Digital tool maps the environmental impact of individual supply chains

Product designers can now model the impacts of changing materials, suppliers or technology across their entire supply chain from a single platform.

In today’s world of complex, global supply chains, it can be difficult for product designers and engineers to trace the ways in which a seemingly minor product design change can lead to higher carbon emissions or the use of an unwanted chemical. Now, London-based data and software engineering company EveryCS has developed Makersite – a free digital transparency tool that allows anyone to pinpoint costs, compliance risks and environmental impacts at every point on a supply chain.

The Makersite platform uses millions of data-points collected around thousands of products, sub-assemblies and materials to model the impact of multiple operations, such as compliance, risk and environmental and social impact. Designers and engineers can use the platform as a one-stop shop to model elements such as where restricted chemicals could enter the supply chain, the carbon footprint of every step of the supply chain, or how a change of material may affect costs, environmental performance or compliance all along thousands of different supply chains.

Use of the platform is free to everyone, although use of some commercial data and advanced features will be through a subscription model. Because much of the information on the platform is open and networked, the data on Makersite expands continuously, like Wikipedia. Users at all levels of experience can also use the platform to collaborate with experts on product design that meets specific criteria, such as the lowest possible carbon emissions, or learn how to create a supply chain that will make their dream product a reality.

Platforms similar to Makersite have already been used to help create transparency around the sources of news, measure demand for specific TV content in real time and track international shipments to increase supply chain efficiency. Now Makersite aims to make innovation easier by allowing anyone to easily model supply chain risk. In what other industries might increasing risk transparency offer increased innovation?