Sphera Case Studies Tata Steel's Sustainability Journey with GaBi Software

Edit This Case Study Record

	Tata Steel's Sustainability Journey with GaBi Software Sphera

Tata Steel's Sustainability Journey with GaBi Software

Sphera

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)
Applicable Industries	Automotive Construction & Infrastructure Metals
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development Quality Assurance
Services	Data Science Services
Challenge	Tata Steel, Europe’s second largest steel producer, has been using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for 16 years to support the development of its products and to contribute to industry-wide efforts to establish standards for sustainability, particularly in the automotive, construction, and packaging sectors. However, the company faced challenges in understanding how steel performs compared to other materials such as aluminium, concrete, timber, and carbon fibre. They also needed to use LCA studies as a marketing tool to support their supply chains and to support decision making in product development. Another challenge was identifying hot spots in the steel value chain so that efforts to reduce a product’s carbon footprint, water footprint, and energy use can be directed to where they will have most effect. Read More
About Customer	Tata Steel is Europe’s second largest steel producer with an output of 18 million tonnes of steel per year. The company has been using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for 16 years to support the development of its products and to contribute to industry-wide efforts to establish standards for sustainability. The company operates mainly in the automotive, construction, and packaging sectors. Tata Steel's sustainability team uses GaBi Professional, GaBi Reader, GaBi Databases ’11, and GaBi Extension Databases I-X, XII, XIV to build product models covering environmental impacts such as energy use, carbon emissions, water consumption, and material usage. Read More
Solution	Tata Steel employed a simplified LCA tool for non-specialists from the GaBi software family to build an interactive template (i-report). The tool produces results in a pre-set Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) format for the construction sector. The LCA experts at Tata Steel have developed the Construction Life Cycle Environmental Assessment Resource (CLEAR) model using GaBi. CLEAR allows a standard bill of materials for different building designs to be entered into the model and calculates the full life cycle environmental impacts of the different designs on a complete building, material type, or component basis. The model reflects the complex reality and relies heavily on the quality of data behind the GaBi software. The project has won plaudits within Tata Steel and made it to the final of Innovista, the wider Tata Group’s annual innovation awards. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)

Applicable Industries

Automotive

Construction & Infrastructure

Metals

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Quality Assurance

Services

Data Science Services

Challenge

Tata Steel, Europe’s second largest steel producer, has been using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for 16 years to support the development of its products and to contribute to industry-wide efforts to establish standards for sustainability, particularly in the automotive, construction, and packaging sectors. However, the company faced challenges in understanding how steel performs compared to other materials such as aluminium, concrete, timber, and carbon fibre. They also needed to use LCA studies as a marketing tool to support their supply chains and to support decision making in product development. Another challenge was identifying hot spots in the steel value chain so that efforts to reduce a product’s carbon footprint, water footprint, and energy use can be directed to where they will have most effect.

About Customer

Tata Steel is Europe’s second largest steel producer with an output of 18 million tonnes of steel per year. The company has been using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for 16 years to support the development of its products and to contribute to industry-wide efforts to establish standards for sustainability. The company operates mainly in the automotive, construction, and packaging sectors. Tata Steel's sustainability team uses GaBi Professional, GaBi Reader, GaBi Databases ’11, and GaBi Extension Databases I-X, XII, XIV to build product models covering environmental impacts such as energy use, carbon emissions, water consumption, and material usage.

Solution

Tata Steel employed a simplified LCA tool for non-specialists from the GaBi software family to build an interactive template (i-report). The tool produces results in a pre-set Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) format for the construction sector. The LCA experts at Tata Steel have developed the Construction Life Cycle Environmental Assessment Resource (CLEAR) model using GaBi. CLEAR allows a standard bill of materials for different building designs to be entered into the model and calculates the full life cycle environmental impacts of the different designs on a complete building, material type, or component basis. The model reflects the complex reality and relies heavily on the quality of data behind the GaBi software. The project has won plaudits within Tata Steel and made it to the final of Innovista, the wider Tata Group’s annual innovation awards.

Impact #1	LCA studies help Tata Steel understand how steel performs compared to other materials by demonstrating its environmental attributes.
Impact #2	Tata Steel uses LCA studies as a marketing tool to support its supply chains.
Impact #3	The information derived from LCA modeling using GaBi drives both Tata Steel’s own new product development, as well as supporting that of its customers.

Impact #1

LCA studies help Tata Steel understand how steel performs compared to other materials by demonstrating its environmental attributes.

Impact #2

Tata Steel uses LCA studies as a marketing tool to support its supply chains.

Impact #3

The information derived from LCA modeling using GaBi drives both Tata Steel’s own new product development, as well as supporting that of its customers.

Benefit #1	The LCA study supported Tata Steel’s development of Colorcoat® pre-finished steel products which are maintenance free for up to 40 years, significantly reducing environmental impacts in the use phase.

Benefit #1

The LCA study supported Tata Steel’s development of Colorcoat® pre-finished steel products which are maintenance free for up to 40 years, significantly reducing environmental impacts in the use phase.

Download PDF Version

Overview

Tata Steel's Sustainability Journey with GaBi Software

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit