Received a request from your customer to build and share category-level product carbon footprints (PCFs) on Manufacture 2030? Now, it’s time to take action. This guide covers the main steps to complete PCFs, a checklist to review as you go, and where to get more support.

Step-by-Step guide 

• Before building PCFs, it's a good idea to double-check what your customer needs as well as the number of facilities you’ll need to sign up to the platform.

  Check the details

  • Open your PCF request email
  • Make a note of which product categories they’re asking for
  • List which of your facilities supply these products

  Note: If you have more than one facility creating the same product, you’ll need to list down both.

• First, let’s get your account ready to track footprints accurately.

  Add your facilities
  Add your facilities on the M2030 Manage facilities page
  📌 For detailed steps on adding a new facility (including adding multiple facility licenses at once) see the article HERE
  💡 If you have more than one facility creating the same product, you’ll need to add both to the platform.
  
  Select/update your customers
  Add your customers on the M2030 Measurements page
  📌 For detailed steps on adding a customer see the article HERE
  💡 Why this matters? This will allow us to share your aggregated data with your customer

  Add users
  Add new users on the M2030 Add colleagues page
  

  • Here’s how to add and remove colleagues on the platform.
  • And how to add existing account users to a facility.

  💡 Why this matters: By giving key members of your team access to the platform, you can speed up the data entry process. This will reduce the time you spend on collecting data, meaning you can get back to more important priorities sooner.

  Set up your energy units
  Set your energy units on M2030 Facility resources and units page
  Check out this guide on how to change your energy units to reflect your units.

  💡 Why this matters: By specifying the energy types (e.g., electricity, natural gas) used at each facility, Manufacture 2030 will plug into this information automatically when calculating your PCFs – saving time and ensuring accuracy in your reporting. It’s also necessary if you are sharing annual measurement submissions through the platform.

  Example scenario ⚡️

  If Facility A uses renewable electricity while Facility B uses electricity from the grid, indicating this during your account set-up enables more precise PCF calculations.

  To recap, complete this step by:

  ✅ Adding your facilities in M2030
  ✅ Inviting relevant colleagues as account users
  ✅ Setting up your energy units

   

• You have two ways to calculate your PCF:

  Approach 1: Weighted Average

  • Best choice when you have input data weighted by the volumes of each product in the category
  • Most accurate representation
  • Takes longer to prepare

  Approach 2: Representative

  • Best choice when data is limited
  • Less precise, but still valuable
  • Quicker to complete

  Use our data checklist and guidance to decide on your approach and respond to your customer’s request. Don’t worry about being perfect right away. It’s better to start with the data you have than to delay getting started.

  💡 Why this matters: Ensuring you understand the PCF request means you’ll be in the best position to pick the most relevant approach, both in terms of your customer’s needs and the data you have.

  Example scenario 📈

  If you have input data weighted by the volumes of each product in the category readily available, using a weighted average approach will lead to better accuracy in the category level response. But, if there are gaps in this information, a representative PCF based on available information for a single product line would be an acceptable approach.

  To recap, complete this step by:

  ✅ Noting down the product categories requested
  ✅ Listing which facilities supply these products
  ✅ Choosing your PCF approach (this may differ by facility depending on data availability)

  Already created PCFs elsewhere? Here’s what you need to do.
  
  

• Now, it’s time to set up your products in the PCF Module. For each material group or category that you supply to your customer, you’ll want to create a product entry.

  Create product entries

  1. Open the PCF Module
  2. Click Add New Product
     
     
     
     
  3. Select the Group of Products option
     A) Category code
     B) Category ID
     C) Product name

  We recommend using your customer’s product information for these details if you know them. If not, try to use names they’ll recognize easily.

  💡 Why this matters: Making sure to use accurate and widely recognizable product category information helps identify which products the PCF relates to.

  Example scenario ✍️

  Let’s say Facility A and B’s customer uses “API-001” for aspirin.

  ✅ Use: “API-001 Aspirin”

  ❌ Avoid: Generic terms such as “Pain Relief Medicine”

  If you’re still unsure on the terms to use, check your customer’s original request email and use a name that aligns with their product naming conventions.

  To recap, complete this step by:

  ✅ Creating all relevant product entries on Manufacture 2030
  ✅ Entering accurate product information that aligns with your customer’s terms

• The final - and critical - step in this process is to explain the level of detail in your PCF data in the product description. This helps your customer understand your request and builds trust.

  Add a clear description
  

  1. Open your product entry
  2. Find the description field
     
  3. Type in the approach you used (representative or weighted average)
  4. List the products included
  5. Note the time period covered

  💡 Why this matters: This added detail helps with transparency, providing you and your customer with context on the level of data used. Be specific, but clear. Include things such as product types, strengths, and formulations where relevant.

  Example product description for weighted average PCF category-level ✏️

  "This PCF represents a weighted average of the category Aspirin calculated from data across this facility that produce products in the Aspirin category, including: Aspirin tablets of 75 mg, Aspirin tables of 300–320 mg of immediate-release aspirin (IR-ASA); Dispersible tablets; Enteric-coated tablets and Formulations of aspirin with vitamin C (ASA-VitC), which have been weighted and are based on production volumes from the year 2024."

  Example product description for representative category-level PCF ✏️

  “Description here.”

  To recap, complete this step by:

  ✅ Opening up your product entry
  ✅ Adding in the PCF approach you used, the products included and time period
  ✅ Checking over the information before saving the entry

Your final checklist

Go through the checklist while creating PCFs so you can be confident everything is complete:

✅ Review your customer’s request to make a list of product categories
✅ List which facilities supply these products
✅ Log into your M2030 account 
✅ Add your facilities in the platform
✅ Pay your license fee (if applicable)
✅ Select your customer(s) 
✅ Invite relevant colleagues as account users
✅ Set up your energy units
✅ Choose your PCF approach
✅ Create all your product entries on the platform
✅ Make sure the PCF approach you used is listed in the product description
✅ Check the product description also includes the products and time period
✅ Review all product information and check it aligns with your customer’s terms
✅ Double check all information before re-saving each product entry

Where to go for more support?

• PCF Academy. Become a PCF pro and get instant answers to common questions.
• Training sessions. Book a live group training to understand exactly what to do.
• Raise a ticket. Get a specific question answered by our customer team.