How do I connect the right parameters (supply chain, region, ingredients etc.) when creating an entirely new flow?

Question

When creating a new flow, do I have to add all the inputs that have to be connected by myself?

I want to model the impacts of of a special soft drink. The advantages of open LCA seem to cease when I have to type in all the inputs by myself (e.g. if I don't find the right type of sugar, I have to describe exactly where the sugar is coming from, how it is produced and so on). Is the software not meant to be used in such a detailed way or is it common to model a whole new process? And if so, what is the difference to do this without a software?

Answer 1

Of course when you make a new process (or flow, but a flow is quite an easy object) you need to type in the name etc. and have an idea about the input and output amounts. I can recommend the edit mode in the model graph, which allows you to make your process and supply chain in openLCA directly, as if you draw it on a sheet of paper:

Is it common to model a new process? Typically, you are interested in a good model for your specific system and question, and this typically does not exist yet in a generic database. Thus it is necessary to create this yourself; you can of course start from an existing process and modify this, if your system is similar to what you have in a database. 

Hth, Andreas