Modeling a product is the first step in making a Product Footprint or initiating a full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for your product in Ecochain Mobius. You start this process by creating a product and adding its parts (e.g., the bill of materials). This article covers the following questions:
What are the steps to define a product?
How to add an item to the Product inventory?
How to organize my Product inventory?
Next steps.
Don't feel like reading an article? Watch video tutorials on creating products and adding (sub)items instead!
Feel like you're missing information? This article builds upon the following articles, check them out if you want to learn more:
On objects and products: Explained: Products, objects, and life cycles
What are the steps to define a product?
Access the Product overview page: Go to the Product overview page by selecting the Products tab in the blue panel on the left side of the dashboard (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Accessing the Products page in Mobius.
Create a product: Click the green Create product button on the top right side of the product overview page.
Define the product: Give your product a unique and identifiable name. Optionally, define the unit for your product - you can also leave it blank. (Figure 2).
Figure 2: How to create a product in Mobius.
Video tutorial
Watch Emma explain these concepts in our tutorial:
Now, you have created a product, but its Product inventory is empty. The next step is to add items (i.e., the bill of materials) to your product. Below, we describe how you can add items to your Product inventory.
How to add an item to the Product inventory?
Learn how to add subitems to your product! Follow the steps to seamlessly integrate your bill of materials - so the materials, manufacturing processes, semi-finished products, or any components you wish to include.
1. Add an item: In your Product inventory, select the + Add item button (Figure 3). This creates a new object for your product.
Pro tip - Adding items: Start by adding items that make up your product's larger component pieces or processes (e.g., fabric, water, dye, etc.). This helps keep your Product inventory organized.
Figure 3: Adding an item in Mobius.
2. Define the name, unit, and amount of the item: Input the desired name, unit, and amount of this object needed for your product in the detail panel that pops up on the right side of your dashboard (Figure 4). At this point, you can either:
Figure 4: Defining the name, unit, and amount of an item in Mobius.
Add more items: Add additional items, so objects that are on the same hierarchical level as the first item you added (See the Pro tip above), by selecting + Add another. Follow the same step to add additional items.
Add subitems: If the item you just added is made up of subitems (i.e., smaller building blocks), then select the green Add Item button. There is now one item in your product inventory. Hover over this item, and select the + or Add subitem button (Figure 5). Fill in the name, unit, and amount of this subitem required to produce your parent item.
Figure 5: Adding subitems in Mobius.
How to organize the Product inventory?
Your product is likely made up of more than one item or subitem. When adding additional items, it is useful to stay organized. How you structure (i.e., organize) your items and subitems in your Product inventory is up to you. However, if you don’t introduce hierarchical levels to your product inventory, you risk having a long list of objects that makes it hard to distinguish the component pieces of your product. Adding subitems (in multiple levels) helps solve this problem, making your Product inventory easy to follow! Figure 6 presents an example of how you can use subitems to structure your Product inventory.
Figure 6: Using subitems to create hierarchical levels in Mobius.
Video tutorial
Watch Emma explain these concepts in our tutorial:
Next steps
Creating a product in Mobius sets the foundation for a detailed Product Footprint and LCA. We hope this article helped you in this journey. For a longer video tutorial on this topic, click here!
Ready to explore more features within Mobius? Check out our other help center articles for comprehensive guidance on maximizing your ecodesign potential.