Simplifying PFAS Management for Manufacturers with GenAI
Problem Statement:
The manufacturing sector is highly regulated because of its operations and the materials it uses.
Many of these materials contain chemicals that can harm the environment and people. One such
chemical is PFAS, or Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, which can stay in the environment for a
long time and cause health problems viz. including reproductive and developmental issues,
depressed immune response, liver and kidney problems, and cancer. Identifying and removing PFAS
is crucial for manufacturers to avoid financial pitfalls. 3M, for example, had to pay $12.5 billion to US
water companies because PFAS from its manufacturing activities had contaminated water bodies. Although there’s a growing effort to remove PFAS, identifying traces of it in manufacturing materials
remains a big challenge for organizations.
Information about PFAS and its traces in raw materials is stored in documents called BOM (Bill of
Materials) or MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). These documents are complicated and require
manual effort to read and understand. When we consider the large amount of data in BOMs and
MSDSs from vendors, it becomes difficult for procurement and manufacturing teams to go through
each detail and find information about PFAS. Additionally, the data from vendors often lacks
standardization, making it even more challenging to extract the necessary information.
solution
After understanding the challenges organizations face with identifying PFAS chemicals in their
materials, we at iauro developed a solution to simplify the work for procurement and manufacturing
teams. Our solution, a knowledge builder for products and materials based on BOM and MSDS,
allows procurement teams to easily find details about PFAS chemicals and regulatory compliance
standards. It also provides information on permissible PFAS levels set by different countries, helping
organizations avoid regulatory issues. Additionally, our GenAI-based solution includes a compliance
and product team co-pilot for querying and extracting PFAS traceability information, saving time and
effort for procurement teams.
Furthermore, the solution recommends alternative chemical
substances for PFAS-containing products, eliminating the need to start product research from
scratch. In essence, our solution Extracts, Summarizes, and recommends probable steps of Action,
streamlining the process for organizations.
Approach :
To create our solution, we used GenAI-based technology stack including Azure, OpenAI, and
Langchain.
This solution has helped manufacturing companies by making their procurement teams
more efficient. It has also helped manufacturers navigate through the complex maze of PFAS
compliance standards, which vary from geography to geography. With this solution, we’ve been able
to solve challenges like manual errors, saving time and effort, and resolving critical business issues.
