Master Fluid Solutions, a leading manufacturer of metalworking fluids, partnered with Carbon Minds to calculate PCFs for their entire product portfolio.

In this interview, Dr. Christine Fuchs shares what the company set out to achieve, the barriers they faced, and how the collaboration created the basis for the next phase of semi-automated PCF calculations.

Dr. Christine Fuchs
R&D Manager Europe
Master Fluid Solutions

Could you briefly introduce your company and describe the specific goals you aim to achieve?

Master Fluid Solutions is a leading manufacturer of metalworking fluids, with a European competence center in Düsseldorf. Through our TRIM™ and WEDOLiT® brands, we offer high-performance solutions for demanding metalworking applications and help our customers make their processes more efficient, productive, and sustainable.

 

Our goal is to assess our entire European product portfolio cradle-to-gate by the end of 2026.

For this reason, we started a cooperation with Carbon Minds to calculate the carbon footprint of our lubricants. Together, we have applied a company-wide methodology for determining the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) that is fully aligned with ISO 14067:2018 and the UEIL/ATIEL PCF guidelines for lubricants and specialty products.

What barriers did you face?

One of the biggest challenges was supplier data. In many cases, the data we received from suppliers was either missing, incomplete, or not validated, even though we needed it to calculate accurate PCFs. On top of that, the process of matching additives added another layer of complexity. As a result, we lacked the internal capacity and expertise to calculate PCFs quickly, consistently, and reliably at scale.

How did you overcome those barriers?

We overcame these barriers by taking a pragmatic, step-by-step approach. Together with Carbon Minds, we first developed the methodology and launched a pilot to test whether automated PCF calculations would be feasible in our setup. This included understanding our data structure, calculating PCFs for six initial products, and closing data gaps by combining our primary data with Carbon Minds’ secondary data and Scope 3.1 emission factor mapping.

In parallel, Carbon Minds supported us with a workshop that built a foundational understanding of LCA and PCF across our organization, with a particular focus on consolidation and data governance for sales, procurement, management, operations, and IT.

Together with Carbon Minds, we applied the methodology, launched a pilot, and built the foundation for calculating PCFs across our European product portfolio quickly, consistently, and reliably at scale.

Dr. Christine Fuchs
R&D Manager Europe
Master Fluid Solutions

What did you manage to achieve in the end?

By the end of the project, we had successfully calculated the PCFs for our first formulations and established a solid foundation for scaling this work further. This enables us to respond to first customer inquiries and provide PCFs on request. At the same time, we now have a clear path toward calculating PCFs for our entire European product portfolio by the end of 2026. Together with Carbon Minds, the next phase will focus on semi-automating PCF calculations across the portfolio. In the longer term, this will also support CO₂ reduction as part of our continuous improvement process on our sustainability journey.

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