Biological Transformation in process simulation for enhancing ecological sustainability indicators

Achieving a sustainable value creation with innovative technological means based on principles of living nature is the goal of Biological Transformation (BT). The three essential principles of BT: Bio-Inspiration, Bio-Integration and Bio-Interaction, enable the implementation of biologically transformed materials, structures and processes. BT is an emerging concept in the field of Industrie 4.0, taking a particular emphasis on product creation, but its specific influence and the potential for process planning in manufacturing are still underrepresented in research. Regarding the BT of the manufacturing industry, the goal in process planning is to support the user towards the most sustainable processes. Due to the current lack of profound systematical approaches process planning strongly depends on the user's level of knowledge of conventional manufacturing processes, which can be inefficient in terms of environmental sustainability. Therefore, this paper methodically investigates the potential for process planning using a taxonomy of principles for the BT of the manufacturing industry. These categorized modes of action for a BT are linked to key performance indicators within the economic and environmental sphere. As a result, expedient approaches for a biologically transformed process planning are uncovered, which address the principles of adaptation, self-adaption and bio-intelligent process engineering to affect the energy consumption, machining time and process stability. Furthermore, first concept ideas for an integrated solution are presented and a basic validation is provided.