Process

A process is a set of interrelated activities that takes place within the life cycle of a product or system, and transforms inputs into outputs. A process can be a manufacturing process, a transportation activity, an energy generation process, or any other operation within the life cycle. Processes are defined by their quantitative reference, which represents the amount of product or service that the process provides. For example, a process could be the set of all inputs and outputs occurring in the production of 1 kg of PET granulate.

openLCA distinguishes two types of processes:

• Unit process: A unit process is the smallest (least aggregated) unit in a production system, for which input and output data are quantified. It can contain any flow type.
• System process: A system process is an aggregated life cycle result saved as a process.

Source: openLCA 2 manual — Processes

In scripts, a process describes the inputs and outputs (exchanges) related to a quantitative reference which is typically the output product of the process.

A ProductSystem is built from a reference Process and links to others; each Process holds input/output Exchanges that reference Flows.

• Create from scratch
• Create from existing flow
• Get from the database
• Update with more info
• Parametrize input exchanges
• Add a default provider
• Update exchange amount
• Move to a category
• Delete a process