4cost-aces/Extension
4cost-aces/Extension

4cost-aces/Sustain

Transparent calculation of the product carbon footprint

What is 4cost-aces/Sustain?

4cost-aces/Sustain is an optional extension module for the costing software 4cost-aces. It enables you to calculate the carbon footprint of your products over their entire life cycle.

Knowing a product’s carbon footprint is crucial for identifying opportunities to reduce emissions and improve sustainability. By analysing each phase of the product life cycle, companies can implement targeted strategies to minimise their environmental impact.

  • Up to 80% faster than conventional calculation methods

  • Applicable across all technologies and industries

  • Seamless integration with 4cost-aces

Areas of application

  • Manufacturing and production

  • Transport and logistics

  • Packaging

  • Disposal

  • Certificate compensation

FAQ: Product Carbon Footprint

What is a product carbon footprint?

A product carbon footprint is a measure of the total greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) associated with a product during its life cycle. This includes emissions from raw material extraction, manufacturing, transport, use, and disposal or recycling.

The carbon footprint is usually expressed in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e), which allow different greenhouse gases to be compared based on their global warming potential.

Calculate carbon emissions for manufacturing and production

4cost-aces/Sustain provides numerous features that enable you to transparently determine the carbon footprint and the associated costs for the manufacturing and production of your products. This allows you to optimise production processes and sites in terms of sustainability and select materials with the lowest possible environmental impact.

4cost-aces/Sustain contains a database with more than 950 materials and their respective carbon footprints. This means that no extensive preliminary research is necessary. The material database is fully editable and can be supplemented with your own values. The supplied data records are regularly updated by 4cost.

The well-proven parametric calculation model of 4cost-aces/Sustain automatically determines the carbon emissions of the selected manufacturing processes in conjunction with the product specifications and the materials used in each case, depending on the various technologies and additional processes.

An individual sustainability level can be defined for each production site, ranging from ‘not sustainable at all’ to ‘fully sustainable’. Each element (component, assembly, system) can then be assigned to a manufacturing site with its sustainability level. This level influences the calculated carbon footprint and the associated costs. It enables quick scenario analyses to identify optimal locations for production.

An individual energy level can be set for each production site, ranging from ‘very low energy consumption’ (e.g. pure assembly) to ‘extreme energy consumption’ (e.g. foundry or hardening shop). Each element (component, assembly, system) can then be assigned a manufacturing site with its energy level. This level influences the calculated carbon footprint and the associated costs. It enables quick scenario analyses to identify optimal locations for production.

Request a product demonstration

Experience 4cost-aces/Sustain live

We would be happy to demonstrate the capabilities of our costing software 4cost-aces/Sustain to you in person.

Request a no-obligation online product demonstration now. Our sales team will contact you shortly.

Our clients report on their success with 4cost

“The comparison of providers revealed, that 4cost achieved the highest score. We were particularly convinced by the fact that 4cost’s solutions can be used for all commodities, regardless of technology. Equally decisive was the enormous speed with which cost estimates are possible despite limited information.” Christian Ahrens Team leader of the Value Engineering department, Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH “A major advantage of the 4cost software is the seamless interlocking of the two costing approaches, top-down and bottom-up. This appeals to a wide variety of cost estimators and ensures a consistent cost view without losing information across all project phases.” Alexander Nordmeyer Value Engineer, Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH “The departments experience made with the costing software from 4cost are very positive and associated with high savings. By increasing transparency in the cost structures, a monetary benefit in the seven-digit range can already be recorded. We have made the right decision in our selection process and are very happy about our success!” Manfred Billes Department head of the EEPC team, MAN “From small start-ups to large corporations, costs must be constantly kept in view and controlled, especially in these difficult times. This succeeds very well with the 4cost software and I believe we can generate real added value for our companies.” Sarah Wörz Officer, Digitalisierungszentrum Ostwürttemberg “The consistent calculation method of the 4cost tools convinced us right from the start. Very quickly we realised, that this methodology supports our needs in calculation, value engineering, purchasing and engineering excellently.” Frank Hoffmann Head of Supply Chain Management, Rheinmetall Electronics GmbH “With 4cost's modern parametric calculation models it is possible to estimate good and valid costs already in phases with limited detail of knowledge. In order to establish this, we not only made use of 4cost's software solutions, but also using their expertise in value engineering.” Senior staff member Purchasing department, Rolls-Royce “The 4cost-aces interface is user-friendly and logically structured, especially when compared to other cost estimation tools. This makes it easier to use the tool even for occasional users.” Thomas Fiedler Head of Cost Architecture A30X, Future Projects & Costing Performance, Airbus Deutschland “We decided on 4cost because we see a significant added value for our calculation and value analysis in a consistent approach from quick cost estimates to detailed calculations. We focus now on the main cost drivers and identify areas with the greatest potential for cost optimization.” Werner Seifried Technical Director, Liebherr-Hydraulikbagger GmbH (2009) “With 4cost we have a partner with whom we are implementing our objective of a long-term partnership in the areas of cost estimation, value analysis and cost structure analysis. We will continue to establish 4cost's solutions and use them even more intensively in the future, because the added value is obvious.” Werner Seifried Technical Director, Liebherr-Hydraulikbagger GmbH (2009) “With the parametric cost estimate from 4cost-aces, we are fast and reliably in estimating new assemblies and examine scenarios.” “With the 4cost-structure calculation tool, we are tracking target costs and manage our projects, including history and versioning.” Peter Schmidt Value analysis department, Liebherr-Hydraulikbagger GmbH (2009) “The partnership-based cooperation with 4cost enables us to arrive at rapid cost estimates for our projects both in-house and directly at our customers site. I would not have expected a calculation of the costs at such an early stage in the product development process with such depth, consideration of variants and meaningfulness of the answers!” Matthias Miesbeck Project engineer, HOLZER Firmengruppe “We were enthusiastic about the speed and cost transparency during the 4cost workshops. We used the results from the workshops as a base for our business case analysis. We froze the cost target as cost reference for the subsequent development process and continuously referenced and checked on them.” Hinrik Weber Head of the optoelectronics business unit, Pepperl+Fuchs “The speed in which the costs are determined is impressive with this method. Elaborate work plans do not have to be predefined and evaluated, because the parametric approach of 4cost-aces is based on material and value-added approaches.” Ernst Tabel Project manager, Pepperl+Fuchs “With 4cost-aces we are able to arrive at valid cost statements very quickly. Compared to a bottom-up calculation that typically takes several weeks, we only need one to three days for the first cost assessment.” Gregor Schwab Head of Orders & Offers, Production, EADS Defence & Security “In addition to the drastic time advantage of this costing method, the workshops have another effect that should not be underestimated: all participants agree on a common costing basis during the meetings and evaluate it in detail. The acceptance of the calculated cost values is very high due to the involvement of all participants.” Gregor Schwab Head of Orders & Offers, Production, EADS Defence & Security “The workshop with the 4cost team was convincing both in terms of methodology and result. We were getting an idea of how the parametric approach of the 4cost-aces costing software works. Many new possibilities could now be approached in our daily work.” Stefan Buchwald Strategic buyer, BARD Engineering “The 4cost solutions enable us to become an extended workbench to the costing departments of companies in our region.” Peter Schmidt Head, Digitalisierungszentrum Ostwürttemberg “The early breakdown of product and project costs with 4cost-aces not only offers us a high level of cost transparency, but in particular shows us optimisation potential for development and design. On the one hand, we are thus able to forecast future manufacturing costs in the case of design changes and on the other hand, to independently check manufacturing costs of already existing designs.” Martin Klotz Product Cost Engineer, Liebherr-Werk Biberach GmbH “The simplicity and speed of creating and comparing different technical, location and quantity scenarios in 4cost-aces is impressive.” Andreas Müller Senior Operations and Procurement Manager, AutoFlight Europe “Thanks to the workshop with 4cost, we received meaningful and transparent results in a short time, which allows us to take measures at an early stage to secure the profitability of our products.” Andreas Müller Senior Operations and Procurement Manager, AutoFlight Europe “The use of 4cost-aces has led to a considerable improvement in our efficiency, as we calculate up to 75 % faster. Cost calculations that would otherwise take us several weeks to complete are done within a few days with 4cost-aces.” Hanno Pieles Director Business Unit Performance, newboxes “4cost-aces has become a valuable tool for our company because we use it to help our clients increase their cost transparency significantly and take their cost management to the next level.” Hanno Pieles Director Business Unit Performance, newboxes "Parametric costing enables us to create valid calculations in the early quotation phases with relatively little effort." Tim Wiedemann Systems Engineer, MT Aerospace AG “Thanks to 4cost-aces, we can plan and implement our projects more efficiently. The software has established itself as an indispensable tool in our development process and contributes significantly to the success of our projects.” Hannes Büttner Head of Projects & Value Analysis, BAUER Maschinen GmbH “The calculations using parametrics are incredibly fast compared to the bottom-up approach, which allows us to react quickly to new requirements and designs. The design-to-cost process is streamlined and requires fewer resources.” Hannes Büttner Head of Projects & Value Analysis, BAUER Maschinen GmbH “With the introduction of 4cost-aces, we have consistently enhanced our established processes. Following an intensive testing and implementation phase, nearly all cost estimates at MTG are now carried out using 4cost-aces.” Michael Rudius Head of Operations, MTG Marinetechnik GmbH “With 4cost-aces, we can now perform calculations even in areas where we previously had to rely on approximate values—such as for project management, documentation, software, and maintenance costs.” Michael Rudius Head of Operations, MTG Marinetechnik GmbH Rheinmetall MAN digiZ Rolls-Royce Airbus Liebherr Holzer Pepperl+Fuchs EADS BARD AutoFlight Europe GmbH newboxes GmbH MT Aerospace AG BAUER Maschinen GmbH MTG Marinetechnik GmbH

Calculate carbon emissions for packaging and transport

4cost-aces/Sustain enables you to perform quick and detailed analyses to help you make optimal decisions regarding the packaging and transport of your products. The software allows you to design, compare and evaluate different packaging and transport scenarios in terms of their sustainability.

AI 4cost-aces/Sustain offers two options for planning sustainable transport routes: The AI-assisted route planning automatically determines the optimal means of transport (lorry, train, ship, plane) and routes between the selected destinations. The manual route planning allows users to select their desired means of transport and routes. In both cases, the software calculates the amount of CO2 emitted during transport and the associated costs.

For the exact calculation of distances, it is possible to specify production sites at address level. Once defined, the locations are stored in the database with their coordinates and are then available for all projects and users.

Once defined, routes are stored in the database with their respective coordinates and are then available for all projects and users. These routes also serve as templates from which alternatives can quickly be derived (e.g. changing means of transport or adding a stopover with the same start and end addresses. The effects on carbon emissions and the impact on costs are immediately apparent.

Five different transport classes (e.g. container or hazardous goods) are predefined in 4cost-aces/sustain, which can be set individually for each element (component, assembly, system). Customised transport classes can easily be added to the database. This is followed by a multi-dimensional, parametric calculation that automatically takes into account the dimensions, masses and quantities of the goods to be transported. Carbon emissions and associated transport costs are instantly displayed according to the selected transport class. This allows for rapid what-if analyses and risk assessments to provide a solid basis for decision making.

To provide logisticians with quick analyses and insights into possible optimisations, 4cost-aces/Sustain automatically calculates the masses and distances to be transported for each individual element (component, assembly, system). The calculation takes into account batch sizes, excess quantities, mechanical and electronic components and defined routes.

4cost-aces/Sustain comes with six predefined packaging classes (e.g. single packaging or impact-resistant packaging), which can be set individually for each element (component, assembly, system). Customised packaging classes can easily be added to the database. Due to the significant impact of oversize and very complex product geometry on packaging costs and carbon footprint, it is possible to further adjust the assigned packaging classes using the ‘Oversize’ and ‘Complex Geometry’ options.

This is followed by a multi-dimensional, parametric calculation that automatically takes into account the dimensions, masses and quantities of the goods to be packaged. Carbon emissions and associated packaging costs are instantly displayed according to the packaging class set. This allows for rapid what-if analyses and risk assessments to ensure informed decision making. If the analysis is carried out during the development phase, optimisations can be made to the product design at an early stage in order to reduce the carbon footprint of the packaging.

Each element (component, assembly, system) can be assigned a location for packaging and transport, including a sustainability level. This level affects the carbon footprint of the packaging and the selected transport type from the location to the destination. This makes it possible to compare the environmental and cost impacts of different locations in a clear and structured way.

Calculate carbon emissions for disposal

The way a product is disposed of has a significant influence on its carbon footprint. This course is already set during product design. 4cost-aces/Sustain offers you the opportunity to create various disposal scenarios at an early stage and compare their impacts on the environment.

4cost-aces/Sustain comes with seven predefined disposal classes (e.g. ‘slightly contaminated’ or ‘recyclable’) which can be set individually for each element (component, assembly, system). Customised disposal classes can easily be added to the database. Since dismantlability and non-destructive disposal have a significant impact on disposal costs and the carbon footprint, it is possible to further adjust the assigned disposal classes using the ‘Dismantlable’ and ‘Non-destructive’ options.

This is followed by a multi-dimensional parametric calculation that automatically takes into account the dimensions, masses and quantities of the goods to be disposed. The carbon emissions and the associated disposal costs are immediately displayed according to the disposal class set. This enables a holistic view of the product life cycle. If the analysis is carried out during the development phase, optimisations can be made to the product design at an early stage to reduce the carbon footprint of the disposal.

Informed decisions based on transparent analyses

4cost-aces/Sustain provides you with all carbon footprint calculations as required and ensures that you can rely on the results due to intelligent checking mechanisms within the software.

All entries and changes to the sustainability parameters are calculated immediately by 4cost-aces/Sustain and the results are presented clearly in a report. The carbon footprint and costs can be displayed both for the entire project and for each individual structural element. Thanks to the real-time report feature, all variants and scenarios can be quickly and easily compared to identify the respective optimum.

When calculating carbon emissions for production, packaging, transport and disposal, offsetting certificate shares can be set for each element (component, assembly, system). The price for carbon equivalents is managed in a central database and regularly updated by 4cost.

To minimise errors and optimise the selected configurations, 4cost-aces/Sustain performs logic checks on all user-defined settings. This ensures that the selected settings are validated and confirmed.

All entries and resulting values can be exported from 4cost-aces/Sustain to Excel sheets and thus made accessible to other applications.