How can we systematically develop recyclable products?
At the second consortium meeting on 10 July 2025 at Fraunhofer IEM in Paderborn, the GoProZero project partners sought and found answers to this question. Interactive workshops and specialist presentations focused on topics such as lifecycle data management, AI-supported engineering and energy efficiency.
GoProZero aims to develop systematic methods for developing resource-efficient and recyclable products. The focus is on digital transformation and the sustainable design of industrial value creation – from the product idea to recycling.
Status quo and practice-oriented exchange
During the meeting, the participating working groups presented the current status of their work packages. In addition to compact presentations of results, several workshops provided space for in-depth discussions. One workshop, for example, dealt with the challenges of integrating AI assistance functions into product development. Here, experiences, requirements and possible formats for testing digital applications were jointly developed.
inIT is working on data infrastructure for sustainable products
The inIT working group 'Interconnected Automation Systems', headed by Prof. Dr. Henning Trsek, was represented by research group leader Natalia Moriz and research associate Philip Sehr. During the meeting, the two of them presented the latest results from the 'Lifecycle Data Management' work package, in which inIT plays a key role.
The aim is to establish a prototypical data infrastructure that systematically collects relevant engineering data and makes it usable for sustainable decisions. This is based, among other things, on interviews with industry partners, in which existing tool landscapes, data gaps and relevant sustainability metrics such as CO₂ balances or resource use were surveyed. The evaluations are incorporated into the development of a data and tool map, which is intended to show individual migration paths for companies in the long term.
Valuable discussion for the next steps
“The close cooperation between the project participants and the constructive exchange in the workshops made it clear how great the potential of digital technologies is for sustainable transformation, and where we need to start to make them effective,” says Natalia Moriz, summarising her impressions of the meeting.
Find out more about GoProZero at:https://www.init-owl.de/forschung/projekte/detail/gestaltung-von-integrierten-produktentstehungs