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EP-4740156-A1 - CAPACITY EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS

EP4740156A1EP 4740156 A1EP4740156 A1EP 4740156A1EP-4740156-A1

Abstract

Disclosed are methods, apparatuses and systems for monitoring and/or controlling a production of a chemical product based on a quantity (e.g. volume or amount) as requested by one or more downstream participant(s) of a chemical supply chain involving the chemical product and for generating mitigation data which may serve as a trigger to adopt the production such that capacity shortages are avoided and the chemical product can be produced in the quantity and for the time periods requested by the one or more downstream participant(s). Further disclosed is a chemical product produced by a chemical production network using said mitigation data and the use of the generated mitigation data to adapt the production of the chemical product.

Inventors

  • LANFRANCHINI, Stefania
  • BRUENING, Jan Claus
  • SCHWARZKOPF, Jens
  • HUESMANN, Stephan
  • MOTH, Alexandra

Assignees

  • BASF SE

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240701

Claims (15)

  1. 1. A computer-implemented method for monitoring and/or controlling a production of a chemical product in a quantity as requested by one or more downstream participant(s), wherein the chemical product is produced from input material(s) via chemical intermediate(s) by a chemical production network, said method comprising: (a) providing target data from the one or more downstream participant(s) for the chemical product to be provided to the downstream participant(s) for one or more time period(s), (b) providing one or more digital representation(s) associated with production chain(s) related with the production of the chemical product, wherein the digital representation includes plant data and capacity threshold(s) per plant and/or production chain, (c) determining production capacity shortage(s) based on the provided target data, the provided digital representation(s) and the capacity threshold(s), (d) if production capacity shortage(s) are determined, generating mitigation data associated with mitigation measure(s) related to input material(s), intermediate product(s), chemical product and/or production parameters, (e) providing the generated mitigation data for adapting the production of the chemical product according to the mitigation data.
  2. 2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target data is provided via a peer-to-peer communication from computing node(s) of a decentral network, the computing node(s) being associated with the one or more downstream participant(s).
  3. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the target data includes a decentral identifier, data associated with the chemical product, a quantity of the chemical product and time period data.
  4. 4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plant data includes plant identifier(s) associated with plant(s) forming the production chain(s).
  5. 5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the production chains are connected or interconnected via the chemical intermediate(s).
  6. 6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein determining production capacity shortage(s) includes • determining target production data for production chain(s) and/or plant(s) associated with the provided digital representation(s) for the one or more time period(s) based on the provided target data and the provided digital representation(s), • comparing the determined target production data to the capacity threshold(s) associated with the production chain(s) and/or the plant(s),
  7. 7. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the production capacity shortage(s) is/are determined via a virtual production process using the provided digital representation(s) and the target data.
  8. 8. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein generating mitigation data includes - generating warning message data and/or - generating monitoring and/or control data to adapt the production of the chemical product.
  9. 9. The method of any one of claims 1 to 8, further including a step of generating monitor and/or control data to monitor and/or control production of the quantity of the chemical product as requested by the one or more downstream participant(s) based on the provided target data and digital representation(s) if no production capacity shortage(s) are determined.
  10. 10. An apparatus for monitoring and/or controlling a production of a chemical product in a quantity as requested by one or more downstream participant(s), wherein the chemical product is produced from input material(s) via chemical intermediates by a chemical production network, said apparatus comprising: (a) a target data provider configured to provide target data from the one or more downstream participant(s) for the chemical product to be provided to the downstream participant(s) for one or more time period(s), (b) a data provider configured to provide one or more digital representation(s) associated with production chain(s) used to produce the chemical product, wherein the digital representation includes plant data and capacity threshold(s) per plant and/or production chain, (c) a production capacity shortage determinator configured to determine production capacity shortage(s) based on the provided target data, the provided digital representation(s) and the capacity threshold(s) (d) a mitigation data generator configured to - generate mitigation data associated with mitigation measure(s) related to input material(s), intermediate product(s), chemical product and/or production parameters if production capacity shortage(s) are determined, - provide the generated mitigation data for adapting the production of the chemical product according to the mitigation data.
  11. 11. A system for monitoring and/or controlling a production of a chemical product in a quantity as requested by one or more downstream partici pant(s), said system comprising: (a) an apparatus for monitoring and/or controlling a production of a chemical product in a quantity as requested by one or more downstream participant(s) as claimed according to claim 10, and (b) a chemical production network configured to - receive the mitigation data or the monitor and/or control data as generated according to the computer-implemented method claimed according to any one of claims 1 to 9, and - produce the chemical product from one or more input material(s) via one or more chemical intermediate(s) according to the received data.
  12. 12. A computer-implemented method for generating mitigation data for adapting a production of a chemical product to produce the chemical product quantity as requested by one or more downstream participant(s), wherein the chemical product is produced from input material(s) via chemical intermediate(s) by a chemical production network, said method comprising: (a) providing target data from the one or more downstream participant(s) for the chemical product to be provided to the downstream participant(s) for one or more time period(s), (b) providing one or more digital representation(s) associated with production chain(s) used to produce the chemical product, wherein the digital representation includes plant data and capacity threshold(s) per plant and/or production chain, (c) determining production capacity shortage(s) based on the provided target data, the provided digital representation(s) and the capacity threshold(s), (d) if production capacity shortage(s) are determined, generating mitigation data associated with mitigation measure(s) related to input material(s), intermediate product(s), chemical product and/or production parameters, (e) providing the generated mitigation data for adapting the production of the chemical product according to the mitigation data.
  13. 13. An apparatus for generating mitigation data for adapting a production of a chemical product to produce the chemical product quantity as requested by one or more downstream participants, wherein the chemical product is produced from input material(s) via chemical intermediate(s) by a chemical production network, the apparatus comprising one or more computing node(s) and one or more computer-readable media having thereon computer-executable instructions that are structured such that, when executed by the one or more computing node(s), cause the apparatus to perform the steps below: (a) provide target data from the one or more downstream participant(s) for the chemical product to be provided to the downstream participant(s) for one or more time period(s), (b) provide one or more digital representation(s) associated with production chain(s) used to produce the chemical product, wherein the digital representation includes plant data and capacity threshold(s) per plant and/or production chain, (c) determine production capacity shortage(s) based on the provided target data, the provided digital representation(s) and the capacity threshold(s), (d) if production capacity shortage(s) are determined, generate mitigation data associated with mitigation measure(s) related to input material(s), intermediate product(s), chemical product and/or production parameters, (e) provide the generated mitigation data for adapting the production of the chemical product according to the mitigation data.
  14. 14. Use of the mitigation data as generated by the computer-implemented method of claim 12 or by the apparatus of claim 13 to adapt the production of a chemical product to produce the chemical product in a quantity as requested by one or more downstream participant(s).
  15. 15. Chemical product produced by a chemical production network using the mitigation data as generated by the computer-implemented method of any one of claims 1 to 9 or by the apparatus of claim 10.

Description

Capacity early warning systems TECHNICAL FIELD Disclosed are methods, apparatuses and systems for monitoring and/or controlling a production of a chemical product based on a quantity (e.g. volume or amount) as requested by one or more downstream participant(s) of a chemical supply chain involving the chemical product and for generating mitigation data which may serve as a trigger to adapt the production such that capacity shortages are avoided and the chemical product can be produced in the quantity and for the time periods requested by the one or more downstream participant(s). Further disclosed is a chemical product produced by a chemical production network using said mitigation data and the use of the generated mitigation data to adapt the production of the chemical product. TECHNICAL BACKGROUND Large supply chains involve many different layers and variables that may affect the timeliness of supply chain milestones. For example, large supply chains typically include raw material suppliers, chemical product producers, chemical product consumers, and end-product manufacturers. Each of these components may be associated with many different dimensions which may impact the demands of various supply chain participants and hence also the production volume(s) of upstream participants of such supply chain participants. For example, end-product consumer demand may directly influence the demand of the end-product producer and hence also the demand of each upstream participant of the end-product producer. Large fluctuations in the demand of downstream participants may give rise to idle capacity or, even more problematic, capacity shortages at upstream participants, such as chemical product producers. Capacity shortages of chemical product producers in turn may negatively impact production and delivery milestones of downstream participants of the supply chain. Hence, there is a need to tailor production operations of chemical product producers to quantities to be produced for one or more downstream participant(s). SUMMARY In an aspect, the disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for monitoring and/or controlling a production of a chemical product in a quantity as requested by one or more downstream participant(s), wherein the chemical product is produced from input material(s) via chemical intermediate(s) by a chemical production network, said method comprising: (a) providing target data from the one or more downstream participant(s) for the chemical product to be provided to the downstream participant(s) for one or more time period(s), in particular wherein the target data is provided via a peer-to-peer communication from computing node(s) of a decentral network, the computing node(s) being associated with the one or more downstream participant(s), (b) providing one or more digital representation(s) associated with production chain(s) used to produce the chemical product, wherein the digital representation includes plant data associated with plant(s) forming the production chain(s) and capacity threshold(s) per plant and/or production chain, in particular wherein the production chains are connected or interconnected via the chemical intermediate(s), (c) determining production capacity shortage(s) based on the provided target data and the provided digital representation(s), (d) if production capacity shortage(s) are determined, generating mitigation data associated with mitigation measure(s) related to input material(s), intermediate product(s), the chemical product and/or production parameters, (e) providing the generated mitigation data for adapting the production of the chemical product according to the mitigation data (f) optionally generating a digital twin associated with the produced chemical product, wherein the digital twin includes a decentral identifier and chemical product data associated with the chemical product, wherein the digital twin is stored in a data storage associated with the chemical product producer for access by the downstream participant(s) and wherein access to the stored digital twin is controlled via the decentral identifier by the chemical product producer. In an aspect, the disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for monitoring and/or controlling a production of a chemical product in a quantity as requested by one or more downstream participant(s), wherein the chemical product is produced from input material(s) via chemical intermediate(s) by a chemical production network, said method comprising: (a) providing target data from the one or more downstream participant(s) for the chemical product to be provided to the downstream partici pant(s) for one or more time period(s), in particular wherein the target data is provided by determining via a decentral network an endpoint address associated with a chemical product producer operating the chemical production network and providing the target data via the decentral network to the determined endpoint address, (b) pr