There are certain things to keep in mind if you want to move your SimaPro desktop edition model to SimaPro cloud edition. To prevent common import/export errors or possible mismatch of results between SimaPro desktop and SimaPro cloud, please go through the following checklist.
When modelling in SimaPro desktop edition
1. Download the latest database updates from SimaPro desktop.
By doing this you keep substance and process mapping IDs between SimaPro desktop and SimaPro cloud updated, which avoids a lot of issues when importing to SimaPro cloud.
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 SimaPro cloud.
This means that you should update your SimaPro desktop database along with the releases of the 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 cloud.
It is recommended to not use these for the models you want to integrate into SimaPro cloud.
Waste treatment processes are possible to use. These processes will be imported as negative input in SimaPro cloud.
4. Beware of copied library processes:
If you have copied processes from ecoinvent or another library which is already available in SimaPro cloud, 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 SimaPro desktop are available in SimaPro cloud.
Certain advanced expressions are only available in SimaPro 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 edition
6. Always select ‘Export to the platform’ when exporting from SimaPro desktop.
Assuming you have the latest version of SimaPro desktop, 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 SimaPro desktop (earlier than 9.3):
Make sure to export with the options described in here (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 SimaPro cloud, the right library processes are linked to the right processes. To check if your file has platform IDs, open the exported .csv file in NotePad and check if elementary flows (e.g. in the section 'Emissions to water') include a code (e.g. '778A102E-1894-4D46-996A-4CEB5239AD97').
When using ecoinvent library, it is preferable to use the unit libraries instead of system library. If you use SimaPro 9.3 with ecoinvent 3.8, the platform IDs will also be included in the system libraries).
Remember that the limits for the imported file are 750 processes and 15 MB.
When importing to SimaPro cloud edition
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 calculating results.
Please contact support if you need further assistance in understanding the report or if you have further feedback on how to improve it.
8. Regionalized model processes need adaption when importing.
When importing a model for which you want to use a regionalized method, you need to make sure that the geographies are correct. The geographies need to be changed to the correct one once the processes are uploaded to SimaPro cloud as the geographies are not yet detected in the import to SimaPro cloud. The model processes from SimaPro desktop will be assigned a geography of 'Unspecified'. You will NOT get notified about this when importing.
Therefore, you need to check the geographies of processes which are created from copies of library processes or processes which are created in your model (all processes with the exception of processes from the professional databases)
For more information on this, feel free to contact us.
When working in SimaPro cloud edition
9. Recommended to use one ecoinvent library at the time.
This ensures that the calculation works a lot faster in SimaPro cloud.
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 model.
Hopefully, these tips make your transition to SimaPro cloud smoother. Please feel free to contact support if you have any questions about how to import a model to SimaPro cloud.