Using Data to Generate New Bio-Based Value Chains – A Swiss Case

AlpLinkBioEco Project Deliverable D.T2.2.1: Value chain generating algorithm - Example

Andreas Fischer and Michael Keller, LP

University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO) - Plastics Innovation Competence Center (PICC)

February, 2020

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AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund

through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

This report has been produced within the frame of the AlpLinkBioEco project, funded by the Alpine Space INTERREG Programme of the European Commission. It was prepared by the LP, PICC, Switzerland.

Disclaimer The information and perspectives set out in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Commission or the project partners’ regions. Neither the European Commission institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained therein. Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged, unless otherwise stated. For use/reproduction of third party material specified as such, permission must be obtained from the copyright. For further information about the AlpLinkBioEco project, you will find a short description at the end of the document. To learn more and to download additional resources please refer to the project website http://www.alpine-space.eu/projects/alplinbioeco/en/home. The information is provided without assuming any legal responsibility for correctness or completeness. © AlpLinkBioEco, 2020

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AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund

through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

Introduction This document serves as a practical guide on how to use the Value Chain Generator for identifying and evaluating new value chains in the context of WPT 3. More specifically, on how to use the web interface in order to complete the first two parts of the template provided by PP 2, Business Upper Austria: “I. Main Idea for New Value Chain” and “II. Actor Description”. The guide follows a specific example from Switzerland step by step. Step 1 – Start with an actor descriptor Ideas for new value chains are documented in the actor descriptors interface that can be accessed via the menu “Actors > Actor descriptors”. In our example, we search for the Actor “Brütsch erdverbunden” and inspect one of the value chains: “VC2: NACE 108; Side stream: filtration cake, high of proteins, food approval (new, commercial)”.

The actor descriptor contains all the information about inputs, processes, and outputs that are needed to fill out the first part of the WPT 3 template: “I. Main Idea for New Value Chain”.

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AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund

through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

Step 2 – Add an original biolink We know that “Brütsch erdverbunden” may realize this new value chain with “Bäckerei Häfeli AG”. Using the new “Biolinks” interface, we add this original biolink with the “Add biolink” button. Brütsch and Häfeli are the first two actors that we add to the second section of the WPT 3 template: “II. Actor Description”.

A popup appears for describing the biolink in more detail. We enter a name and description, indicate that this biolink has not been tested yet, select a business case, search for our two actors by name and indicate that this biolink is not confidential.

Note about confidentiality: For confidential biolinks, only the “Description” field will be shown to other users of the database, together with the information which partner has added the biolink. In this case, it is important not to mention any confidential information (e.g. the names of the actors) in the description field.

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AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund

through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

The information symbol “i” next to the “Success chance category” can be clicked to receive more information about the different business cases.

After adding the biolink, we find ourselves in the “List of biolinks” tab. It provides an overview about all biolinks that may implement the idea, potentially. At the beginning, there is only one biolink in the list – the one we just have entered. We can click on the edit symbol next to it in order to follow up with this lead.

In the edit popup we add a comment and a log entry that the idea is ready to be proposed to both actors.

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AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund

through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

Step 3 – Search for alternative actors Now we are ready to use the Value Chain Generator in order to find new biolinks! The idea is to find other actors that can potentially replace actor A and/or actor B from our original biolink. Both intra-regional and inter-regional alternatives are possible. All promising actor alternatives that we find during this step are also added to the second section of the WPT 3 template: “II. Actor Description”. We start the search by clicking on the tab “Search alternatives” (1), select for which of the two actors we want to search alternatives “Actor B: Bäckerei Häfeli AG” (2), click on “Criterions” (3) to open the dialogue with the different search criterions, activate only the checkbox “NACE code” (4) in order to find alternative actors that share a NACE code with Häfeli, select which of the NACE codes of Häfeli we are interested in (5), and choose the level of precision for this code (6).

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AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund

through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

The resulting list of actors is quite long and spans several regions. We apply a further criterion, the “Keyword” search, by activating the corresponding checkbox next to it, and search for “pumpkin flour”. This helps us to narrow down the list to two actors, “Bäckerei und Konditorei Huber” as well as “Bäckerei-Konditorei Jost”.

Note about the keyword search: This is a new utility to navigate our database of actors, which is already quite large. The search is not sensitive to capitalization. It finds an exact match of the search term in:

- The actor name, description, and NACE codes (descriptive text of the NACE codes). - The actor’s descriptors, including name, description, inputs, processes, outputs,

benefits/properties.

The map displays the actors A and B from the original biolink, as well as the two remaining alternatives to Häfeli, which are located nearby in Switzerland and Germany, respectively. The “Max distance (km)” or the “Region” criterion can be used to further refine the search.

We are interested in Huber as an alternative and click on the “+” next to it, in order to add this alternative bioklink.

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AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund

through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

A popup appears that is similar to the one used to insert the original biolink. We can see that Huber is an “[alternative to Bäckerei Häfeli AG]”. We indicate that this biolink has not been tested yet, select the business case 2 with success chance 50%, and leave a comment.

Note that the info box next to the actors opens a popup with some summary information. Here we can see why Huber has been found with the keyword “pumpkin flour”.

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AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund

through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

After clicking on the “Add” button, the alternative biolink is added to the system. We can navigate back to the “List of biolinks” tab to see it alongside the original biolink. Both links can be further pursued, updating the log each time that something relevant happens, for example when a first contact is made with one of the actors.

At this point, we add Huber to the second section of the WPT 3 template: “II. Actor Description”. Whenever other alternative actors are found, they are added as well. Note that if the original biolink can be realized with two completely new actors, a third tab “Enter custom alternatives” is available in the interface, which allows to replace both Actor A and Actor B at the same time. Step 4 – Going beyond the original biolink idea We hope that by using the Value Chain Generator, new ideas will emerge. For example, when studying and discussing the biolinks entered by the other project partners or, as it was the case in our Swiss example, when studying alternative actors suggested by the system. When searching alternatives for Brütsch, by looking for the keyword “protein” (who else could be a supplier for protein rich flours for bakeries?) the result includes “Rimuss- und Weinkellerei Rahm AG”. Indeed, we could also use protein rich grape pressing residue for this value chain idea! Since the biolink with Rimuss does not correspond anymore to the description of the original biolink idea between Brütsch and Häfeli, we add a completely new biolink from the main menu (see Step 2) between Rimuss and an actor that can use the protein rich grape pressing residue, such as Häfeli or Huber.

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AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund

through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

Conclusions This document has introduced the new functionalities of the Value Chain Generator and its web interface to support the ongoing work for WPT 3. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the LP. We are especially interested to know about success stories, where the Value Chain Generator has helped you find alternative biolinks, or new biolink ideas.