Tips for a smoother integration of your SimaPro 9 project to SimaPro Flow

 There are certain things to keep in mind if you want to move your SimaPro desktop project to SimaPro Flow in the SimaPro online platform. To prevent common import/export errors or possible mismatch of results between SimaPro desktop and Flow, please go through the following checklist.
 

When modelling in SimaPro desktop

1. Download the latest database updates from SimaPro desktop.

• By doing this you keep substance and process mapping IDs between the desktop and platform updated, which avoids a lot of issues when importing to the platform.
• You will also have updated data available which makes it easier to remove data from old databases such as ecoinvent 2. It is recommended to avoid using ecoinvent 2 and earlier ecoinvent libraries when importing to the platform.

• This means that you should update your desktop database along with the releases of desktop software and database changes to keep it up-to-date. Please refer to this page to check the latest version of the software.

2. Avoid the use of product stages.

• If you use product stages, the export procedure becomes more complex than with only processes. Keep it simple by only using processes.

3. Waste scenarios are not supported in SimaPro Flow.

• It is recommended to not use these for the projects you want to integrate into the platform.
• Waste treatment processes are possible to use. These processes will be imported as negative input in the platform.

4. Beware of copied library processes:

• If you have copied processes from ecoinvent or another library which is already available online platform, then you need to change both the product (in the input/output tab in SimaPro desktop) AND the process name (in the description tab) before exporting from SimaPro desktop.

5. Not all parameter expressions from the SimaPro desktop are available in the platform.

• Certain advanced expressions are only available in the desktop and will therefore give an error and be set to 1 when importing to the platform. Check which expressions are available in the platform here. Avoid using expressions which are not supported.

When exporting from SimaPro desktop

6. Always select ‘Export to the platform’ when exporting from the SimaPro desktop.

• Assuming you have the latest version of the desktop software, this ensures that you will have the necessary information available in the file you export, and, thus, avoid unnecessary worry.

• If you do not have the latest software version of the SimaPro desktop (earlier than 9.1.1):

• • Make sure to export with the options described in this article (PS: you can also use ‘Selection’ of you only have a few processes you want to export).
  • Check if the file you export has platform IDs/mapping information. Platform IDs ensures that when the processes are imported to the platform, the right library processes are linked to the right processes. To check if your file has platform IDs, please follow the instructions in this article.
  • When using ecoinvent library, it is preferable to use the unit libraries instead of system library. If you use SimaPro 9.1.1 with ecoinvent 3.6, the platform IDs will also be included in the system libraries). 

When importing to SimaPro Flow

7.  Always review the parse report if you get one.

• It might seem overwhelming at first, but very often there are some clues about things that might have changed from the original model, and you might want to check this before moving to the calculation or building Share projects.
• Please contact support if you need further assistance in understanding the report or if you have further feedback on how to improve it.

When working in SimaPro Flow

8. Regionalized results might not be available in your project at this moment.

• If you use ecoinvent libraries, the correct regionalized results are unfortunately, not available due to the large matrix it creates when calculating. This is something that we are currently working on fixing.
• The regionalized results work when you use smaller databases, such as a company database.
• For more information on this, feel free to contact us.

9. Recommended to use one ecoinvent library at the time.

• This ensures that the calculation works a lot faster in SimaPro Flow and your SimaPro Share projects will work faster.
• However, it is possible to use several libraries, but it is recommended to be mindful about this as it might not be necessary for your project.

Hopefully, these tips make your transition to the SimaPro online platform smoother. Please feel free to check the Getting Started guide for more information and contact support if you have any questions about how to import a project to Flow.