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The basis for an environmental benign design of the production is the knowledge of the environmental impacts of processes. By setting up an Environmental Knowledge Management System (EKMS) the perception can be organized. The application of the EKMS is divided into two steps: 1. Documentation of the actual state with the focus on data collection and modeling of technical systems (production of products). 2. Derive from prognostic statements by means of evaluated data and the identification of potentials for optimizations. The implementation and updating lays the foundations for the environmental optimization of the planning, development and production. The target is to ensure the availability of environmental information in the entire product developing process. The decision maker can identify optimization potentials with the help of this system already in an early stage of the product development process.

The automobile painting is a very energy and emission (solvents) intensive process step in the production of automobiles with regard to the small amount of paint applied to the car body. The awareness has risen that cleaner production technologies must substitute end-of-pipe control technologies. If these technologies strive for being a competitive option in corporate decision-making process, not only their environmental but also their technical and economical performance has to be on the same or better level compared to conventional technologies. The approach of Life-Cycle Engineering (LCE) by IKP and PE investigates technical, environmental and economical aspects of products and technologies to analyze weak points and optimization potentials as well as to support product and technology development. LCE methodology was applied to the comparison of 1K, 2K, waterborne and powder clear coat systems for automobile painting in a multi-client project.

The automobile painting is a very energy and emission (solvents) intensive process step in the production of automobiles with regard to the small amount of paint applied to the car body. The awareness has risen that cleaner production technologies must substitute end-of-pipe control technologies. If these technologies strive for being a competitive option in corporate decision-making process, not only their environmental but also their technical and economical performance has to be on the same or better level compared to conventional technologies. The approach of Life-Cycle Engineering (LCE) by PE and IKP investigates technical, environmental and economical aspects of products and technologies. It is developed to a simulation tool to analyse weak points and optimisation potentials as well as to support product and technology development in the painting industry.

The international standardisation of Environmental Management (EM) is documented by the ISO 14000 series. Within this series a number of Environmental Management tools are treated. Therefore, it can be seen as a ‘toolbox’ which offers several options for sound Environmental Management practices in organisations. However, a number of questions remain because they are not treated by the standards themselves. Some examples are, which of the tools should be applied to what kind of Environmental Management problem or what are the synergisms and antagonisms between these tools. To illustrate the importance of a comprehensive choice and a compatible approach towards EM-tools, Life-Cycle-Assessment (ISO 14040 series) is discussed in the context of Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001). The focus of ISO 14001 are organisations, while LCA deals with products or processes.

The potential of the minimal lubrication technology can only be brought to advantage by using a system wide perspective. Conventional physical and logistical models have shown to be insufficient for this purpose, and therefore, the authors developed a new, specific model. The new methodology offers default parameters for the main and auxiliary processes, which can be adapted to the production system which is studied. Next, the different processes are cross-linked and an overall evaluation is performed. The model empowers serial producers, for example in the automobile industry, to analyse all effects of a possible introduction of minimal lubrication into their production system.