Technology Radar for a Sustainable Biological Transformation in the Manufacturing Industry

Bio-inspired, bio-integrated, bio-intelligent product and production systems are new research approaches aimed at achieving sustainability in manufacturing. For the industrial application of new technological solutions, it is crucial to convey their added value from not only an economic but also an environmental perspective. The evaluation of their technological readiness plays an important role in implementation. This paper presents a technology radar developed and evaluated within German research project BioFusion 4.0 involving 13 industry and research partners. The paper outlines the development approach and its application by means of three technological examples. The technologies are categorized and assessed using four significant attributes of an effective biological transformation: (1) the mode of action (bio-inspiration, bio-integration, and bio-interaction); (2) the transformative character and (3), the Technology - and (4) Sustainability Readiness Level. The technology radar comprises a step-by-step procedure to assess a technology by each criterion to enable different stakeholders, such as production planners or product developers to evaluate and identify suitable technologies according to their needs and business strategy. The application of the technology radar is demonstrated on the exemplary technologies of a digital twin with integrated life-cycle assessment, situation awareness monitor for networked production systems and bio-based 3D printing.