In Helix, you can allocate processes over products to connect environmental impacts from production steps to your final products. This matters because most production sites make more than one product. To get accurate results per product, you need to distribute your process impacts across them.
In this article, you’ll learn:
Why is allocation important?
How to allocate processes to products?
How does mass allocation in Ecochain Helix work?
How does economic allocation in Ecochain Helix work?
Next steps
Looking for more context? Check out these related articles:
Why is allocation important?
Every production process in Helix contributes to the environmental impact of your products. Without allocation, you’ll only see total impacts, not how much belongs to each product.
Allocating processes to products gives you accurate results for each product. Helix simplifies allocation by offering several distribution methods. You choose the method that fits your situation, and Helix handles the calculation.
How to allocate processes to products
Step 1. Open the Process x Product page
In the menu, go to Input → 3.Product → 5.Process x Product.
You’ll see a table (Figure 1):
Columns = your processes.
Rows = your products.
Here, you decide how each process should be distributed across your products.
Step 2. Choose an allocation method
For each process, select one of the available distribution methods:
By production weight: divides process impact by product weight (mass allocation).
By production amount: divides process impact by production volume.
Custom: this method allows you to use additional variables to create a more fitting distribution method for your processes.
Manual: lets you enter allocation values yourself, or upload them from Excel.
Read more on the different distribution methods below!
Not sure how allocation works, or how to make decisions about the distribution methods? Read this article!
Pro tip - Automatic updates: Except for ‘Manual’, Helix automatically updates allocations when you change other parts of your model. For efficiency, avoid ‘Manual’ unless you really need it.
Step 3. Apply the allocation
How you can use the distribution methods depends per method:
By production weight or amount: select the option in the dropdown, and Helix applies it automatically.
Manual: select ‘Manual’ in the dropdown menu, and fill out your allocation numbers for each product manually, or upload them using an excel import.
Custom: select ‘Custom’ in the dropdown menu and choose the variables you want to base your distribution on. Helix multiplies these to calculate the process distribution.
The custom distribution method by default includes the following variables (see figure 2):
Production amount
Product weight
Product volume
Sales price
Any custom properties you’ve added
To add more variables for your process allocation, create product properties on the ‘Products’ page. For more information about this feature, read this article.
Figure 1: the Process x Product distribution table.
Figure 2: the ‘Custom’ distribution method pop-up.
How does mass allocation in Ecochain Helix work?
There are three distribution methods on the ‘Product x Process’ page that you can use to do mass allocation:
By production weight
Custom
Manual
Option 1: By production weight
Use this method if the process applies to all your products. Helix divides the process impact over all products, based on their weight and production volume.
Option 2: Custom allocation
The custom feature allows you to apply process allocation based on certain product characteristics or properties (see the previous section). There are two main options for applying mass allocation with this functionality.
Example allocation by products wieght:
Example allocation by products wieght:
You manufacture prefab steel sheds. To allocate the impact of factory lighting and utilities, select “By production weight.” Helix distributes the impact across sheds based on their weight.
Option 2.1: Custom (by BOM materials)
You can apply allocation based on the mass of materials in the Bill of Materials (BOM):
On the ‘Process x Product’ page, select ‘Custom’.
Under ‘Variables’, select ‘Production amount’.
Under ‘Total weight of the following materials’, choose the relevant material(s).
Click ‘Save’ to confirm your selection.
Helix will now multiply the production amount with the weight of the selected materials to calculate an allocation factor for each product. If a product doesn’t contain the material, no impact will be assigned.
Option 2.2: Custom (by product properties)
Use this method if you want allocation based on a product characteristic other than BOM materials.
Go to Input → 3.Products → 2.Products
Create a product property to identify which products should go through the process (read more here) The property you create can either be:
A dummy property (1 = products that go through the process, 0 = products that don’t)
Quantitatively meaningful (e.g. include a mass component, or financial value). You can import properties for multiple products at once.
After you’ve created and applied a property to your products, return to ‘Process x Product’ and select ‘Custom’.
Under ‘Variables’, select ‘Production amount’ and the property you created to identify products going through the process.
If the property is just a dummy property (1/0), also select 'Product weight'.
If the property already includes a mass component (i.e., the weight is already included by the property), leave 'Product weight' unchecked.
Click 'Save'.
Note – Choosing a property type: Using a dummy property (1/0) is usually the simpler approach. Quantitative properties (like mass or financial values) can be used, but are often more complex to set up.
Example custom allocation:
Example custom allocation:
You allocate steel sheet processing based on how much steel each product contains. Create a property for steel content, then use “Custom” with “Production amount” + “Steel Sheets weight” to distribute the impact.
How does economic allocation in Ecochain Helix work?
Use economic allocation when process impacts need to be divided across products based on economic characteristics (e.g. sales price or production cost). You’ll do this with the ‘Custom’ method on the ‘Process x Product’ page.
Steps:
Identify the economic variable you want to use (e.g. sales price, production cost).
Add it to Helix on the ‘Products’ page:
Go to ‘Process x Product’ and select ‘Custom’.
In the pop-up:
Select Production amount.
Select the economic variable you want to base the process distribution on.
Decide if Product weight is needed. This depends on the unit of your distribution variable:
If the variable is “price per kg,” include weight).
If the variable is “price per piece,” you don’t need weight.
Click Save.
Example economic allocation:
Example economic allocation:
Your PCR requires economic allocation by sales price. Add sales prices to your products on the ‘Products’ page, then in the ‘Custom’ distribution method popup, select ‘Production amount’ + ‘Sales Price’. Helix distributes process impacts based on the relative sales value of each product.
Next steps
You’ve learned how to:
Navigate the Process x Product page in Ecochain Helix.
Choose between weight, amount, custom, or manual allocation.
Apply mass or economic allocation depending on your needs.
Next step: Click Recalculate to apply your allocations. Then head to the Results section to analyze and export product-specific footprints.
Need more help?
Or reach out to support or your environmental specialist if you get stuck.
This article was written in close collaboration with Emma Thunnissen:
