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How do I use the scenario feature in Mobius?

Learn how to use the Scenario feature for multiple purposes in Ecochain Mobius.

The Scenario feature in Ecochain Mobius allows you to evaluate sustainable design decisions through your Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results by, enabling improvement and ecodesign possibilities. Secondly, it enables you to quickly model new products based on existing ones, saving you valuable time during the design process. This article focuses on explaining how to use the Scenario feature effectively. This article covers the following questions: 

  1. What is the Scenario feature?
  2. How does the Scenario feature work?
  3. What are the steps to creating a product scenario?
  4. How to use the Scenario feature to model products quickly?
  5. Next steps.

Don't feel like reading an article? Watch video tutorials on these subjects instead! 


What is the Scenario feature?

Once you've completed your initial product LCA or Product Footprint in Mobius, you likely want to test out how you can improve the environmental impact of your product. The Scenario feature, easily accessible under the Tools menu, allows you to test different product scenarios and make evidence-based sustainability decisions. Additionally, the Scenario feature can help you model new products more efficiently, allowing you to quickly iterate and explore design possibilities.


How does the Scenario feature work?

By generating a copy of your product, the Scenario feature enables ecodesign. Any changes to subitems result in an automatic copy, with the adjusted objects conveniently stored in your Object library.


What are the steps to creating a product scenario?

Let's learn how to create product scenarios:

  1. Access the Scenario feature: Find the Tools menu in the top right of your Product inventory, and select Create scenario (Figure 1).

    Screenshot 2024-01-22 153122

Figure 1: Accessing the Scenario feature in Mobius.

 

2. Create a new scenario: Click + Create from the dropdown list to make a new scenario (Figure 2). You will now have two products on your dashboard - the original product on the right and the copied product (the scenario) on the left (Figure 3). This copied product is now also in your Product overview page. You can change the name of this copied product.

Figure 2: Creating a scenario in Mobius.


Figure 3: The copied product (left) and original product (right) in Mobius.

3. Edit the new scenario: Make adjustments to the objects within your copied product to explore various design possibilities (Figure 4). Every time you change an object, Mobius will also copy this object and duplicate it. This enables you to safely change your new objects without changing your original product.


Figure 4: An edited scenario (left) that has swapped Electricity (deleted) for Renewable Electricity (added). The original version remains the same. Note how the environmental impact (bottom bar) changes.

 

Caution - Changes in Scenario view: Changes to your copied product must always be made in the Scenario view (i.e. when two products are side by side; Figure 4). Any changes made outside of the Scenario view will result in unintended changes to your original product.

If you created a Scenario while working in Mobius, but didn’t complete it or would like to edit it the next time you use Mobius you must return to the Scenario mode  (i.e., the two products are side-by-side). When generating a (new) scenario, Mobius asks whether you’d like to create a new Scenario or continue with a previously created Scenario (Figure 2). It can help to add a keyword to your original product’s name (e.g., Master) to better identify the original, enabling you to easily continue where you left off!

4. Compare scenarios: Compare the scenario to the original product. You can see which product has a lower environmental footprint at the bottom of the dashboard. 


Video Tutorial

Watch Emma explain these concepts in our tutorial: 


How to use the Scenario feature to model products quickly?

If you have already modeled a product, and want to create similar variants (e.g., you already modeled a white T-shirt and want to model children’s T-shirts), your first thought may be to create a new product and build its inventory. This can take considerable time and effort. The Scenario feature offers an efficient alternative to model variants based on a similar, already modeled product - provided their LCA structure is similar. After creating a product scenario, follow these steps to quickly model new, related products

  1. Change the name of the copied product: Starting from the side-by-side view of the original product and copied product, select the product name and edit the name in the Product detail side panel (Figure 5).
    Screenshot 2024-02-21 090925 Figure 5: Editing the name of the copied product scenario in Mobius.
  2. Adapt the copied product: Change the necessary objects within the copied product while in the Scenario view. Some of the things you might want to adapt are: 
    1. Change the amount used
    2. Remove objects that were part of the original product
    3. Add new objects that were not part of the original product
    4. Change the LCI (ecoinvent) datasets used for certain objects
    Your original product will remain unchanged. (See the Pro tip above for why this is important).
  3. Change the name of the adapted objects: When you change the objects within the copied product, the objects will have the word “copy” at the end of their name. Rename these objects to match your new product and avoid confusion in the Object library (Figure 6). 
    Screenshot 2024-02-21 091433
    Figure 6: Renaming the objects of the copied product scenario in Mobius.

Video Tutorial

Watch Emma explain these concepts in our tutorial:


Next steps

Creating product scenarios in Mobius provides a straightforward approach to evaluating sustainable design decisions. The Scenario feature allows you to assess the environmental impact of potential changes, or new designs, before reaching the production phase. It is also a useful tool to quickly model new structurally similar products to products you have already modeled.

Ready to dive deeper into Mobius's capabilities? Explore our other help center articles for comprehensive guidance on maximizing your ecodesign potential.