Aras announced findings from its report, “Spotlight on the Future 2024,” highlighting that three out of four companies say they feel pressured by customers, investors, and even their own workforce to operate more sustainably. The research also uncovered a potential reason why in-demand sustainability initiatives are not implemented sooner: a majority of companies reported that in order to do so, they must greatly improve the collection and processing of their data.
“Progress towards greater sustainability is key to continuing economic advancement,” said Roque Martin, CEO of Aras. Whether in the U.S., Europe, or Japan, 90% of companies who took our survey say that management has already recognized that sustainability is an important contributor to future business success.”
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Industrial Companies Already Take Sustainability Seriously
The so-called three Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle – already play a central role in the implementation of companies’ sustainability goals. 83% of the companies surveyed said that the lower consumption of raw materials and products is already a high priority. In addition, 70% of companies are already relying on the use of recycled machines, the conversion of existing systems, and the return of materials to the economic cycle. Interestingly, with 84% of companies reducing, 72% reusing, and 70% recycling, industrial companies in the United States are at the front of the pack when compared to other nations’ sustainability efforts.
PLM Leads to New Sustainable Business Models
Numerous gaps in data evaluation are making it difficult for companies to achieve greater sustainability, despite their desire to do so. 74% of respondents acknowledge that they are missing data (i.e. from suppliers); 72% of companies said they have poorly prepared data; and 67% admit that they simply lack the ability to properly manage their data.
“Tracking pertinent data throughout a product’s lifecycle is critical to successfully meeting sustainability challenges,” added Martin. “Without a repository of consistent and accurate data, it becomes increasingly difficult for companies to understand how each decision and design modification can impact sustainability objectives, as well as the bigger picture.”
A throwaway economy is being replaced by a production model based on reuse. However, for the transition from linear resource processing to a circular economy to succeed, companies have to think about and plan their development and production processes differently. To fully take advantage of the green potential, companies must not only collect and analyze their data from the design and manufacturing phase, but also integrate the supply chain.
Aras’ Supplier Management Solutions empower organizations to collaborate more effectively with suppliers and OEMs via a unified secured environment, allowing all users access to a single set of processes and data that is up to date.
Per Gartner’s Sohard Aggarwal, “As regulators and retailers become stricter on sustainability metrics, manufacturers will need the capability to capture these metrics for each batch of raw materials. For example, collecting emissions data associated with the material or part that the supplier is producing will enable manufacturers to calculate product carbon footprint using primary activity level data.”
