Bring transparency at scale in your product journey with the Product Carbon Footprint module and its new bulk import

The Cozero Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) module offers a robust tool for analyzing the carbon footprint of individual products or product lines throughout their lifecycle. Sustainability teams use it to collect data and calculate emissions associated with product raw materials, manufacturing processes, transportation, and end-of-life disposal.

If you are unfamiliar with Product Carbon Footprint, you can check our introduction article or read about best practices for data collection through the product lifecycle. This article presents the module features, explain how to use it to calculate PCFs and share more about the latest development of the new bulk import feature.

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About Cozero’s PCF calculator

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The Cozero PCF module is designed to help enterprises accurately calculate and manage the carbon emissions associated with their products throughout their entire lifecycle. Particularly suited for manufacturing, retail, and logistics companies, it allows sustainability teams to gain deeper insights into internal operations and supply chain emissions. 

It offers advanced functionality to collect data internally and from suppliers, calculate emissions, analyze emission data trends, plan reduction initiatives, and report on sustainability metrics.

Connected to our decarbonization module Act, the PCF module supports companies in making informed decisions about product design, material selection, and production processes, which can lead to significant reductions in carbon emissions.  

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Features and benefits of the PCF solution

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The PCF module allows data collection and emission calculation across the product life cycle. Among relevant features, we can name:

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• A comprehensive emission database: The 40k emission factors database is tailored to different industries, geography, and suppliers. This enables companies to obtain accurate estimates of product emissions based on the latest and most relevant data.

• Granular emission analytics: Users can dissect emissions data to pinpoint major sources of emissions within the product lifecycle. This level of detail helps identify specific areas where interventions can yield the most significant reductions in environmental impact.

• Dynamic data input: The module allows for integrating data reflecting specific years of manufacturing or sale, providing a time-accurate emissions assessment and enabling historical comparisons and trend analysis.

• Product version tracking: It supports tracking changes across different product versions, allowing businesses to measure the impacts of any changes in material inputs, production processes, or product design on the overall carbon footprint.

• Integrated data collection: The tool streamlines primary data collection from various sources and systems within the organization and across the supply chain, thanks to the supplier engagement module.

• Automated assumptions: The module can generate automated assumptions based on product type and industry norms for data points that are not readily available, helping you reduce the data gaps.

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How to get started with Cozero’s PCF module

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To begin, you'll need to input data related to your products, including information from internal sources and your suppliers. This can involve details on raw materials, production methods, transportation, and end-of-life disposal. 

Connectors to ERP, PLM, and CAD systems can help import data from existing systems, reducing manual input and potential errors. The module also allows for easy direct data entry through its user-friendly interface or by utilizing the new bulk import feature to handle large datasets efficiently. 

Once the data is entered, the module calculates the carbon emissions across the entire product lifecycle. You can then access detailed analytics to identify critical areas where emissions can be reduced and monitor the effectiveness of implemented sustainability strategies. 

The dashboard page and Share module will provide comprehensive reports, which can be used for internal decision-making or external reporting to stakeholders.

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The new PCF’s Bulk Import

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We recently developed a new bulk import feature to facilitate uploading and processing large product datasets. Designed to enable the calculation of carbon emissions over the entire lifecycle of multiple products simultaneously, this feature marks a significant advancement in managing product carbon footprints at scale. 

The bulk import feature is a good fit for teams seeking to calculate and track the emissions of large and complex product lines, for example, in the retail or FMCG industries. It allows for streamlining the data collection and processing steps for organizations with multiple products, making it easier to assess the environmental impact of product lines and make data-driven decisions to reduce carbon emissions.

Users can choose the reporting level that matches their needs in the PCF Bulk Import:

• Cradle-to-gate: Raw materials acquisition, production, and packaging. This includes emissions from raw material extraction to the finished product that leaves your company gates. This covers the most common requests for data coming from your customers.
• Cradle-to-grave: Raw materials acquisition, production, packaging, distribution and storage, usage, and end-of-life. Includes emissions from the entire product’s life cycle, from raw material extraction to the disposal of the product at the end of its life.
• Cradle-to-cradle: Raw materials acquisition, production, packaging, distribution and storage, usage, and end-of-life. Includes emissions from the entire product life cycle, from raw material extraction to the recycling of the product at the end of its life.
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We provide matching templates that users can download to prepare their product data and then import in bulk through a user-friendly interface. The system then processes the data to calculate the carbon emissions associated with each product's lifecycle, providing comprehensive reports and insights. The feature includes error-checking mechanisms to ensure data integrity.

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Companies like WILO, Vodafone, Marantec and Mammut are using the Cozero PCF module to bring carbon transparency into every step of their product journey. For instance, Mammut has successfully leveraged the Cozero PCF module to redefine its sustainability strategy. By analyzing the comprehensive lifecycle carbon footprints of their outdoor gear, Mammut has been able to implement targeted reductions in emissions, leading to significant environmental performance improvements.  

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