirectly associated with the environmental impact. Technical characteristic(s) may for example include product composition data, bill of materials, product specification data, product component data, product safety data, application property data, application instructions or product quality data. Technical characteristic(s) may be or may be produced from measurements taken during the lifecycle of input(s) and/or output(s) associated with one or more process steps(s) of the coating process and/or the coating process. Technical characteristics may be determined at any stage of the lifecycle and may characterize the material performance for such stage or up to such stage. Technical characteristic(s) may for example include physical, chemical or further properties of the chemical material.

The coating process may involve the application of a chemical material, such as a liquid or solid chemical material, to at least a part of the surface of an object. The application of the chemical material may result in the formation of a coating layer on the part(s) of the surface, where the chemical material was applied. The chemical material may be applied to the surface by spray application, dipping, casting, roll application or the like. One or more coating material(s) may be successively applied prior to drying and/or curing the formed coating layer(s). Drying and/or curing may be performed after application of the coating material for at least a part of the coating material(s) used within the coating process. For instance, applied electrocoating material and/or applied primer material may be cured prior to applying subsequent coating materials. Joint curing of a plurality of coating layers may allow to reduce the energy consumption and hence also the environmental impact associated with such coating process. The coating process may include one or more process step(s). Each process step may involve the use of one or more chemical material(s), such as coating material(s). The coating material(s) may include a film forming component, such as a polymer (e.g. resin or binder). The film forming constituent may form a film upon drying and/or curing of the applied coating material. The coating materials may further include solvents and/or one or more additive(s). The coating material(s) may further include one or more pigments and/or filler(s) and/or crosslinking agent(s). The coating material(s) may be aqueous coating material(s) or solvent-based coating material(s). The coating material(s) may be powder coating material(s).

Consumption processes occurring within the coating process may include the consumption of chemical material(s) used within the coating process and/or the consumption of energy within the coating process. Consumption processes may include the consumption of chemical material(s) within one or more process step(s) and/or the consumption of energy within one or more process step(s). Chemical material(s) consumed during one or more process step(s) may include pretreatment material(s), rinsing material(s), cleaning material(s), coating material(s) and/or water. Energy consumed during one or more process step(s) may include consumed thermal and/or consumed electric energy.

Generation processes occurring within the coating process may include the generation of waste and/or the releases to air, soil and/or water within the coating process. Generation processes may include the generation of waste and/or releases within one or more process step(s). Generated waste may include waste coating material(s) generated from overspray (e.g. coating material not deposited on the surface but removed from the cabin air). Releases may include emissions, such as VOC emissions, released from the use of chemical material(s) within the coating process or step(s) thereof.

In an embodiment, the coating is produced by producing one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of the surface of the object. The coating layer(s) may be produced by application of one or more coating material(s) to the surface as previously described.

In an embodiment, the coating process or the step(s) thereof is/are performed in series. Performing a coating process in series may include subjecting a large number of objects one after another to one or more process step(s) included in the coating process. Such a coating process may be conducted continuously, e.g. in a way that the objects are consecutively treated in a timely uniform manner. However, this of course does not exclude that the coating process and this series is interrupted from time to time and then resumed. Reasons could be planned/scheduled or also non-planned actions like maintenance, replenishment, or repairs.

In an embodiment, the object is a vehicle body or a vehicle part. The vehicle may include a motor vehicle, such as a car, a van, a minivan, a bus, a SUV (sports utility vehicle), a truck, a semitruck, a tractor, a motorcycle, a trailer, an ATV (all-terrain vehicle), a pickup truck, a heavy duty mover, such as bulldozer, mobile crane and earth mover, an airplanes, boats, ships or other device propelled through space with a motor or engine. The term vehicle includes vehicles propelled by a motor burning fuel for power, and a vehicle propelled by an engine using electricity. The vehicle body may comprise metallic part(s) and/or plastic part(s). Useful metallic substrates include, in principle, substrates comprising or consisting of, for example, iron, aluminum, copper, zinc, magnesium and alloys thereof, and steel in a wide variety of different forms and compositions. Preference is given to iron and steel substrates, for example typical iron and steel substrates as used in the automobile industry. Useful plastic substrates are customary plastics, examples being polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane (PU), glass fiber- reinforced unsaturated polyesters, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyoxymethylene (POM), polyphenylene ethers (PPE), polyphenylene oxide (PPO), polyurea, polybutadiene terephthalate (PBT), polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymers (ABS), and polyolefins such as polypropylene (PP). Also possible here are plastics substrates which comprise various of the plastics stated, in other words mixtures of these plastics. Reference may be made by way of example to polypropylene (PP), modified with ethylene-propylene-diene copolymers (EPDM), (PP/EPDM blends).

In an embodiment, the data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof includes coating process data, location data and/or environmental impact method data. Location data may include data associated with the location of the coating process, such as the location of the production facility performing the coating process. Location data may be used to determine the thermal energy consumption. The thermal energy consumption may depend on the location of the coating process is performed. The thermal energy may be consumed to generate hot water used for climatization of an application cabin in which the material is applied on the surface of the object. The amount of hot water used for climatization may depend on the climate present at the location where the coating process is performed. The thermal energy consumption may hence be related to the climate present at the location of the coating process. Environmental impact method data may include data related to an environmental impact method used to determine the environmental attribute(s). The coating process data may include process step data. The process step data may include process step identifier(s) per process step, production data associated with the production of the coating layer(s), application data associated with the application of the one or more material(s) to the surface(s) of the object and/or material data associated with the one or more material(s). The one or more material(s) may be chemical material(s). The one or more material(s) may be coating material(s) as previously described. The production data may include production data associated with the coating process (e.g. general production data applicable to more than one process step) and production data associated with process step data (e.g. production data associated with a particular process step). The application data may include application data associated with the coating process (e.g. general application data applicable to more than one process step) and application data associated with process step data (e.g. application data associated with a particular process step). The material data may include material data associated with the coating process (e.g. general material data applicable to more than one process step) and material data associated with process step data (e.g. material data associated with a particular process step).

In an embodiment, the data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof signifies a digital representation of the equipment(s), material(s) and condition(s) used within the coating process or the step(s) thereof and the operation(s) performed within the coating process or the step(s) thereof. The data associated with the coating process may hence represent a digital twin of all process step(s) performed within the process. The digital twin may include data associated with equipment(s) used within the process step(s), material(s) used within process step(s), condition(s) used within process step(s) and/or operation(s) performed within process step(s). The digital twin may mirror the process step(s) performed within the physical coating process. The digital twin may allow to mirror the physical coating process in the digital world, hence allowing to determine environmental attribute(s) associated with operation(s) performed in the physical world using the digital twin. In an embodiment, the environmental attribute data includes predefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with the material(s) to be used within the coating process, redefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with energy consumed within the coating process, redefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with thermal energy consumed within the coating process, redefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with waste generated during the coating process and/or redefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with release(s) to air, soil and/or water generated during the coating process. The predefined environmental impact factor(s) may include at least one environmental impact category, in particular wherein the environmental impact category includes a global warming potential, a photochemical ozone creation potential, an acidification potential, an eutrophication potential, a resource depletion and/or a cumulative energy demand. The environmental impact categories may be quantified by the environmental impact attribute(s). The predefined environmental impact factor(s) may include the environmental attribute(s) associated with the production of the input(s) and/or the disposal of generated waste and/or releases. Hence, determination of the environmental attribute(s) associated with the coating process may correspond to a life cycle assessment of the coating process or step(s) thereof.

The global warming potential may be a measure of greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane. These emissions may cause an increase in the absorption of emitted radiation by the earth, and thereby, increase the natural greenhouse effect. This may, in turn, have adverse impacts on ecosystem health, human health, and material welfare. The medium for global warming potential ma be air. Global Warming Potential (GWP) may be used for the calculation of the potency of greenhouse gases relative to CO2 The global warming potential may be quantified as kg CO2 eq. per unit or per defined time period, such as per year.

Photochemical ozone creation potential may be a measure of air emissions that contribute to the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer. Depletion of the ozone may cause higher levels of ultraviolet rays to reach the earth’s surface with detrimental effects on humans and plants. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), (which are used as refrigerants, foam blowing agents and solvents) and halons (which are used as fire extinguishing agents), have been reported to decrease stratospheric ozone level. The ozone creation potential may be quantified as kg ethene eq. per unit or per defined time period.

Emissions such as sulfuric and nitric acids that cause acidifying effects to the environment may result in acidification potential. The acidification potential may be a measure of a molecule’s capacity to increase the hydrogen ion (H⁺) concentration in the presence of water, thus decreasing the pH value. Effects from acidification potential may cause damage to building materials, paints, lakes, streams, rivers, and various plants and animals. The acidification potential may be quantified as kg SO2 eq. per unit or per defined time period.

Eutrophication impact potential may be a measure of the effects of excessively high levels of macronutrients, the most important of which are nitrogen and phosphorus. Although nitrogen and phosphorus play an important role in the fertilization of agricultural lands and other vegetation, excessive releases of either of these substances may provide undesired effects on the environment. Nitrogen is often more detrimental to coastal environments than phosphorus. The eutrophication potential may be quanitified as kg posphate eq. per unit or per defined time period.

Primary exergy demand may be derived from primary energy. Primary energy may be the energy embodied in natural resources before being transformed to intermediate and/or end-use energy. Examples of primary energy resources include coal, natural gas, sunlight, wind, rivers, biomass, geothermal, and nuclear energy resource. For combustible energy sources such as fossil fuels, primary energy may be calculated based on the calorific value of the fuel and the amount of fuel required to generate a given unit of electricity or heat. For non-combustible energy sources (e.g., renewable energy sources), primary energy may be calculated using either primary energy equivalencies or conversion efficiencies of the renewable energy source.

In an embodiment, determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the coating process includes determining for the coating process, in particular per process step of the coating process, - based on the provided data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof and the provided environmental attribute data - the material(s) consumed within the coating process, the electric energy consumed within the coating process, the thermal energy consumed within the coating process, the waste generated by the coating process and/or the release(s) to air, soil and/or water generated by the coating process, determining the environmental impact attribute(s) based on the environmental attribute data and the determined material(s) consumption(s), the electric energy consumption(s), the thermal energy consumption(s), the generation of waste and/or the generation of release(s) to air, soil and/or water.

Determining the environmental impact attribute(s) may include multiplying the predefined environmental impact factor(s) included in the provided environmental impact data with the respective determined material(s) consumption(s), the electric energy consumption(s), the thermal energy consumption(s), the generation of waste and/or the generation of release(s) to air, soil and/or water. For example, the determined material(s) consumption(s) may be multiplied by the predefined environmental impact factor associated with the material(s) used within the coating process. Further for example, the determined electric energy consumption(s) may be multiplied by the predefined environmental impact factor associated with the electric energy consumption. Further for example, the determined thermal energy consumption(s) may be multiplied by the predefined environmental impact factor associated with the thermal energy consumption. Further for example, the determined generated waste(s) may be multiplied by the predefined environmental impact factor associated with the respective waste generated. Further for example, the determined release(s) may be multiplied by the predefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with the respective determined release(s). In an embodiment, the determined environmental impact attribute(s) are associated with consumption of the one or more material(s) during the coating process, consumption of thermal energy during the coating process, consumption of electric energy during the coating process and/or generation of waste and/or release(s) to air, soil and/or water generated during the coating process.

In an embodiment, the determined environmental impact attribute(s) is/are associated with at least one environmental impact category, in particular wherein the determined environmental impact attribute(s) represent(s) quantifiable representation(s) of the respective environmental impact category or categories. The environmental impact attribute(s) may be associated with the quantifiable unit(s) previously mentioned.

In an embodiment, the environmental impact attribute(s) are determined for one or more process step(s) included in the coating process and/or for the coating process. The environmental impact attribute(s) may be determined per process step. The environmental impact attribute(s) may be determined per process step based on the coating process data and the environmental attribute data. This may allow to determine environmental impact attribute(s) for defined process step(s) and/or for the whole process. This may allow to adjust the methods or systems to the respective monitoring and/or determination task, hence avoiding determination of unnecessary data and improving the efficiency of the methods and apparatuses.

In an embodiment, the method further includes a step of aggregating determined environmental impact attribute(s) into environmental impact classification(s) using a rule-based engine including one or more aggregation rule(s), and optionally providing the environmental impact classification(s). The one or more aggregation rule(s) may include environmental impact classification(s) and associated environmental impact attribute(s). Use of environmental impact classification(s) allows to reduce the complexity associated with the evaluation of the determined environmental impact attribute(s) by significantly reducing the number of data point(s) to be evaluated. This allows to more efficiently and reliably compare different process step(s) and/or coating processes in terms of their environmental impact. The environmental impact attribute(s) may be aggregated per process step to determine environmental impact classification(s) associated with particular process step(s). The environmental attribute(s) may be aggregated per coating process to determine environmental impact classification(s) associated with the coating process. The environmental impact classification(s) may be associated with a consumption of the one or more material(s), a consumption of thermal energy, a consumption of electric energy and/or generation of waste and/or releases. Hence, the environmental impact classification(s) may be associated with input(s) and/or output(s) of the process step(s) and/or the coating process.

In an embodiment, the method further includes measuring and/or determining at least one property associated with equipment used within the process step(s) and/or the one or more material(s) used within the process step(s) and/or conditions present within the process step(s) and comparing the measured and/or determined at least one property to provided data associated with the coating process. The property may be measured and/or determined by one or more sensor device(s) configured to measure such property and/or to determine data which may be used to determine such property. The property may include a chemical and/or physical property. The sensor device may include loT device(s) attached to the equipment and/or material(s) used within the process step(s).

In an embodiment, the digital asset uniquely specifies one or more material(s) with the combination of the material identifier(s) and the one or more environmental impact attribute(s). The digital asset may allow to provide environmental attribute(s) associated with such material(s) digitally while the material(s) may be provided physically. The environmental attribute(s) associated with such material(s) may be used to determine the environmental attribute(s) associated with the production of a coated vehicle, such as a finished automotive.

In an embodiment of the method for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, the target environmental impact data includes target environmental impact attribute(s) associated with one or more input(s) and/or one or more output(s), target coating process data, location data associated with a target location of a paint unit performing the coating process, target environmental impact method data associated with a target environmental impact method and/or one or more distance or deviation value(s) associated with a distance or deviation of the optimized candidate data to at least a part of the target environmental impact data. The target environmental data may hence include constraint(s) to be used for the optimization of environmental impact data. This may allow to ensure that the environmental attribute(s) are optimized in line with the physical setup of the coating process for which the environmental attribute(s) are to be optimized.

In an embodiment of the method for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, the candidate data associated with one or more candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof includes candidate coating process data, candidate location data and/or candidate environmental impact method data. The candidate coating process data may include candidate process step data. The candidate process step data may include candidate process step identifier(s) per process step, candidate production data associated with the production of a candidate coating layer, candidate application data associated with the application of the one or more candidate material(s) to the surface(s) of the object and/or material data associated with the one or more candidate material(s). The candidate production data may include candidate production data associated with the candidate coating process and candidate production data associated with candidate process step data. The candidate application data may include application data associated with the candidate coating process and candidate application data associated with candidate process step data. The candidate material data may include candidate material data associated with the candidate coating process and candidate material data associated with candidate process step data.

In an embodiment of the method for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, the candidate data associated with the candidate coating process or the step(s) thereof signifies a digital representation of the equipment(s), material(s) and condition(s) used within the candidate coating process or the step(s) thereof and the operation(s) performed within the candidate coating process or the step(s) thereof. Use of such digital representation(s) or digital twin(s) may allow to ensure that the candidate data associated with the coating process or step(s) thereof sufficiently represent physical coating processes or step(s) thereof, allowing to optimize the environmental attribute(s) in line with the layout of the physical form of the coating process or the step(s) thereof.

In an embodiment of the method for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, the candidate environmental attribute data includes predefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with the candidate material(s) to be used within the candidate coating process(es), energy to be consumed within the candidate coating process(es), thermal energy to be consumed within the candidate coating process(es), waste generated during the candidate coating process(es) and/or release to air, soil and/or water generated during the candidate coating process(es).

In an embodiment of the method for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, optimizing the provided candidate data includes determining candidate environmental impact attribute(s) associated with candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof and minimizing at least one determined candidate environmental impact attribute. Optimizing the the provided candidate data may include

• determining candidate environmental impact attribute(s) for one or more candidate process step(s) of candidate coating process(es) based on the provided target environmental impact data and the provided candidate environmental attribute data,

• minimizing the determined candidate environmental impact data by adapting the provided candidate data associated with one or more candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof, determining adapted environmental impact attribute(s) for the adapted candidate data and comparing the adapted environmental impact attribute(s) to the provided target environmental attribute data.

Adapting the provided candidate data associated with one or more candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof may be performed by a numerical method configured to adapt such provided candidate data by minimizing a given cost function starting from such provided candidate data. Minimizing the candidate environmental impact data may include recursively adapting the candidate data associated with one or more candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof to obtain adapted environmental impact attribute(s) and comparing the recursively obtained environmental impact attribute(s) to the provided target environmental impact data until the cost function falls below a given threshold or until the number of iterations reaches a predefined limit.

In an embodiment of the method for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, the method further includes a step of generating control data configured to control the coating process based on the optimized candidate data. The control data may be used to control a coating process such that the optimized environmental attribute(s) included in the optimized candidate data are fulfilled. The control data may be provided via a communication interface to a control unit controlling the coating process or a part thereof. By generating control data using the optimized candidate data, the coating process may be controlled according to the optimized candidate data, hence allowing to ensure that the optimized environmental impact attribute(s) included in the optimized candidate data are fulfilled by the coating process or step(s) thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, the present disclosure is further described with reference to the enclosed figures. The same reference numbers in the drawings and this disclosure are intended to refer to the same or like elements, components, and/or parts.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example block diagram of an automotive manufacturing plant.

FIG. 2 illustrates schematically a perspective sectional view of a part of a produced coated object comprising a plurality of coating layers in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3A illustrates a block diagram of an example of a conventional process for producing a coated object in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3B illustrates a block diagram of a first example of an integrated process for producing a coated object in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3C illustrates a bock diagram of a second example of an integrated process for producing a coated object in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates environmental impact categories associated with selected steps of a process for producing a coated object in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates different contributions used to determine environmental impact categories associated with the basecoat application illustrated in FIG. 4 in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a system for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of various modules used by the system of FIG. 6 to monitor and/or evaluate and/or determine environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates determination of various environmental impact attribute(s) by a basecoat/CP2 application module illustrated in FIG. 7 based on provided input data in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an example of calculations performed by the basecoat/CP2 application module illustrated in FIG. 7 to determine environmental impact attribute(s) in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an example of calculating the consumed coating material amount described in the context of FIG. 9 in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates a flow chart of a further example method for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 illustrates schematically an example of a method or apparatus for providing environmental attributes associated with chemical material(s) to a data consumer (e.g. a customer) via a decentral network in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an example system for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an example block diagram of a vehicle manufacturing plant. The vehicle manufacturing plant 136 may be used to manufacture vehicles. The vehicles may include any vehicles propelled by a combustion engine and/or an electric engine. The vehicles may include land vehicles. The vehicles may include ships and/or boats. The vehicles may include air vehicles. The vehicles may include automotives.

The vehicles may include cars.

The vehicle manufacturing plant 136 may manufacture the vehicles from one or more input materials. The input materials may be discrete input materials, such as brake system, steering, suspension. The input materials may be chemical products, such as coating material(s). The coating materials may be used to produce one or more coating layers on the surface of the vehicle and/or the vehicle body. The coating material(s) may be used to produce one or more coating layer(s) on discrete vehicle part(s), such as bumper, doors, hood, etc.

The vehicle manufacturing plant 136 may be operated by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), such as a vehicle producer. The input materials may be produced by upstream participants of the vehicle producer and may be supplied by such upstream participants to the vehicle manufacturing plant 136. The vehicle manufacturing plant 136 may include the units (or stations or steps) illustrated in FIG. 1. The vehicle manufacturing plant 136may include more or less units than illustrated in FIG. 1.

The vehicle manufacturing plant 136 may include a press unit 124. Within press unit 124 various pressing processes, such as sheet-metal manufacturing processes may be performed to produce different vehicle parts. The input material, such as steel coils, may be gradually transformed via several pressing and/or stamping steps into various body parts, such as hood, fender, roof, etc..

The vehicle manufacturing plant 136 may further include a body assembly 126. Within the body assembly 126 provided input materials, such as various metal parts, are assembled into a vehicle body, which may be referred to as body-in-white (BIW). The process may involve the assembly of various components by different welding operations, such as metal treating, casting, forming, joining, etc.. The body assembly 126 may consist of a plurality of sub-assembly lines. Input materials to the body assembly 126 may include steel and aluminium parts, plastic parts and/or reinforced plastic parts, such as plastic parts reinforced with carbon and/or glass fibers. Depending on the assembly process, assembly can be done both manually and automatically with robots. Conveyors may be used to move the assembled bodies along the welding stations. The assembled BIW structure may then be transferred to paint unit 128 described later on.

Vehicle manufacturing plant 136 may further include transmission assembly 106. Within transmission assembly 106, gearboxes may be assembled from various transmission parts 102. The transmission parts 102 may represent input material received from various suppliers producing such transmission parts 102.

Vehicle manufacturing plant 136 may further include engine assembly 108. Within engine assembly 108, engine(s) may be assembled from various engine parts 104. Engines may include combustion engines. Engines may include electric engines. The engine parts 104 may represent input material received from various suppliers producing such engine parts 104. Vehicle manufacturing plant 136 may further include powertrain assembly 110. The powertrain may include all components, such as engine, transmission, differential, etc., involved in converting engine power into motion. In the powertrain assembly 110, engine and gearboxes produced by transmission assembly 106 and engine assembly 108 may be assembled to form the powertrain. Assembly of the powertrain may involve metal casting, treatment, forming and forging. Assembly may involve casting, machining, cutting and tooling operations.

Vehicle manufacturing plant 136 may further include chassis assembly 112. Within chassis assembly 112, the powertrain assembled in powertrain assembly 110 and other parts, such as wheels 140, brake system 116, exhaust system 114, steering and suspension 118, fuel tank 120, etc., may be mounted on a steel frame through a pressing process. This frame, called chassis, forms the basis of the vehicle, providing stability to the drive.

Vehicle manufacturing plant 136 may further include paint unit 128. Within the paint unit 128, at least one coating layer may be applied to the BIW and components produced within press unit 124, such as hood, doors, etc.. Coating of the BIW and other components may allow to achieve protection of the BIW and such components against environmental influences which may result in corrosion. Coating of the BIW and other components may further allow to achieve a visually pleasant appearance. Coating of the BIW and other components within paint unit 128 may be performed according to a process as illustrated in FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C.

The painted vehicle body may be transported from the paint unit 128 to the final assembly 122, for example by using conveyors. The final assembly 122 may be the last production step where the painted vehicle body is mounted with all the assembled sub-components. Assembled sub-components may include the chassis produced within chassis assembly 112 and interior and exterior components 132. Assembled sub-components may further include a battery pack 138. The final assembly processes may include highly automated and/or manual steps. Fluids, such as coolant and brake fluid, may be added to the vehicle within final assembly 122. At the end of chassis assembly 112, vehicle inspection and testing are performed to ensure that the produced vehicle fulfils required specifications. If the produced vehicle passes inspection and testing, it may be transported to a sales location or may be picked up by the customer. If the produced vehicle does not pass inspection and/or testing, detected failures may be repaired within a repair shop (not illustrated in FIG. 1).

FIG. 2 illustrates schematically a perspective sectional view of a part of a coated object comprising a plurality of coating layers and being produced by a coating process in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The object may be a physical entity of a vehicle or a part thereof. The vehicle may be a vehicle as described in the context of FIG. 1 . The object may be produced by the manufacturing process described in the context of FIG. 1 . The object 204 may include a substrate 206 and coating 234. Coating 234 may include one or more coating layers, such as an electrocoat layer 208, primer layer 210, a pigmented coating layer 214, and clearcoat layer 216. Coating 234 may be associated with a layer thickness 228. The layer thickness may correspond to the sum of the layer thicknesses of the single coating layers constituting coating 234.

Any of the electrocoat layer 208, primer layer 210, pigmented coating layer 214, or clearcoat layer 216 may be applied in one, two, or more layers, each. For example, if the clearcoat layer 216 is applied in two layers, the combined two layers may be considered the clearcoat layer 216. Other optional coating layers may also be present in some embodiments, such as a sealer, surfacer, adhesion promotor, midcoat, etc. The substrate 206 may be associated with a substrate material, a substrate thickness 232, and/or a shape. The substrate material may be a polymeric material, a reinforced polymeric material, a metallic substrate, a substrate including polymeric parts and metal parts, a substrate including reinforced polymeric parts and metal parts or a substrate including metal parts, polymeric parts and reinforced polymer parts. The polymeric material may be selected from polycarbonate, blends of polycarbonate and polybutylene terephthalate, elastomer-modified polypropylene, blends of polypropylene and ethylene- propylene-diene rubber, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer, blends of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer with polycarbonate, acryl ester styrene acrylonitrile copolymer, polyamide and blends thereof, polyurethanes, blends of polycarbonate and polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polystyrene, styrene copolymers, polyesters, polyphenylene oxides and blends of these plastics, polyolefin substrates of the polyethylene and polypropylene type with a high rubber content, such as PP-EPDM, and surface-activated polyolefin substrates. The reinforced polymeric material may be a polymeric material including fibers, such as carbon fibers and/or glass fibers and/or metal fibers. The polymeric material of the reinforced polymeric material may include the aforementioned polymeric material(s). The metallic substrate may be selected from iron, aluminum, copper, zinc, magnesium and alloys thereof as well as steel.

Object 204 may be producible by applying one or more coating materials, such as electrocoat material, primer coating material, pigmented coating material and clearcoat material successively to the substrate 206. Object 204 may be producible or produced by applying one or more of such coating materials to the substrate 206 using a process as described in FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B or FIG. 3C. After application, each coating material may be dried and/or cured to form the respective coating layer. At least part of the applied coating materials may be jointly cured to form the respective coating layers, for example as illustrated in FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C.

The electrocoat layer 208, the primer layer 210 and the clearcoat layer 216 may each be associated with a layer thickness 218, 226, 230. The layer thickness may correspond to the dry layer thickness of the respective coating layer, e.g. the layer thickness of the respective coating layer after drying and/or curing.

The pigmented coating layer 214 may include at least one pigment 212. The pigment may be selected from color pigments and/or effect pigments. Examples of color pigments include inorganic and organic color pigments. Inorganic color pigments include natural and synthetically produced pigments based on inorganic compounds and includes white pigments, inorganic colored pigments and black pigments. Organic color pigments are practically insoluble in the application medium and may include azo pigments and polycyclic pigments, i.e. organic non-azo pigments characterized by at least one aromatic and/or heteroaromatic ring system. Examples of effect pigments include luster pigments, such as metal effect pigments, pearlescent pigments and interference pigments, flaky graphene, flaky iron oxide and micronized titanium dioxide.

. The pigmented coating layer 214 may be producible from a pigmented coating material. The pigmented coating material may comprise the at least one color pigment and/or effect pigment. The pigmented coating material may further comprise at least one binder and at least one solvent. The solvent may be organic solvent(s) and/or water. The pigmented coating material may further comprise at least one crosslinking agent which may react with functional groups present in the binder(s). The pigmented coating material may be liquid under application conditions, e.g. during application to the substrate 206 or coated substrate. The pigmented coating material may be solid under application conditions. The pigmented coating material may be prepared by mixing one or more color pigment formulation(s) and/or one or more effect pigment formulation(s) with a pigment free formulation. The pigment formulation(s) may include one or more color or effect pigment(s) and a binder. The pigment formulation(s) may further inlcude a solvent. The pigment free formulation may contain a binder, solvent(s), a rheology modifier and optionally a crosslinking agent. The rheology modifier may include an inorganic and/or organic thickening agent. The crosslinking component may include at least one crosslinking agent.

FIG. 3A illustrates a block diagram of an example of a conventional process for producing a coated object in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The conventional process may be performed within paint unit 128 illustrated in FIG. 1. The conventional process may result in an object comprising a multi-layer coating. The coating produced by the conventional process may comprise one or more coating layers. The object may be a vehicle body, which may be referred to as body-in-white (BIW), such as a vehicle body produced in body assembly 126 of FIG. 1 . The conventional process may be performed within paint unit 128 illustrated in FIG. 1. The object may be a component of the vehicle, such as a door, a fender, etc. The conventional process may be performed in series, e.g. objects may be supplied in series to paint unit 128 and may be consecutively treated within each process step included in the paint unit 128.

In pretreatment 302, the object may be cleaned and degreased in a dipping tank comprising a cleaning solution. The cleaning solution may be heated to 60° C. Pretreatment 302 may remove materials present on the object, such as grease from the presses, metal chips and other contaminants from the process performed in body assembly 126. Afterwards, the cleaned object may be subjected to a phosphating process. In the phosphating process, a phosphate coating material, such as a zinc phosphate coating material, an iron phosphate coating material, or a conversion coating material, such as zirconium-based conversion coating materials, may be applied to the object. The pretreatment may ensure adhesion for the subsequent electrocoating. The phosphating process may be performed by dipping the object into one or more tanks comprising the phosphate or conversion coating material.

In the electrocoating 306, the pretreated object may be subjected to an electrocoating process. The electrocoating may be performed by dipping the object into a tank comprising an electrocoating composition. The electrocoating composition may consist of deionized water and paint solids. The deionized water may act as the carrier for the paint solids, which is under constant agitation. The paint solids may include a resin and pigment. The tank may contain electrodes, which carry an electric charge that is the same as the paint particles and opposite of the metal object parts being coated. When voltage is applied, paint is driven away from the electrodes and to the part where it is electrodeposited to the surface of the object. The amount of voltage applied may be used to regulate and control the paint film build on the object. The non-deposited coating material (e.g. the electrocoating material not bound to the surface of the object) may be removed from the object by one or more rinsing stages. The rinsing water may be collected and may be used to return dragged out electrocoating material to the electrocoating bath to improve application transfer efficiency.

After exiting the post rinses, the electrocoated object may enter the e-coat oven 308. Within the oven, the applied electrocoating material may be cured to form a hard and durable coating film. Curing may be achieved by crosslinking reactions proceeding within the applied electrocoating material at elevated temperatures. Curing may be performed at 100 to 200°C. Curing may be performed for a duration of 10 to 30 minutes.

After curing of the electrocoat, sealer application 310 may follow. The sealant may be applied around and inside the doors, hood, trunk, and front dash, and onto the exterior and interior of metal joints and outer area of the back wheel well. Application of the sealant may be performed either manually or with robots and may prevent air and water ingress and inhibits rust formation. Suitable sealants may include PVC and acryl/urethane sealants. The applied sealants may be cured in sealer oven 312.

A primer may be applied in primer application 314. The primer coating material may be water-borne, solvent-borne, or a powder. The primer may improve adhesion between the electrocoat and the overlying coating layer(s), provide chipping protection and enhance paint appearance. The primer may be used to fill and smooth minor imperfections and scratches that may be created during prior steps. The primer layer may be important for stone chip resistance. At the same time, good adhesion of the overlying coating layers to the primer surfacer is required to ensure minimal detraction from the visual appearance if chipping has occurred. The primer may include color pigments that are compatible with the overlying coating layers to mask damage to the overlying coating layers caused by stone chipping.

The primer coating material may be applied to at least a part of the surfaces of the object. Surfaces may include interior and the exterior surfaces. Following the application of the primer coating material, the applied primer coating material may be cured in primer oven 316. The curing may be performed at 100 to 160 °C. The curing may be performed for 20 to 40 min. After the primer oven 316, the cured primer may be sanded and/or polished (sand/polish 318).

A topcoat may be applied on the primer. The topcoat may include at least a colored coating layer and a transparent clearcoat layer. The basecoat material may contain a primary coloring pigment. Pigments may include any colored, black, white, or fluorescent particulate solid. Effect pigments may include aluminum flakes, micas, and other types of light interference agents. The basecoat material may be applied in basecoat application 320. The basecoat material may be applied by application robots. The basecoat may be applied in one or more layers. The applied basecoat layer(s) may be flashed off in basecoat flash off 322. Flash off may result in removing at least a part of the solvents present within the basecoat layers. Flash off may, however, not result in a final solid coating layer, e.g. the coating layer obtained after flash off may still be sticky and not service ready. Flash off may be performed at elevated temperatures. Flash off may be performed for shorter times than curing to avoid the occurrence of curing reactions during flash off.

A clearcoat material may be applied in clearcoat application 324. The clearcoat material may be transparent (e.g. may not contain any pigments or may only contain transparent pigments) or semitransparent (e.g. may contain pigments in a concentration which do not fully hide the underlying basecoat layer). The layer produced from the clearcoat material may provide a protective coating against environmental effects, corrosion, and UV light degradation, promote unmatched color retention, and provide a smooth, unblemished, and even finish. Clearcoat materials applied in clearcoat application 324 may include solid (e.g. powder) or liquid (e.g. waterborne or solventborne) clearcoat materials. Clearcoat materials may include 1 K materials (e.g. materials not prepared by mixing 2 separate components) and 2K materials (e.g. materials prepared from mixing a binder component with a hardener component). 1 K materials may include acrylic melamine clearcoats typically based on a combination of acrylic polyols (Ac) and amino cross-linking agents (MF, melamine resins) and 1 K poylurethane clearcoats. 2K materials include 2K polyurethane clearcoats and 2K epoxy acid clearcoats.

The applied basecoat and clearcoat layers may be jointly cured in step 326. Curing may be performed at 100 to 200 °C. Curing may be performed for 10 to 40 minutes.

After curing, the obtained coated object, such as the coated vehicle body, may be subjected to inspection 328. In inspection, the optical properties of the produced coating may be evaluated. The optical properties may be visually evaluated. The optical properties may be evaluated by determining surface property data and comparing the determined surface property data, such as L*a*b* values or L*C*H* values, to given (e.g. predefined) surface property data. This may ensure that the produced coating fulfils predefined optical properties, such as a predefined color. The optical properties may be evaluated visually and by determining color data. If the inspection fails, the coated vehicle may either be subjected to spot repair 330, for example if only a part of the coating does not fulfil the required specifications. If inspection fails, the coated vehicle may be subjected to a further basecoat-clearcoat coating, for example if large coating surfaces do not match the required specifications. If inspection is passed, the vehicle unit may be provided to final assembly 122.

FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C illustrate block diagrams of examples of an integrated process for producing a coated object in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The integrated process may result in an object comprising a multi-layer coating. The multi-layer coating produced by the integrated process may comprise multiple coating layers. The object may be a vehicle body, which may be referred to as body-in-white (BIW), such as a vehicle body produced in body assembly 126 of FIG. 1 . The object may be a component of the vehicle, such as a door, a fender, etc. The integrated proceses of FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C may be performed within paint unit 128 illustrated in FIG. 1. The integrated processes may be performed in series, e.g. objects may be supplied in series to paint unit 128 and may be consecutively treated within each process step included in the paint unit 128.

In contrast to the conventional process illustrated in FIG. 3A, the integrated process illustrated in FIG. 3B lacks the primer application and curing and may instead use a further basecoat application (e.g. basecoat application 1 332) and flash-off step (e.g. basecoat flash off 322). The second basecoat material and the clearcoat material may hence be applied wet-in-wet, e.g. without curing of the previously applied coating material. The integrated process illustrated in FIG. 3B may be associated with a reduced energy consumption due to omitting the primer oven associated with a high energy consumption required to achieve the curing temperatures within the oven.

In contrast to the conventional process illustrated in FIG. 3A, the integrated process illustrated in FIG. 3C may include a primer application 314, but may omit the curing of the applied primer material and the flash-off of the applied basecoat material. Hence, the primer material, basecoat material and clearcoat material may be applied wet-in-wet-in-wet to reduce the energy consumption associated with the flash- off and curing. The integrated processes illustrated in FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C required the use of specifically designed coating materials which allow wet-in-wet applications without negatively influencing the achieved optical and mechanical properties of the resulting coating, for example by undesired mixing effects occurring during application of a wet coating material to a wet coating layer.

FIG. 4 illustrates environmental impact classifications associated with selected steps of a process for producing a coated object (e.g. a coating process) in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The coating process may include a conventional process or an integrated process. The conventional process may include one or more process steps, such as the process steps illustrated in FIG. 3A. The integrated process may include one or more process steps, such as the process steps illustrated in FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C. One or more process steps of the coating process may be associated with environmental impact classifications. The environmental impact classifications may represent environmental impacts to which environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the respective process step may be assigned. The environmental impact classification may represent the sum of environmental impact attribute(s) associated with such environmental impact classification. The environmental impact attribute may indicate or may be associated with an environmental impact associated with energy inputs and material inputs to the respective process step as well as waste and releases to air, water and/or soil produced by the respective process step. The environmental impact attribute may be determined from the consumption of materials within the respective process step, the consumption of energy within the respective process step and/or the generation of waste and releases to air, water and/or soil within the respective process step. The environmental impact attribute may include one or more characteristic(s) that are attributable to environmental impact of the energy inputs and material inputs to the respective process step as well as waste and releases to air, water and/or soil produced by the respective process step. The environmental impact attribute may include environmental, technical or circularity characteristics(s) associated with the environmental impact of the energy inputs and material inputs to the respective process step as well as waste and releases to air, water and/or soil produced by the respective process step.

The environmental impact attribute(s) may be associated with environmental impact categories. Likewise, the environmental impact classification(s) may be related to environmental impact categories associated with environmental impact attribute(s) included in such environmental impact classification. The environmental impact attribute(s) may represent quantifiable representation(s) of the respective environmental impact categories. Environmental impact categories may characterize different types of environmental impacts associated with the energy inputs and material inputs to the respective process step as well as waste and releases to air, water and/or soil produced by the respective process step. The environmental impact categories may include the global warming potential (quantified by kg CO2 eq. /year or coated object), the photochemical ozone creation potential (quantified by kg. ethene eq, /year or coated object), the acidification potential (quantified by kg SO2 eq. /year or coated object), the eutrophication potential (quantified by kg phosphate eq./year or coated object), the resource depletion (quantified by the consumption of fossil fuels) and/or the cumulative energy demand (quantified by the primary energy usage throughout the respective process step).

At least a part of the process steps of the coating process may be associated with environmental impact classification(s). Each process step of the coating process may be associated with such environmental impact classification(s). The environmental impact classification(s) may be identical for the one or more process step(s). The environmental impact classification(s) may be identical for each process step included in the coating process. The environmental impact classification(s) may be related to material consumption, energy consumption, waste generation and releases to air, water and/or soil. The environmental impact classification(s) may allow to evaluate and/or monitor the environmental impact of each process step. The environmental impact classification(s) may be related to the environmental impact associated with the respective process step. The environmental impact classification may include environmental impact attribute(s) related to or being associated with such classification. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, at least a part of the process steps (e.g. pretreatment 302, basecoat application 320, curing 326) of the integrated process illustrated in FIG. 3B are associated with similar environmental impact classifications. The environmental impact classifications may include waste generation & releases 404, 412, 420, material consumption 406, 414, 422, thermal energy consumption 408, 416, 426 and electric energy consumption 410, 418, 426. The environmental impact classifications may be associated with material and energy consumed by a process step as well as with waste and releases generated by such process step. The environmental impact classifications may include environmental impact attribute(s) related to such classifications.

The environmental impact attribute(s) included in such environmental impact classifications may depend on the materials, operations and equipment used within the respective process step. With reference to FIG. 5, environmental impact attribute(s) which may be included in the environmental impact classifications associated with a process step of the coating process, such as basecoat application 320, are illustrated. Environmental impact classification “waste generation & releases 412” may include environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the generation of waste basecoat material 506, e.g. coating material waste that is generated due to the coating material transfer efficiency not being 100%. The amount of waste basecoat material may be determined from the amount of overspray and from the amount of waste basecoat material produced from rinsing application equipment, such as application robots. The environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the generation of waste basecoat material may be associated with different environmental impact categories as listed above.

Such impact classification 412 may further include an environmental impact attribute associated with VOC emissions 510 resulting from the use of the basecoat material. The VOC emissions may be generated upon drying and/or curing of the applied basecoat material. The VOC emissions may be resulting from the use of organic solvent(s) and/or other volatile components present within the basecoat material which are released to the environment upon flash-off and/or curing of the applied basecoat material. The environmental impact attribute(s) associated with VOC emissions 510 may be associated with different environmental impact categories as listed above. Such impact classification 412 may further include an environmental impact attribute associated with generated waste water 526. The waste water may be generated during removal of basecoat material overspray, e.g. basecoat material which is not deposited on the object. Such overspray may be removed by wet scrubbers which continuously circulate chemically treated water. The mixture of over-sprayed basecoat material and chemical water may be flushed into a pan, recovered, handled, and disposed of as paint sludge. The environmental impact attribute(s) associated with generated waste water may be associated with different environmental impact categories as listed above. Such impact classification 412 may further include environmental impact attribute(s) associated with produced cardboard waste 508. Such waste may be generated by the use of dry overspray-removal systems using replaceable cardboards as filters to filter out the oversprayed basecoat material. The environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the generation of cardboard waste may be associated with different environmental impact categories as listed above. Environmental impact classification “material consumption 414” may include environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the consumption of all material(s) used within the respective process step e.g. the basecoat application 320. The materials consumed within the basecoat application 320 step may include consumed basecoat material 512, consumed rinsing material 514, consumed scrubber material 516 and consumed water 518. The material consumption may be determined, for example, as described in the context of FIG. 10. Each consumed material may be associated with environmental impact attribute(s). The environmental impact attribute(s) may in turn be associated with environmental impact categories previously described.

Environmental impact classification “thermal energy consumption 416” may include environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the consumption of thermal energy. Thermal energy may be consumed for generation of hot water. Hot water may be used for heating fresh air to be supplied to the basecoat material application cabin. Thermal energy may be consumed for exhaust air purification. Exhaust air may be purified by thermal oxidation, for example to remove VOCs present within the exhaust air. The environmental impact attribute(s) may be associated with environmental impact categories previously described.

Environmental impact classification “electric energy consumption 418” may include environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the consumption of electric energy. Electric energy may be consumed by electric machines, such as robots, conveyors, machines generating pressurized air, ventilators, cooling and energy recovery systems. The environmental impact attribute(s) may be associated with environmental impact categories previously described.

Use of such environmental impact classification(s) allows to provide a reduced dimension of indicators indicating the environmental impact associated with the respective process step and hence also the environmental impact associated with the respective coating process. The reduced dimension may allow to more efficiently monitor and/or evaluate the environmental impact associated with the coating process by having to consider less variables. However, a reliable monitoring and/or evaluating can still be ensured since the classification(s) reflect the environmental impact attribute(s) bundled in such classification. In addition, the reduced dimension allows to more efficiently compare different coating processes with respect to their environmental impact.

FIG. 6 illustrates a system for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The coating may include one or more coating layer(s). The coating layer(s) may be produced by applying one or more coating material(s) to the surface of the object. The coating may be produced by a coating process involving the production of one or more coating layers on at least a part of the surface of the object. The coating process may be performed within paint unit 128 of a vehicle manufacturing plant 136. The coating process may include one or more steps, such as illustrated in FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B or FIG. 3C. Each step may be involved with the application and/or drying and/or curing of coating material(s). The coating process may be performed in series, e.g. objects may be supplied in series to paint unit 128 and may be consecutively treated within each process step included in the paint unit 128. The object may be a vehicle body. The object may be a vehicle part, such as a door, a hood, etc.. The system may be used to implement the methods illustrated in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12. Environmental impact attribute(s) may include environmental impact attribute(s) described in the context of FIG. 5, FIG. 9 and FIG. 10.

The system may include a computing unit 602. The computing unit 602 may be a mobile device (e.g. a smartphone, tablet, computer, etc.) or a stationary device (e.g. desktop computer). Computing unit 602 may include at least one processor 604 and a memory 616. Processor 604 and memory 616 may be coupled to a local interface. The local interface may comprise, for example, a data bus with an accompanying address/control bus or other bus structure as can be appreciated.

Computing unit 602 may include one or more network interfaces. The network interfaces may comprise, for example, a wireless transmitter, a wireless transceiver, and a wireless receiver. The network interfaces may include interfaces to hardware devices, such as printer 608, display 606 or input devices 610, 612. The hardware devices may be connected via such interfaces to the computing unit 602.

Memory 606 may store data and several components, such as environmental impact assessment application 618, that are executable by the processor 604. In this respect, the term "executable" means a program file that is in a form that can ultimately be run by the processor 604. Examples of executable programs may be, for example, a compiled program that can be translated into machine code in a format that can be loaded into a random access portion of the memory 606 and run by the processor 604, source code that may be expressed in proper format such as object code that is capable of being loaded into a random access portion of the memory 606 and executed by the processor 604, or source code that may be interpreted by another executable program to generate instructions in a random access portion of the memory 606 to be executed by the processor 604, etc. An executable program may be stored in any portion or component of the memory 606 including, for example, random access memory (RAM), readonly memory (ROM), hard drive, solid-state drive, USB flash drive, memory card, optical disc such as compact disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, magnetic tape, or other memory components. In particular, stored in the memory 606 and executable by the processor 604 are programs or applications implementing the methods illustrated in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12. The programs or applications, such as environmental impact assessment application 618, may be implemented by any one of a number of programming languages, for example, C, C++, C#, Objective C, Java®, JavaScript®, Perl, PHP, Visual Basic®, Python®, Ruby, Flash®, or other programming languages. Also stored in the memory 606 may be a data store and other data. In addition, an operating system may be stored in the memory 606 and executable by the processor 604.

Environmental impact assessment application 618 may be configured to determine the environmental impact associated with the coating process. Environmental impact assessment application 618 may be configured to determine the environmental impact associated with one or more process step(s) included in the coating process. Environmental impact assessment application 618 may be configured to determine environmental impact attribute(s) associated with respective process step(s). Environmental impact assessment application 618 may be configured to determine environmental impact attribute(s) associated with energy inputs and material inputs to the respective process step as well as waste and releases to air, water and/or soil produced by the respective process step(s). Environmental impact assessment application 618 may be configured to classify environmental impact attribute(s) according to predefined environmental impact classification(s). Environmental impact assessment application 618 may be configured to determine environmental impact attribute(s) using input data. The input data may include the data described in the context of FIG. 8 to FIG. 11. For instance, the input data may include environmental attribute data stored in database 614 as described later on. The input data may further include production data, material data, location data and/or application data, for example das described in the context of FIG. 8 to FIG. 11 .

With reference to FIG. 7, environmental impact assessment application 618 may include one or more module(s). A module may be related to a process step performed within the coating process. For instance, module(s) may be related to a process step of the coating process illustrated in FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B or FIG. 3C. A process step may be related to one or more module(s), for example if a process step can be performed using different methods. For instance, the UV curing step may be related to clearcoat oven module 724 and a clearcoat UV curing module 734. This may allow to mirror different variations that may be used for one process step, hence allowing to mirror different process designs with the modules provided by environmental impact assessment application 618 Environmental impact assessment application 618 may include modules 702 to 730. Such modules may correspond to the process steps illustrated in FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B or FIG. 3C. Each module may be configured to determine environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the respective process step. Each module may be configured to assign the determined environmental impact attribute(s) to an environmental impact classification. Environmental impact assessment application 618 may be configured to used one or more of such module(s) to determine environmental impact attribute(s) and/or environmental impact classification(s). Environmental impact assessment application 618 may be configured to determine the required module(s) according to a provided digital representation of the particular coating process. Required module(s) may include module(s) matching one or more process step(s) included in the provided digital representation. Combination of such modules provided by environmental impact assessment application 618 allows to flexibly mirror the process steps performed within the respective coating process. This may allow to adapt environmental impact assessment application 618 and the determination of environmental impact attributes by said environmental impact assessment application 618 to the layout of the respective coating process, hence allowing the use of a single environmental impact assessment application 618 for various coating processes involving different process steps. In addition, this allows to determine environmental attribute(s) not only for the complete coating process, but also for particular process step(s). This may allow to use the methods disclosed herein to determine and/or optimize environmental impact attribute(s) associated with particular process step(s).

The memory 606 may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory and data storage components. Volatile components are those that do not retain data values upon loss of power. Nonvolatile components are those that retain data upon a loss of power. Thus, the memory 606 may comprise, for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard disk drives, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, memory cards accessed via a memory card reader, floppy disks accessed via an associated floppy disk drive, optical discs accessed via an optical disc drive, magnetic tapes accessed via an appropriate tape drive, and/or other memory components, or a combination of any two or more of these memory components. In addition, the RAM may comprise, for example, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM) and other such devices. The ROM may comprise, for example, a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or other like memory device.

Processor 604 may represent multiple processors 604 and/or multiple processor cores and the memory 606 may represent multiple memories 606 that operate in parallel processing circuits, respectively. In such a case, the local interface may be an appropriate network that facilitates communication between any two of the multiple processors 604, between any processor 604 and any of the memories 606, or between any two of the memories 606, etc. The local interface may comprise additional systems designed to coordinate this communication, including, for example, performing load balancing. The processor 604 may be of electrical or of some other available construction.

Although the methods disclosed in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, and other various systems described herein may be embodied in software or code executed by general purpose hardware as discussed above, as an alternative the same may also be embodied in dedicated hardware or a combination of software/general purpose hardware and dedicated hardware. If embodied in dedicated hardware, each may be implemented as a circuit or state machine that employs any one of or a combination of a number of technologies. These technologies may include, but are not limited to, discrete logic circuits having logic gates for implementing various logic functions upon an application of one or more data signals, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) having appropriate logic gates, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other components, etc. Such technologies are generally well known by those skilled in the art and, consequently, are not described in detail herein.

Any logic or application described herein that comprises software or code may be embodied in any non- transitory computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system such as, for example, a processor 604 in a computer system or other system. In this sense, the logic may comprise, for example, statements including instructions and declarations that can be fetched from the computer-readable medium and executed by the instruction execution system. In the context of the present disclosure, a "computer-readable medium" can be any medium that can contain, store, or maintain the logic or application described herein for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system.

The computer-readable medium may comprise any one of many physical media such as, for example, magnetic, optical, or semiconductor media. More specific examples of a suitable computer-readable medium would include, but are not limited to, magnetic tapes, magnetic floppy diskettes, magnetic hard drives, memory cards, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, or optical discs. Also, the computer-readable medium may be a random access memory (RAM) including, for example, static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM). The computer-readable medium may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or other type of memory device.

The system may further include at least one database connected to computing unit 602 via a communication interface. The database(s) may store environmental attribute data. The environmental attribute data may include predefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with material(s) to be used within the coating process, energy to be consumed within the coating process, thermal energy to be consumed within the coating process, waste generated during the coating process and/or release to air, soil and/or water generated during the coating process. The predefined environmental impact factors(s) may be derived from one or more different methods. The predefined environmental impact factor(s) may be associated with environmental impact categories described in the context of FIG. 5. The predefined environmental impact factor(s) may be applied to consumed input material(s), consumed energy, generated waste and/or releases to air, soil and/or water to determine the respective environmental attribute(s). This may allow to convert the consumption of inputs and/or the release of outputs (e.g. waste and/or releases to air, soil and/or water) to a common unit represented by respective environmental impact attribute(s). The environmental impact factor(s) may be determined by determining the emissions, such as CO2 emissions, CFC emissions, HCFC emissions, CH4 emissions, HC emissions, NOx emissions, SO2 emissions and/or HCI emissions associated with each component contained within the respective used material using one or more different model(s). Methods may include the CML2001 method, the EF 1.8 method, the ReCiPe 2016 method and/or the TRACI method. The environmental impact factor may be determined per environmental impact attribute mentioned with respect to FIG. 5.

The system may further include one or more databases (not shown) storing production data, application data, material data and/or location data used to determine the environmental impact attribute(s). The production data, application data, material data and location data may include the data mentioned in relation to FIG. 8.

By using a modular approach, the environmental impact of single process step(s) or the whole coating process may be determined by the inventive system in line with the coating process layout, e.g. in line with the used materials and process step(s). This allows to flexibly adapt the inventive system to the respective process layout and used materials, hence allowing to determine and/or monitor and/or evaluate environmental impact of a wide range of different coating processes. The transparency achieved by the system with respect to the environmental impact associated with each process step may be used to optimize the environmental impact of single process step(s) and/or the whole coating process, for example as described in the context of FIG. 14 and FIG. 15. For instance, used material(s) may be exchanged and/or alternative option(s) for a process step may be used to reduce the overall environmental impact associated with the coating process.

FIG. 8 illustrates determination of various environmental impact classifications by a basecoat/CP2 application module illustrated in FIG. 7 based on provided input data in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may be included in the environmental impact assessment application 618 described in the context of FIG. 6. The basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may be configured to determine the environmental impact of the basecoat application step within a conventional process (see FIG. 3A) or within an integrated process (see FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C). The environmental impact classifications 838 determined by such basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may include the environmental impact classifications illustrated in FIG. 4. The environmental impact classifications 838 may be determined by such basecoat/CP2 application module 718 by determining environmental impact attribute(s) included in such environmental impact classifications, for example the environmental impact attribute(s) described in FIG. 5, and aggregating such determined environmental impact attribute(s) per environmental impact classification. The input data into basecoat/CP2 application module 718 and the output data generated by basecoat/CP2 application module 718 are likewise applicable to other module(s) of the environmental impact assessment application 618.

Basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may use various input data, such as production data 822, application data 832, material data 834, location data 836 and environmental attribute data 614 to determine respective environmental impact attribute(s) and to aggregate determined environmental impact attribute(s) into associated environmental impact classification(s) 838. The production data may include object property data, production volume data, equipment data, pass rates, process layout data, scrubber data and/or data associated with exhaust air treatment. The application data may include layer thickness data, transfer efficiency data, data associated with application robots and/or data associated with the application conditions. Material data may include coating material data and/or rinsing material data. Location data may include location data associated with the location of the paint unit 128 in which the coating process is performed and/or data associated with climate conditions at the location of paint unit 128. The input data may be used by basecoat/CP2 application module 718 during calculation of the environmental impact attribute(s) as described in the context of FIG. 9 and FIG. 10. Object property data may include the weight of the object, pretreatment surface data, electrocoat surface data, primer surface data, basecoat surface data and/or clearcoat surface data. The surface data may include interior surface data related to interior surfaces present within the object and/or exterior surface data related to exterior surfaces present on the outside of the object. The production volume data may include the number of objects coated by a coating process per defined time period, such as per year. Equipment data may include operating hours associated with the used equipment. Pass rate may define the number of coated objects passing the inspection, e.g. which do not require further coating steps and/or spot repair. Process layout data may include dimension data on one or more different areas present within the respective process step and/or the amount of fresh air required for the process step. Scrubber data may include the type of scrubber, the capacity of the water or filtering material and/or the pressure loss associated with the use of the respective scrubber. Data associated with exhaust air treatment may include the type of energy used, the amount of VOC removed, the energy consumption and/or the amount of energy recovered by an exhaust air heat exchanger. Layer thickness data may include the layer thickness associated with exterior object surfaces and/or the layer thickness associated with interior object surfaces. Transfer efficiency data may include the transfer efficiency associated with the application of the basecoat material on exterior surfaces and/or the transfer efficiency associate with the application of the basecoat material interior surfaces. Data associated with the application robots may include the number of robots used for the application of the basecoat material to exterior and interior surfaces, the energy uptake per used application robot, the pressurized air consumption per application robot and/or the power of a conveyor belt present within the basecoat application 320. Data associated with the application conditions may include data associated with the application window. Coating material data may include a coating material identifier, data associated with the exterior area coated by such coating material, data associated with the interior area coated with such coating material, the VOC content of the coating material, amount of VOC evaporating within the application cabin, solid content of the coating material, liquid density of the coating material and/or solid density of the coating material. Rinsing material data may include the density and VOC content of the rinsing material, the coating material loss per rinse, the amount of rinsing material per rinse and/or the VOC emitted by the coating material loss to the application cabin. Data associated with climate conditions may include the temperature and/or the relative humidity associated with the location of the paint unit 128.

Various other module(s) of environmental impact assessment application 618 may likewise be configured to determine environmental impact attribute(s) based on input data, such as production data, application data, material data, location data and environmental attribute data 614. The input data may vary depending on the operations performed in the respective process step and the material(s) used within the respective process step.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of example calculations performed by the basecoat/CP2 application module illustrated in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 to determine environmental impact attribute(s) and environmental impact classifications in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The example calculations performed by the basecoat/CP2 application module may also be performed by other modules of the environmental impact assessment application 618 to determine the amount of consumed coating material. The basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may be part of environmental impact assessment application 618 described in the context of FIG. 6 to FIG. 8. Basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may be configured to perform various calculations required to determine environmental impact attribute(s) 958 and to aggregate such determined environmental impact attribute(s) into associated environmental impact classifications 838. An environmental impact classification may hence represent the sum of all environmental impact attribute(s) assigned to such environmental impact classification. Basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may be configured to determine environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a basecoat application process, such as basecoat application 320 described in the context of FIG. 3A and FIG. 3C, basecoat application 1 332 and/or basecoat application 2 334 described in the context of FIG. 3B. For instance, basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may be configured to determine the basecoat material consumption and rinsing material consumption 926. The basecoat material may be consumed by applying such basecoat material to interior and/or exterior surfaces of the object. The rinsing/cleaning material may be consumed by cleaning processes of nozzles and lines containing basecoat material to be applied. For instance, cleaning of nozzles of application robots may be performed by rinsing said nozzles with a defined amount of rinsing material to avoid clogging of the nozzles. The basecoat material consumption and rinsing material consumption may be determined based on production data 830, material data 834 associated with the basecoat material and rinsing material respectively, and application data 832. The basecoat material consumption and rinsing material consumption may be determined per coated object or per defined time period, such as per year.

With reference to FIG. 10, the amount of consumed basecoat material may be determined from production data 830, application data 832 and 834 as input data 1004. The amount of consumed basecoat material data may be determined by one or more intermediate calculation steps. In a first step, the amount of solids applied to exterior surfaces of the object 1012, the amount of solids applied to the interior surfaces of the object 1014 and the material loss from rinsing processes 1024 may be determined. The amount of solids applied to the exteriors surfaces of the object may be determined based on exterior surface data included in the production data 830, layer thickness data of the exterior basecoat layer included in the provided application data 832 and the solids content of the basecoat material included in the material data 834. The amount of the solids applied to the interior surfaces of the object may be determined based on interior surface data included in the production data 830, layer thickness data of the interior basecoat layer included in the provided application data 832 and the solids content of the basecoat material included in the material data 834. The material loss from rinsing processes may be determined from the loss of basecoat material per rinse included in the rinsing material data and the number of application robots used for application of the basecoat material to interior and exterior surfaces of the object included in the application data 832. Using the solid content included in the material data 834, the amount of liquid basecoat material applied to exterior surfaces 1016 and the amount of liquid basecoat material applied to the interior surfaces 1018 may be determined. The total loss of basecoat material from rinsing operation(s) may be determined using the liquid density included in the rinsing material data included in the provided material data 834.

The amount of liquid basecoat material applied, for example via spray application, to exterior surfaces of the object 1020 may be determined from the determined amount of liquid basecoat material applied to such exterior surfaces 1016 and the transfer efficiency included in the application data 832. The amount of liquid basecoat material applied to the interior surfaces of the object 1022 may be determined from the amount of liquid basecoat material applied to such interior surfaces 1018 and the transfer efficiency included in the application data 832. Based on the amount of liquid basecoat material applied to interior and exterior surfaces 1020, 1022, the total amount of applied basecoat material 1028 may be determined. The total amount of consumed basecoat material 1030 may be determined from the total amount of applied basecoat material 1028 and the total material loss 1026. The total amount of consumed basecoat material 1030 may be determined per defined time span, such as per year, or per coated object. The total amount of consumed basecoat material 1030 per defined time span may be determined using to total number of produced objects per time span included in the production data 822.

Returning to FIG. 9, basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may further be configured to determine the water consumption 928. The water may be consumed by the operation of a wet scrubber used to remove the basecoat material overspray as described in the context of FIG. 5. The water consumption 928 may be determined using production data 830 and application data 832 as input data. The water consumption may be determined per coated object or per defined time period, such as per year.

Basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may further be configured to determine electric consumer consumption 930. Electric consumer consumption may relate to electric energy consumed by consumers operating on such electric energy, such as application robots, ventilators, conveyors, pressurized air production, cooling, energy recovery etc.. Electric energy consumption may be determined for the electric energy consumers listed in FIG. 5. Electric consumer consumption 930 may be determined using production data 830 and application data 832 as input data. The electric consumer consumption may be determined per coated object or per defined time period, such as per year.

Basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may further be configured to determine thermal energy consumption 932. Thermal energy may be used to generate hot water used for climatization of the application cabin, as described in the context of FIG. 5. The amount of thermal energy consumed may be determined from 830 and location data 836 as input data. The thermal energy consumption may be determined per coated object or per defined time period, such as per year.

Basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may further be configured to determine the amount of waste water produced by the basecoat application process. The waste water may be produced by the operation of the wet scrubber used to remove the basecoat material overspray as described in the context of FIG. 5. The amount of produced waste water may be determined using production data 830 and application data 832 as input data. The amount of generated waste water may be determined per coated object or per defined time period, such as per year.

Basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may further be configured to determine the emissions, such as VOC emissions, generated by the basecoat application process. The VOC emissions may be generated by basecoat material overspray generated during the application process. The application process may be a spray application process, such as a pneumatic application process or an electrostatic application process. Application of the basecoat material may be effected by one or more application robots configured to apply liquid or solid basecoat material via one or more nozzles to the surface of the object. The pneumatic application may be effected using pressurized air. Electrostatic application may be effected using pressurized air and high voltage. The amount of emissions generated by the application process may be determined using production data 830 and material data 834 as input data. The amount of emissions may be determined per coated object or per defined time period, such as per year.

Basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may further be configured to determine the amount of generated waste and involved treatment of such waste. The generated waste may include paint sludge generated by the wet scrubber from basecoat material overspray and filter waste generated by dry scrubbers from basecoat material overspray, for example as described in the context of FIG. 4. The amount of generated waste may be determined using production data 830, application data 832 and material data 834 as input data. The amount of generated waste may be determined per coated object or per defined time period, such as per year.

Basecoat/CP2 application module 718 may be configured to determine environmental impact attribute(s) from the determined material consumption(s), energy consumption(s), generated emission(s) and/or generated waste. The environmental impact attribute(s) may include one or more environmental impact categories as described in the context of FIG. 5. The environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the material consumption may be determined by multiplying environmental attribute data associated with the respective consumed material with the determined amount of respective consumed material.

With continued reference to FIG. 10, the environmental attribute data 614 and the total amount of consumed basecoat material 1030 may be used to calculate respective environmental impact attribute(s). The environmental impact attribute(s) 838 may be determined using environmental impact factor(s) associated with environmental impact category/categories included in the environmental attribute data 614.

Returning to FIG. 9, the environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the cleaner material consumption may be determined by multiplying the determined amount of consumed cleaner material with the environmental attribute data associated with the used cleaner material. The environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the electric energy consumption may be determined by multiplying the determined amount of consumed electric energy with the environmental attribute data associated with such electric energy. Likewise, environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the thermal energy consumption may be determined by multiplying the determined amount of consumed thermal energy with the environmental attribute data associated with such thermal energy. Environmental impact attribute(s) associated with emission generation may be determined by multiplying the determined amount of emissions with the environmental attribute data associated with such emissions. Environmental impact attribute(s) associated with generated waste may be determined by multiplying the determined amount of generated waste with the respective environmental attribute data associated with such generated waste. The determined environmental attribute(s) may be assigned to a respective environmental impact classification 838, as illustrated in FIG. 5. The environmental impact associated with such environmental impact classification 838 may be determined by summing up the assigned environmental impact attributes.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The coating may include one or more coating layer(s). The coating layer(s) may be produced by applying one or more coating material(s) to the surface of the object. The coating may be produced by a coating process involving the production of one or more coating layers on at least a part of the surface of the object. The coating process may be performed within paint unit 128 of a vehicle manufacturing plant 136. The coating process may include one or more steps, such as illustrated in FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B or FIG. 3C. Each step may be involved with the application and/or drying and/or curing of coating material(s). The coating process may be performed in series, e.g. objects may be supplied in series to paint unit 128 and may be consecutively treated within each process step included in the paint unit 128. The object may be a vehicle body. The object may be a vehicle part, such as a door, a hood, etc.. The example method may be implemented by the system described in the context of FIG. 6.

Data associated with the coating process may be provided (see block 1102). Data associated with the coating process may include a digital representation of the coating process or the step(s) thereof. The digital representation may define equipment(s), material(s) and condition(s) used within the coating process or the step(s) thereof and the operation(s) performed within the coating process or the step(s) thereof. Data associated with the coating process may include a coating process identifier. The coating process identifier may uniquely identify the coating process. The coating process identifier may include a unique ID, a name or a combination thereof. The coating process identifier may be used to gather coating process data from one or more databases. The one or more databases may include such coating process data interrelated with or linked to or associated with respective coating process identifiers.

Data associated with the coating process may include coating process data. The coating process data may be provided from one or more databases storing such coating process data. The coating process data may be provided by receiving data being indicative of the process steps included in the coating process and gathering the coating process data based on the received data from the database. The data being indicative of the process steps may be provided via a graphical user interface displaying available process steps. The data being indicative of the process steps may be provided by detecting a selection of displayed process steps performed by a user. The process steps may be displayed within a list or as graphical representation. Based on the detected user input, the coating process data may be gathered from the database storing such data.

The coating process data may include process step data. The process step data may signify or define one or more process steps included in such coating process. Process step data may include process step identifier(s), such as unique process step ID(s) and/or process step name(s), associated with one or more process step. The process step data may include process step identifier(s) per process step included in the coating process. The coating process data may further include production data associated with the production of the coating layer(s), application data associated with the application of the one or more material(s) to the surface(s) of the object and/or material data associated with the one or more material(s). At least a part of the production data, application data and/or material data may be determined and/or measured using one or more sensor(s). The sensor(s) may be configured to measure properties of the equipment and material(s) used within the coating process and/or the environmental conditions present within equipment and/or paint unit 128.

The production data and/or the application data may be associated with the coating process. The production data may include production data associated with the coating process (e.g. general production data applicable to two or more process steps) and production data associated with process step data (e.g. process step specific production data applicable to a particular process step). The application data may include application data associated with the coating process (e.g. general application data applicable to two or more process steps) and application data associated with process step data (e.g. process step specific application data applicable to a particular process step). The material data may include material data associated with the coating process (e.g. general material data applicable to two or more process steps) and material data associated with process step data (e.g. process step specific material data applicable to a particular process step).

Production data associated with the coating process (e.g. general production data) may include object property data and/or climate data. Object property data may include the weight of the object, pretreatment surface data, electrocoat surface data, primer surface data, basecoat surface data and/or clearcoat surface data as described in the context of FIG. 8. Climate data may include humidity data associated with the hall(s) the paint unit 128 is located in.

Production data associated with a pretreatment step, such as pretreatment 302 of FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C, may include production volume data, equipment data, pass rates, process layout data and/or waste treatment data. The production volume data may include the number of objects coated by a coating process per defined time period, such as per year. Equipment data may include operating hours associated with the used equipment. Pass rate may define the number of coated objects passing the inspection, e.g. which do not require further coating steps and/or spot repair. Process layout data may include the number of different bathes used within the pretreatment step 302, the volume of liquids present within the baths, temperatures used within the pretreatment step, electric power used within the pretreatment step, data on an air stream used within the pretreatment step. Waste treatment data may include data associated with the removal efficiency of various metals and inorganic compounds, such as phosphate, nitrogen, fluoride, nickel, zinc, manganese, iron and zirconium. Waste treatment data may further include the amount of basic material required to neutralize the generated waste sludge.

Application data associated with the pretreatment step may include cascade data associated with the cascade layout of the pretreatment step and/or replenishment data associated with the type and amount of replenishment of the bath volume lost during the pretreatment process.

Material data associated with the pretreatment step may include the material data associated with materials present within the baths, such as cleaner data, rinsing material data, phosphate coating data and/or conversion coating data. Material data may further include the amount of material required to produce the bath solution. Material data may further include the amount of material consumed per object to be coated.

Production data associated with an electrocoating step, such as electrocoating 306 of FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C, may include production volume data, equipment data and/or pass rates as previously described.

Application data associated with the electrocoating step may include process parameters, such as layer thickness, bath volume, bath temperature, deposition time, rinsing air amount, deposition equivalent, electric power required for electric machines, deposition equivalent, rectifier efficiency, average deposition voltage, amount of pigment paste and/or binder pumped by pumps, generated VOC emissions and/or cascade data. Cascade data may include data associated with the rinsing or cleaning of electrocoated substrates. Cascade data may include cascade layout data. Cascade data may include water consumption and/or electric consumption per rinsing cascade.

Material data associated with the electrocoating step may include material data associated with the used electrocoating material, such as material ID and/or material name, solid content of pigment paste and binder, dry film density, VOC content of binder and/or pigment paste and/or amount of consumed additives.

Production data associated with heat drying or curing oven(s), such as e-coat oven 308, sealer oven 312, primer oven 316, curing 326 of FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C, may include production volume data, equipment data, pass rates, oven data, stoving data, cooling zone data, exhaust air treatment data and/or data associated with exhaust air treatment. Oven data may include oven parameters. Stoving data may include exhaust air data, amount of deposited coating material and/or water content in coating material. Cooling zone data may include exhaust air volume data, air temperature data, electric power consumed by ventilators. Data associated with exhaust air treatment may include the type of energy used, the amount of VOC removed, the energy consumption and/or the amount of energy recovered by an exhaust air heat exchanger.

Production data associated with UV drying or curing oven(s), such as curing 326 of FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C, may include production volume data, pass rates, UV equipment data, cooling zone data, exhaust air treatment data and/or data associated with exhaust air treatment. UV equipment data may include equipment availability data, UV dryer parameter(s) and/or electric consumer data (e.g. data on electric consumers required for performing UV drying operation(s)). Cooling zone data may include exhaust air volume data, air temperature data, electric power consumed by ventilators. Data associated with exhaust air treatment may include the type of energy used, the amount of VOC removed, the energy consumption and/or the amount of energy recovered by an exhaust air heat exchanger.

Production data associated with a coating material application step, such as primer application 314, basecoat application 320, basecoat application 1 332, basecoat application 2 334 and clearcoat application 324 of FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C, may include production volume data, equipment data, pass rates, process layout data, scrubber data and/or data associated with exhaust air treatment. Scrubber data may include the type of scrubber, the capacity of the water or filtering material and/or the pressure loss associated with the use of the respective scrubber. Data associated with exhaust air treatment may include the type of energy used, the amount of VOC removed, the energy consumption and/or the amount of energy recovered by an exhaust air heat exchanger.

Application data associated with the coating material application step may include layer thickness data, transfer efficiency data, data associated with application robots and/or data associated with the application conditions. Layer thickness data may include the layer thickness associated with exterior object surfaces and/or the layer thickness associated with interior object surfaces. Transfer efficiency data may include the transfer efficiency associated with the application of the basecoat material on exterior surfaces and/or the transfer efficiency associate with the application of the basecoat material interior surfaces. Data associated with the application robots may include the number of robots used for the application of the basecoat material to exterior and interior surfaces, the energy uptake per used application robot, the pressurized air consumption per application robot and/or the power of a conveyor belt present within the respective application. Data associated with the application conditions may include data associated with the application window.

Material data associated with the coating material application step may include material data associated with the used coating material. Coating material data may include a coating material identifier, data associated with the exterior area coated by such coating material, data associated with the interior area coated with such coating material, the VOC content of the coating material, amount of VOC evaporating within the application cabin, solid content of the coating material, liquid density of the coating material and/or solid density of the coating material.

Production data associated with the spot repair, such as spot repair 330 of FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C, may include production volume data, equipment data, pass rates, electric consumer data, application window data and/or process layout data. Electric consumer data may include the amount of electric consumers, the average electric energy uptake per electric consumer, the operating time per electric consumer and/or the conveyor power. Application window data may include temperature data and/or humidity data. Process layout data may include the total amount of air and/or the recirculated amount of air.

Data associated with the production may further include location data. Location data may be used to determine the thermal energy consumption. The thermal energy consumption may depend on the location of the coating process is performed. The thermal energy may be consumed to generate hot water used for climatization of an application cabin in which the material is applied on the surface of the object. The amount of hot water used for climatization may depend on the climate present at the location where the coating process is performed. The thermal energy consumption may hence be related to the climate present at the location of the coating process. The location data may be gathered based on a location selected or entered by the user. The user input being indicative of the location may be parsed by the computing unit, such as computing unit 602. The location data may be gathered based on the data associated with the coating process. The location data may be gathered based on the parsed data form a database storing such location data. For instance, the database may store location data interrelated with a location name or location ID and the location data may be retrieved based on the location name or ID included in the parsed data.

Data associated with the coating process may further include environmental impact method data. The environmental impact method data may include the method used to determine environmental impact factor(s) included in environmental impact data (see also FIG. 8). Environmental impact method data may be provided by a user, for example by selecting a method from one or more available methods.

Data associated with the coating process may hence represent a digital representation of equipment, material and condition(s) used within the respective process steps as well as the operation(s) performed within the respective process steps. Use of such a digital representation allows to digitally mirror the coating process, hence allowing to determine the environmental impact of the coating process in a data- driven manner and to optimize such environmental impact by exchange of coating material(s) and/or process step(s) and/or operation(s) performed within the process step(s).

Environmental attribute data associated with the consumption of inputs and/or generation of outputs may be provided (see block 1102). Inputs may include material(s) consumed within the coating process, such as pretreatment compositions, coating material(s), cleaning composition(s), rinsing material(s), etc.. Inputs may further include consumed energy, such as electric and/or thermal energy. Output(s) may include generated waste material(s) and/or releases, such as emissions, to air, soil and/or water. The environmental attribute data may include predefined environmental impact factor(s) as described in the context of FIG. 6. The environmental attribute data may be stored in a database, such as database 614 of FIG. 6. The environmental attribute data may be retrieved from such database using material identifiers, energy identifiers, waste identifiers and/or release identifiers. Identifiers may include unique identifiers and/or names.

Environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the production of the coating may be determined based on the provided data associated with the production of the coating and the provided environmental attribute data. The environmental impact attribute(s) may be determined by determining for the coating process, in particular per process step of the coating process, - based on the provided data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof and the provided environmental attribute data - the material(s) consumed within the coating process, the electric energy consumed within the coating process, the thermal energy consumed within the coating process, the waste generated by the coating process and/or the release(s) to air, soil and/or water generated by the coating process, determining the environmental impact attribute(s) based on the environmental attribute data and the determined material(s) consumption(s), the electric energy consumption(s), the thermal energy consumption(s), the generation of waste and/or the generation of release(s) to air, soil and/or water.

Determining the environmental impact attribute(s) may include multiplying the predefined environmental impact factor(s) included in the provided environmental impact data with the respective determined material(s) consumption(s), the electric energy consumption(s), the thermal energy consumption(s), the generation of waste and/or the generation of release(s) to air, soil and/or water. For example, the determined material(s) consumption(s) may be multiplied by the predefined environmental impact factor associated with the material(s) used within the coating process. Further for example, the determined electric energy consumption(s) may be multiplied by the predefined environmental impact factor associated with the electric energy consumption. Further for example, the determined thermal energy consumption(s) may be multiplied by the predefined environmental impact factor associated with the thermal energy consumption. Further for example, the determined generated waste(s) may be multiplied by the predefined environmental impact factor associated with the respective waste generated. Further for example, the determined release(s) may be multiplied by the predefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with the respective determined release(s).

Environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the production of the coating may be determined, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10. Environmental impact attribute(s) may be associated with the consumption of material, consumption of thermal energy, consumption of electric energy and/or generation of waste and/or releases to air, soil and/or water. Environmental impact attribute(s) may relate to or may be associated with or linked to environmental impact classifications, such as described in the context of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

Environmental impact attribute may be determined by determining the material consumption, thermal energy consumption, electric energy consumption and/or generation of waste and/or releases to air, soil and/or water based on the provided production data, application data and/or material data. Environmental impact attribute(s) may be determined per coated object or per defined time span, such as per year. For instance, the material consumption of a coating material application step, such as a basecoat material application step, may be determined as illustrated in FIG. 10. The determined material consumption may then be used to determine the environmental impact attribute(s) based on the environmental impact attribute data, for example as described in the context of FIG. 9 and FIG. 10. Likewise, the consumption of other materials used within the respective process step may be determined and may be used to determine associated environmental impact attribute(s).

The process step(s) may be monitored using sensor(s). The sensor(s) may be configured to monitor properties, such as chemical and/or physical properties, of the equipment and/or the material(s) used and/or conditions present within respective process step(s). The sensor(s) may include loT sensors. The sensor(s) may be configured to acquire measurement data. The measurement data may correspond to chemical and/or physical properties. The measurement data may be used to determine chemical and/or physical properties. The chemical and/or physical properties may be compared to provided data associated with the coating process, such as provided production data, provided application data and/or provided material data. The chemical and/or physical properties may be compared to given threshold value(s), such as maximum and/or minimum value(s). Such threshold value(s) may signify an undesirable deviation of the environmental impact of the coating process from the environmental impact determined using the provided data associated with the production of the coating. This may allow to monitor the environmental impact associated with the production of the coating.

At least a part of the data points included in the production data, application data and/or material data may be monitored, or example using sensors. Sensors may include loT devices configured to monitor one or more parameters, such as parameter(s) of equipment used within the respective production step(s), parameter(s) of material(s) used within the respective production step(s) and/or parameter(s) of waste generated within the respective production step(s). The parameter(s) measured by the sensors may be compared to parameter(s) used to determine the

It may be determined whether to aggregate at least a part of the determined environmental impact attribute(s) into environmental impact classification(s). Determined environmental impact attribute(s) may be aggregated according to one or more accumulation rule(s). Aggregation of determined environmental impact attribute(s) may be performed using a rule-based engine including such aggregation rule(s). The rule(s) may signify the environmental impact classification and associated environmental impact attribute(s). The rule may signify the environmental impact classification and associated environmental impact attribute(s) per process step. The different environmental impact classifications may be associated with the consumption of material, consumption of thermal energy, consumption of electric energy and/or the generation of waste and/or releases. Environmental impact attribute(s) associated with material consumption may be included in or assigned to the environmental impact classification for material consumption, for example as described in the context of FIG. 5. Environmental impact attribute(s) associated with thermal energy consumption may be included in or assigned to the environmental impact classification for thermal energy consumption, for example as described in the context of FIG. 5. Environmental impact attribute(s) associated with electric energy consumption may be included in or assigned to the environmental impact classification for electric energy consumption, for example as described in the context of FIG. 5. Environmental impact attribute(s) associated with waste generation and/or releases to air, soil and/or water may be included in or assigned to the environmental impact classification for waste generation & releases, for example as described in the context of FIG. 5. Use of environmental impact classification allows to bundle different environmental impact attribute(s) related to a similar classification, hence reducing the complexity of the result of the environmental impact determination and allowing to easily compare coating process with respect to a simple matrix including only a limited number of environmental impact data points.

The determined environmental impact attribute(s) and/or environmental impact classification(s) may be provided (see block 1112). Providing such attribute(s) may include displaying the determined attribute(s) within a graphical user interface. The determined attribute(s) may be displayed within graphical representations allowing to illustrate the contribution of each attribute to the total environmental impact of the coating process or to the respective process step. In addition or alternatively, providing such attribute(s) may include storing such attribute(s) in a database. The attribute(s) may be interrelated with a coating process identifier to allow retrieval of of such attribute(s) based on such coating process identifier(s).

By using a digital representation of the coating process, the environmental impact of single process step(s) or the whole coating process may be determined in line with the process layout of the physical coating process, e.g. in line with the used materials and process step(s). This allows to flexibly determine and/or monitor and/or evaluate the environmental impact of a wide range of different coating processes. The transparency achieved by the method with respect to the environmental impact associated with each process step may be used to optimize the environmental impact of single process step(s) and/or the whole coating process, for example as described in the context of FIG. 14 and FIG. 15. For instance, used material(s) may be exchanged and/or alternative option(s) for a process step may be used to reduce the overall environmental impact associated with the coating process.

FIG. 12 illustrates a flow chart of another example method for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The coating may include one or more coating layer(s). The coating layer(s) may be produced by applying one or more coating material(s) to the surface of the object. The coating may be produced by a coating process involving the production of one or more coating layers on at least a part of the surface of the object. The coating process may be performed within paint unit 128 of a vehicle manufacturing plant 136. The coating process may include one or more steps, such as illustrated in FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B or FIG. 3C. Each step may be involved with the application and/or drying and/or curing of coating material(s). The coating process may be performed in series, e.g. objects may be supplied in series to paint unit 128 and may be consecutively treated within each process step included in the paint unit 128. The object may be a vehicle body. The object may be a vehicle part, such as a door, a hood, etc.. The example method may be implemented by the system described in the context of FIG. 6.

The method illustrated in FIG. 12 may contain blocks 1102 to 1106 described in the context of FIG. 11 . The method illustrated in FIG. 12 may contain further blocks described in the following.

A digital asset may be generated (see block 1202). The digital asset may include material identifier(s) and associated environmental impact attribute(s) determined as described in block 1106. Associated environmental impact attribute(s) may correspond to environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the respective material(s) and/or process step(s) using said material(s) and/or the coating process. The material identifier(s) may be associated with one or more material(s) used within the coating process and/or process step(s), such as coating material(s), pretreatment material(s), cleaner(s) and/or rinsing material(s). The environmental impact attribute(s) may be associated with the coating process. The environmental impact attribute(s) may be associated with the process step(s) in which the material(s) are used. The environmental impact attribute(s) may be associated with the material consumption. The environmental impact attribute(s) may be associated with one or more environmental impact classification(s).

The digital asset may further include a coating process identifier associated with the coating process associated with the data provided in block 1102. The digital asset may correspond to a data set including the material identifier(s) and associated environmental attribute(s). Such data set may further include coating process identifier(s) associated with such material identifier(s).

The generated digital asset may be linked to the material(s). For instance, the material(s) may contain a physical identifier element physically attached to the material(s). The physical identifier element may encode material identifier(s) matching one or more identifier(s) included in the digital asset. For instance, the physical identifier element may include a passive identification element. The passive identification element may include a code, such as a bar code, a QR code, encoding such identifier(s). The passive identification element may be based on markers embedded in a material, the markers being associated with such identifier(s). The physical identifier element may include an active identification element. The active identification element may be a transmitter or transceiver tag, such as an RFID tag enabling communication through e.g. NFC, Bluetooth, Zigbee or other suitable near- to mid-range communication protocols.

The generated digital asset may be provided. The generated digital asset may be provided as described in the context of FIG. 14. The generated digital asset may be provided to an entity using one or more material(s) associated with such digital asset within a coating process associated with such digital asset.

The chemical material(s) may be produced by a chemical production. Chemical material(s) may include pretreatment composition(s), coating material(s), cleaner composition(s) and/or rinsing material(s). The chemical material(s) may be used in one or more step(s) of a coating process, such as a coating process illustrated in FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C. The chemical material(s) 1320 as produced by the chemical production may be associated with a digital asset. The digital asset may be generated as described in the context of FIG. 12. The digital asset may include material identifier(s) and associated environmental impact attribute(s). At least one material identifier may be associated with the provided chemical material(s). The digital asset may relate to one or more environmental impact attribute(s), such as determined as described in the context of FIG. 11 . The digital asset may include a digital representation of one or more of such environmental impact attribute(s).

The digital asset may further include or relate to authentication and/or authorization information linked to the material identifier(s). The authentication and/or authorization information may be provided for authentication and/or authorization of a provider node 1302 and/or consumer node 1304. The provider node 1302 and the consumer node 1304 may be part of a decentral network. The provider node 1302 and the consumer node 1304 may be configured to perform peer-to-peer data transaction(s). The data transactions may be based on a transaction protocol including authentication and/or authorization mechanism(s). Based on the authentication and/or authorization mechanism(s) a peer-to-peer network between provider node 1302 and the consumer node 1304 of the decentral network may be established.

The material identifier(s) may include or relate to decentral identifier(s), that is/are uniquely associated with the chemical material(s). The decentral identifier may be connected to the digital representation of the environmental impact attributes. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the environmental impact attributes or parts thereof. The decentral identifier may include at least one Universally Unique I Dentifier (UUID) or at least one Digital IDentifier (DID). The decentral identifier may include any unique identifier uniquely associated with a data owner and/or the chemical material(s). The data owner may be the producer of the chemical material(s). Via the decentral identifier and its unique association with the data owner and/or chemical material(s), access to the data included in the digital asset may be controlled by the data owner.

The digital asset may be stored in a dedicated storage, such as storage 1318, associated with the data owner. The dedicated storage may be associated with the data provider environment 1312. The dedicated storage may be associated with the provider node 1302. This may allow access of the digital access element by the provider node 1302 upon request by a consumer node 1304. Access to the dedicated storage may be controlled by the data owner of the digital asset. Access to the dedicated storage may be controlled by the data owner via the decentral identifier.

The digital asset may be associated with an access element. The access element may be configured to provide access to the digital asset. The access element may include the decentral identifier(s) and access data. Access data may include a digital representation pointing to the digital access element. Access data may further include material identifier(s) associated with such digital representation. The digital representation may be a pointer or locator, pointing to the storage 1318 storing the digital asset. The digital representation may be an URI or URL associated with the dedicated storage. The access element may be stored in decentral registry 1316. Decentral registry 1316 may be queried by consumer nodes 1304 to determine access element(s) matching the query data. The query data may include identifier(s) encoded in the physical identifier element attached to the provided physical material(s).

The chemical material(s) 1320 may be physically delivered to a customer (or other user of the chemical material(s)). The chemical material(s) may be connected with a QR-code having encoded material identifier(s). The user of the chemical product may read the QR-code through a code reader 1322. The code reader 1322 may decode the code and may provide the decoded material identifier(s) to consumer backend 1308. Consumer backend 1308 may be configured to generate a request to query the decentral network for access elements including the decoded material identifier(s). The request may include the material identifier(s). The request may be provided to consumer node 1304. Consumer node 1304 may be configured to query the decentral network for access element(s) including the material identifier(s). The query may be sent to provider nodes, such as node 1302, associated with decentral registries storing such access elements, such as decentral registry 1316. Provider node(s) may perform authentication and/or authorization steps. Authorization may include signature of an electronic contract. Upon successful authentication and/or authorization, provider node(s) may use the received query data to query associated decentral registries. Provider node(s) may provide decentral identifier(s) associated with access element(s) matching the query data to consumer node 1304. Consumer node 1304 may be configured to gather the access element(s) based on the received decentral identifier(s) from associated provider nodes, such as node 1302. Consumer node 1304 may provide the gathered access elements to consumer backend 1308.

Consumer backend 1308 may be configured to parse the access element(s) received from consumer node 1304 to determine access data matching the material identifier(s). Consumer backend 1308 may be configured to parse the access element(s) to determine access data including the material identifier(s) received from code reader 1322. Consumer backend 1308 may be configured to generate a request for digital asset(s) associated with such access data. The request may include the access data. Consumer node 1304 may request the digital asset using the access data from the provider node 1302 associated with such digital asset. Provider node 1302 may perform authentication and/or authorization steps. Authorization may include signature of an electronic contract. Upon successful authentication and/or authorization, provider node 1302 may gather the digital asset based on the decentral identifier(s) included in the request received from consumer node 1304 from storage 1318. Provider node 1302 may provide the gathered digital asset to consumer node 1304. Consumer node 1304 may provide the received data to consumer backend 1308. Consumer backend 1308 may be configured to store the received digital asset in storage 1310.

Through the decentral identifier(s), the environmental impact attributes can be uniquely associated with the chemical material(s). Through the decentral network, the environmental impact attributes may be transferred between the producer of the chemical material(s) and the user/customer of the chemical material(s). This way, the environmental impact attributes can be shared with unique association to the chemical material(s) and without central intermediary directly between the value chain players. This allows for transparency of environmental impact attributes and for a positive environmental impact of the associated coating process.

FIG. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an example system for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The coating may include one or more coating layer(s). The coating layer(s) may be produced by applying one or more coating material(s) to the surface of the object. The coating may be produced by a coating process involving the production of one or more coating layers on at least a part of the surface of the object. The coating process may be performed within paint unit 128 of a vehicle manufacturing plant 136. The coating process may include one or more steps, such as illustrated in FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B or FIG. 3C. Each step may be involved with the application and/or drying and/or curing of coating material(s). The coating process may be performed in series, e.g. objects may be supplied in series to paint unit 128 and may be consecutively treated within each process step included in the paint unit 128. The object may be a vehicle body. The object may be a vehicle part, such as a door, a hood, etc.. The system may be used to implement the method illustrated in FIG. 15. Environmental impact attribute(s) may include environmental impact attribute(s) described in the context of FIG. 5, FIG. 9 and FIG. 10.

The system may include a computing unit 1402. The computing unit 1402 may be a mobile device (e.g. a smartphone, tablet, computer, etc.) or a stationary device (e.g. desktop computer). Computing unit 1402 may include at least one processor 1404 and a memory 1416. Processor 1404 and memory 1416 may be coupled to a local interface as described in the context of FIG. 6.

Computing unit 1402 may include one or more network interfaces as described in the context of FIG. 6. The network interfaces may include interfaces to hardware devices, such as printer 1408, display 1406 or input devices 1410, 1412. The hardware devices may be connected via such interfaces to the computing unit 1402.

Memory 1416 may store data and several components, such as environmental impact optimization application 1418, that are executable by the processor 1404. In particular, stored in the memory 1416 and executable by the processor 1404 are programs or applications implementing the methods illustrated in FIG. 15. The programs or applications, such as environmental impact optimization application 1418, may be implemented by any one of a number of programming languages as described in the context of FIG. 6. Also stored in the memory 1416 may be a data store and other data. In addition, an operating system may be stored in the memory 1416 and executable by the processor 1404.

Environmental impact optimization application 1418 may be configured to optimize the environmental impact associated with the coating process. Environmental impact optimization application 1418 may be configured to determine the environmental impact associated with one or more process step(s) included in the coating process. Environmental impact optimization application 1418 may be configured to determine candidate environmental impact attribute(s) associated with respective process step(s). Environmental impact optimization application 1418 may be configured to determine candidate environmental impact attribute(s) associated with energy inputs and material inputs to the respective process step as well as waste and releases to air, water and/or soil produced by the respective process step(s). Environmental impact optimization application 1418 may be configured to match the candidate environmental impact attribute(s) to target environmental impact attribute(s). Environmental impact assessment application 618 may be configured to determine candidate environmental impact attribute(s) using input data. The input data may include the data described in the context of FIG. 8 to FIG. 11. For instance, the input data may include candidate data associated with the production of the coating. The input data may further include environmental attribute data, for example stored in 1414. The input data may further include target environmental impact data. Environmental impact optimization application 1418 may include one or more module(s) as described in the context of FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. A module may be related to a process step performed within the candidate coating process. Each module may be configured to determine candidate environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the respective process step. Combination of such modules provided by environmental impact optimization application 1418 allows to adjust the process steps such that the candidate environmental impact attribute(s) match the target environmental impact data. Moreover, this allows to determine candidate environmental impact attribute(s) not only for the complete coating process, but also for particular process step(s), hence allowing optimization of one or more particular process step(s) with respect to their environmental impact.

The memory 1416 may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory and data storage components as described in the context of FIG. 6.

Processor 1404 may represent multiple processors 1404 and/or multiple processor cores and the memory 1416 may represent multiple memories 1416 that operate in parallel processing circuits, respectively. In such a case, the local interface may be an appropriate network that facilitates communication between any two of the multiple processors 1404, between any processor 1404 and any of the memories 1416, or between any two of the memories 1416, etc. The local interface may comprise additional systems designed to coordinate this communication, including, for example, performing load balancing. The processor 1404 may be of electrical or of some other available construction.

Although the methods disclosed in FIG. 15, and other various systems described herein may be embodied in software or code executed by general purpose hardware as discussed above, as an alternative the same may also be embodied in dedicated hardware or a combination of software/general purpose hardware and dedicated hardware as described in the context of FIG. 6.

Any logic or application described herein that comprises software or code may be embodied in any non- transitory computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system such as, for example, a processor 1404 in a computer system or other system as described in the context of FIG. 6.

The system may further include at least one database connected to computing unit 1402 via a communication interface. One or more of such databases 1414 may store environmental attribute data. The environmental attribute data may include predefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with material(s) to be used within the coating process, energy to be consumed within the coating process, thermal energy to be consumed within the coating process, waste generated during the coating process and/or emissions generated during the coating process as described in the context of FIG. 6. One or more of such databases 1422 may store candidate data associated with production of the coating. The candidate data associated with the production of the coating may include the data described in the context of FIG. 15. The system may further include one or more databases (not shown) storing production data, application data, material data and/or location data used to determine the environmental impact attribute(s). The production data, application data, material data and location data may include the data mentioned in relation to FIG. 15.

By using a modular approach, the environmental impact of single process step(s) or the whole coating process may be optimized by the inventive system. Optimization of the environmental impact of the coating process may be performed in line with a given process layout of a physical coating process, e.g. in line with given process step(s) to be performed, by optimizing the environmental impact attribute(s) associated with used material(s), e.g. by exchanging used material(s) to reduce the environmental impact attribute(s). Optimization may be performed in line with given material(s) to be used by using different variations or option(s) of a process step associated with different environmental impact attribute(s). Hence, the inventive system may be flexibly used to optimize the environmental impact of single process step(s) or the whole coating process.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The coating may include one or more coating layer(s). The coating layer(s) may be produced by applying one or more coating material(s) to the surface of the object. The coating may be produced by a coating process involving the production of one or more coating layers on at least a part of the surface of the object. The coating process may be performed within paint unit 128 of a vehicle manufacturing plant 136. The coating process may include one or more steps, such as illustrated in FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B or FIG. 3C. Each step may be involved with the application and/or drying and/or curing of coating material(s). The coating process may be performed in series, e.g. objects may be supplied in series to paint unit 128 and may be consecutively treated within each process step included in the paint unit 128. The object may be a vehicle body. The object may be a vehicle part, such as a door, a hood, etc.. The example method may be implemented by the system described in the context of FIG. 14.

Target environmental impact data associated with the coating process may be provided (see block 1502). The target environmental impact data may include target environmental impact attribute(s) associated with one or more input(s) and/or one or more output(s). The target environmental impact data may include target environmental impact attribute(s) per input and/or output. The target environmental impact data may further include target coating process data. The target coating process data may include one or more constraints with respect to process step(s) and/or to input(s), such as material(s) to be used, and/or to coating process data included in the candidate data. The constraints may define process step(s) to be included or omitted, input(s) to be included or omitted and/or allowable range(s) for one or more value(s) included in the coating process data. The process step(s) may be defined using process step identifier(s), such as unique I D(s) and/or name(s). The given input(s) may be defined using material identifier(s), such as unique ID(s) and/or name(s). The target environmental impact data may further include location data associated with a target location of the paint unit performing the coating process, e.g. the location of the paint unit 128. Target environmental impact data may further include target environmental impact method data associated with a target environmental impact method to be used for optimizing the environmental impact attribute(s). The target environmental impact data may further include one or more distance or deviation value(s). The distance or deviation value(s) may be threshold value(s). The distance or deviation value(s) may represent allowable or acceptable distance(s) or deviation(s) indicating acceptable distances between the optimized candidate data and at least a part of the provided target environmental impact data.

The target environmental impact data may be provided in response to receiving a user input. The target environmental impact data may be provided by receiving data being indicative of the process steps to be included in the coating process and/or the material(s) to be used in the coating process and gathering identifier(s) based on the received data from the database. The gathered identifier(s) may be used, for example by computing unit 1402, to generate the target environmental impact data. The data being indicative of the process steps to be included and/or the material(s) to be used may be provided via a graphical user interface displaying available process steps and/or material(s). The data being indicative of the process steps to be included and/or the material(s) to be used may be provided by detecting a selection of displayed process steps and/or material(s) performed by a user. The process steps and/or material(s) may be displayed within a list or as graphical representation. Based on the detected user input, the target environmental impact data may be generated.

The target environmental impact data may be provided from one or more databases storing such target environmental impact data. The target environmental impact data may be provided in response to receiving an identifier associated with such target environmental impact data. The identifier may be used to gather target environmental impact data associated with such identifier from the one or more databases.

Candidate data associated with one or more candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof may be provided (see block 1504). Candidate data may include candidate coating process data. The candidate coating process data may be provided from one or more databases storing such candidate coating process data. The candidate data may be provided in response to receiving target environmental attribute data.

The candidate coating process data may include candidate process step data. The candidate process step data may signify or define one or more candidate process steps. Candidate process step data may include candidate process step identifier(s), such as unique ID(s) and/or name(s), associated with respective candidate process step(s). The candidate process step data may include candidate process step identifier(s) per candidate process step. The candidate coating process data may further include candidate production data, candidate application data and/or candidate material data. The candidate production data may include candidate production data associated with the candidate coating process (e.g. general candidate production data applicable to two or more candidate process steps) and candidate production data associated with candidate process step data (e.g. process step specific candidate production data applicable to a particular candidate process step). The candidate application data may include candidate application data associated with the candidate coating process (e.g. general candidate application data applicable to two or more candidate process steps) and candidate application data associated with candidate process step data (e.g. process step specific candidate application data applicable to a particular candidate process step). The candidate material data may include candidate material data associated with the candidate coating process (e.g. general candidate material data applicable to two or more candidate process steps) and candidate material data associated with candidate process step data (e.g. process step specific candidate material data applicable to a particular candidate process step). The candidate production data, candidate application data and candidate material data may include the data described with respect to the production data, application data and candidate material data in the context of FIG. 11 .

Candidate data may further include candidate location data. The candidate location data may include location data of candidate location(s), e.g. location(s) where the coating process may be performed. Candidate data may further include candidate environmental impact method data.

Candidate environmental attribute data associated with consumption processes and/or generation processes occurring within the candidate coating process(es) or steps thereof may be provided (see block 1506). Consumption processes may include consumption of inputs, such as material(s) consumed within the candidate coating process(es) and/or energy consumed within the candidate coating process(es) (see also FIG. 11). Generation processes may include generation of output(s), such as waste material(s) and/or releases, such as emissions, to air, soil and/or water. The candidate environmental attribute data may include predefined environmental impact factor(s) as described in the context of FIG. 6. The candidate environmental attribute data may be stored in a database, such as database 1414 of FIG. 14.

The provided candidate data associated with production of the coating may be optimized using the provided target environmental impact data and the provided candidate environmental attribute data (see block 1508). Optimizing may include determining candidate environmental impact attribute(s) and minimizing at least one determined candidate environmental impact attribute associated with at least one process step of the candidate coating process(es).

Optimization may include

• determining candidate environmental impact attribute(s) for one or more candidate process step(s) of a candidate coating process based on the data provided in blocks 1504 and 1506

• minimizing the determined candidate environmental impact data by adapting the candidate data provided in block 1504, determining adapted environmental impact attribute(s) for the adapted candidate data and comparing the adapted environmental impact attribute(s) to the provided target environmental attribute data. The candidate environmental impact attribute data may be determined based on the data provided in blocks 1504 and 1506 as described in the context of FIG. 11. Adapting the provided candidate data may be performed by a numerical method configured to adapt the provided candidate data by minimizing a given cost function starting from the provided candidate data. Minimization may include recursively adapting the candidate data to obtain adapted environmental impact attribute(s) and comparing the recursively obtained environmental impact attribute(s) to the provided target environmental impact data until the cost function falls below a given threshold or until the number of iterations reaches a predefined limit. Adaption of the provided candidate data may include adapting the provided candidate process step data, such as the candidate production data, candidate application data and/or candidate material data. The cost function may include a distance or deviation between the adapted environmental impact attribute(s) and target environmental impact attribute(s) included in the provided target environmental impact data. The cost function may include a distance or deviation between each adapted environmental impact attribute and each associated or matching target environmental impact attribute. The deviation may include a standard deviation. The numerical method may be configured to consider constraint(s) included in the target environmental impact data during adaption of the provided candidate data. A suitable numerical method includes the COBYLA (Constrained Optimization BY Linear Approximations) method as described in M. J. D. Powell, "A direct search optimization method that models the objective and constraint functions by linear interpolation," Advances in Optimization and Numerical Analysis, eds. S. Gomez and J.-P. Hennart (Kluwer Academic: Dordrecht, 1994), pages 51 to 67. The COBYLA method is a local derivative-free optimization which supports arbitrary nonlinear inequality and equality constraints. The numerical method may be included in environmental impact optimization application 1418 (see FIG. 14). The numerical method may be stored on a database and may be retrieved by environmental impact optimization application 1418 upon performing the optimization (see FIG. 14).

The optimized candidate data associated with the production of the coating may be provided. The optimized candidate data may include one or more optimized environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the coating process or step(s) thereof. The optimized environmental impact attribute(s) may be associated with one or more material(s). The optimized environmental impact attribute(s) may be associated with one or more process step(s). Providing such data may include storing such data on a database. Providing such data may include displaying such data on a display device, for example within a graphical user interface.

Control data configured to control the production of a coating may be generated based on the optimized candidate data generated in block 1508. The control data may include optimized coating process data. The control data may be provided to a paint unit 128 configured to perform the coating process.

By using constraints included in the provided target environmental impact data, the optimization of the environmental impact of the coating process may be performed in line with a given process layout of a physical coating process or line with given material(s) to be used by using different variations or option(s) of a process step associated with different environmental impact attribute(s). Hence, the inventive method may ensure that the optimized data may be applicable to a real coating process to reduce the environmental impact of such coating process. By generating control data based on the optimized data, the coating process can be controlled such that the optimized environmental impact is achieve by said coating process.

The present disclosure has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments and examples as well. However, other variations can be understood and effected by those persons skilled in the art and practicing the claimed invention, from the studies of the drawings, this disclosure and the claims.

Any steps presented herein can be performed in any order. The methods disclosed herein are not limited to a specific order of these steps. It is also not required that the different steps are performed at a certain place or in a certain computing node of a distributed system, i.e. each of the steps may be performed at different computing nodes using different equipment/data processing.

As used herein ..determining" also includes ..initiating or causing to determine", “generating" also includes ..initiating and/or causing to generate" and “providing” also includes “initiating or causing to determine, generate, select, send and/or receive”. “Initiating or causing to perform an action” includes any processing signal that triggers a computing node or device to perform the respective action.

In the claims as well as in the description the word “comprising” or “including” or similar wording does not exclude other elements or steps and shall not be construed limiting to the elements or steps lined out. The indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in the mutual different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used in an advantageous implementation or further elements may be included.

Providing in the scope of this disclosure may include any interface configured to provide data. This may include an application programming interface, a human-machine interface such as a display and/or a software module interface. Providing may include communication of data or submission of data to the interface, in particular display to a user or use of the data by the receiving entity.

Claims

1. A method, in particular a computer-implemented method, for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, wherein the coating process or the step(s) thereof result in the production of a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s), the method comprising:

- providing data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof,

- providing environmental attribute data associated with consumption processes and/or generation processes occurring within the coating process,

- determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the coating process based on the provided data associated with the coating process and the provided environmental attribute data,

- providing the determined environmental impact attribute(s).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof includes coating process data, location data and/or environmental impact method data.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof signifies a digital representation of the equipment(s), material(s) and condition(s) used within the coating process or the step(s) thereof and the operation(s) performed within the coating process or the step(s) thereof.

4. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the environmental attribute data includes predefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with the material(s) within the coating process, predefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with energy consumed within the coating process, predefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with thermal energy consumed within the coating process, predefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with waste generated during the coating process and/or predefined environmental impact factor(s) associated with release(s) to air, soil and/or water generated during the coating process.

5. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the determined environmental impact attribute(s) are associated with consumption of the one or more material(s) during the coating process, consumption of thermal energy during the coating process, consumption of electric energy during the coating process and/or generation of waste and/or releases to air, soil and/or water generated during the coating process.

6. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the determined environmental impact attribute(s) is/are associated with at least one environmental impact category, in particular wherein the determined environmental impact attribute(s) represent(s) quantifiable representation(s) of the respective environmental impact category or categories.

7. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the environmental impact attribute(s) are determined for one or more process step(s) included in the coating process and/or for the coating process.

8. The method of any one of the preceding claims, further including a step of aggregating determined environmental impact attribute(s) into environmental impact classification(s) using a rule-based engine including one or more aggregation rule(s), and optionally providing the environmental impact classification(s).

9. An apparatus for monitoring and/or evaluating and/or determining environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, wherein the coating process or the step(s) thereof result in the production of a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s), the apparatus comprising:

- a data providing interface configured to provide data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof and environmental attribute data associated with consumption processes and/or generation processes occurring within the coating process,

- an environmental impact determination unit configured to determine environmental impact attribute(s) associated with the coating process based on the provided data associated with the coating process and the provided environmental attribute data,

- an environmental impact providing unit configured to provide the determined environmental impact attribute(s).

10. A method, in particular a computer-implemented method, for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, wherein the coating process or the step(s) thereof result in the production of a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s), the method comprising:

- providing target environmental impact data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof,

- providing candidate data associated with one or more candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof,

- providing candidate environmental attribute data associated with consumption processes and/or generation processes occurring within the candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof,

- optimizing the provided candidate data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof using the provided target environmental impact data and the provided candidate environmental attribute data,

- providing the optimized candidate data including one or more optimized environmental attribute(s).

11. The method of claim 10, wherein optimizing the provided candidate data includes determining candidate environmental impact attribute(s) associated with candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof and minimizing at least one determined candidate environmental impact attribute.

12. The method of claim 10 or 11 , further including a step of generating control data configured to control the coating process based on the optimized candidate data.

13. An apparatus for optimizing environmental impact attribute(s) associated with a coating process or step(s) thereof, wherein the coating process or the step(s) thereof result in the production of a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s), the apparatus comprising:

- a data providing interface configured to provide target environmental impact data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof, candidate data associated with one or more candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof and candidate environmental attribute data associated with consumption processes and/or generation processes occurring within the candidate coating process(es) or step(s) thereof,

- an optimizing unit configured to optimize the provided candidate data associated with the coating process or the step(s) thereof using the provided target environmental impact data and the provided candidate environmental attribute data,

- an optimized data providing unit configured to provide the optimized candidate data including one or more optimized environmental attribute(s).

14. Use of environmental impact attribute(s) as generated by the methods claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 or by the apparatus of claim 9 to monitor a coating process for producing a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s).

15. Use of optimized candidate data including one or more environmental impact attribute(s) as generated by the method disclosed in any one of claims 10 to 12 or by the apparatus disclosed in claim 13 to control a coating process for producing a coating including one or more coating layer(s) on at least a part of a surface of an object using one or more material(s).