📑2. Data Collection (LCI)

Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) is the second step of LCA. Here is where you need to collect all the data points required for LCA.

Your data doesn't need to be perfectly complete. Yook's software can work with every type of data. Whether complete or incomplete, whether automated data exchange via API or manual CSV exports - We have you covered. Data gaps are closed by our software and we guide you toward collecting the most relevant and vital data points with the help of our accuracy metric. make

Product Data Collection and Sources

We collect your product data using manual or automatic exports from your ERP/ PLM system. In general, we work with every data point available. But keep in mind that, the more and better data points are available, the more accurate the result is ( see the Accuracy Score).

Important data points over the product's life cycle are weight, material composition, origins, production methods, as well as supply chain data, and packaging information. We use sector-specific guidelines and industry-specific proxies in case of data gaps. Thus, most of the data points are already available in a BOM export. Additional information, such as the energy mix used in your production facilities or supplier-specific data, can be uploaded additionally.

The following table shows which data is required in the different life cycle stages, using the example of a plastic chair.

Life Cycle Stage	Input data	Example: Plastic Chair
Materials	Weight (product + components) materials Name Composition Origin Supplier properties	chair weight: 5,5 kg 4,5 kg Polypropylene (PP) >origin: unknown, proxy: China >50 % recycled 1,0 kg Steel Screws >origin: Poland
Material Transformation	Process type Material loss Energy consumption Type of energy supply Additional input (e.g. chemicals) Location	Injection Molding (PP) >3,5 % loss rate >12 kWh electricity >Italy
Production	Process type Energy consumption Energy mix at production facility Additional input (e.g. chemicals) Location	Chair Assembly (semi-automated) >2,5 kWh electricity >Germany >100 % renewables
Transport	1. Raw materials - Transformation 2. Transformation - Production > Distances > Transport means	PP: China (proxy) - Italy - Germany >12.000 km ship + 1.500 km truck >1.800 km truck Screws: Poland - Germany >1.500 km truck
Packaging	Weight and type of raw material packaging Weight and type of component packaging Weight and type of product packaging	corrugated carton: 1,2 kg >100 % recycled Plastic bag: 0,085 kg

Building virtual BOMs to depict the product flow

Now it's on us: we check your product data, close data gaps, merge data from different sources, and clean it up. Then, we use your static data to replicate the product flow, accounting for non-linear relations and supply chains. This is what we call a virtual BOM.

Typically, your BOM comprises a multitude of components and sub-components. Among these are items that undergo processing or sub-assembly, details not directly included in the BOM. Therefore, we enrich this information to provide a more comprehensive overview.