Successful Sustainability Management Along the Entire Value Chain

Our blog articles on the topic of sustainability focus on the ecological and social responsibility of companies. In doing so, we show which advantages adjustments in IT have on sustainable processes along the entire value chain and how innovation potentials can be identified and used simultaneously. In this way, NTT DATA Business Solutions not only emphasizes the need for entrepreneurial action, but also shows concrete insights into existing solution approaches from practice.

NTT DATA Business Solutions has set itself the task of enabling customers with its IT expertise to transform towards long-term sustainable entrepreneurship. Driven by economic, ecological and social aspects, NTT DATA Business Solutions advises its clients in a practical and solution-oriented manner:

• How can statutory amendments be implemented in my company?
• How can I track, reduce and compensate my CO2e footprint in a verifiable manner?
• Can sustainability offer economic opportunities for my company?
• How can software solutions support efficient implementation?
• How can sustainability be made measurable?

Many companies are faced with the additional challenge of determining and presenting carbon management metrics in a holistic and transparent manner. If this is the case, it is often still done manually with pen and paper. However, automated and data-supported carbon management is significantly faster, simpler, more efficient and less prone to errors. Digital data acquisition takes place in real time and with the utmost precision – this means that manual record-keeping is no longer necessary. Not only is the observable data more accurate, it also offers trustworthy transparency.

However, how are the CO2e emissions of different players in the value chain brought together?

NTT DATA Business Solutions has the 360° overview. As a comprehensive IT system integrator, NTT DATA Business Solutions not only knows the individual producer, but also the other participants in the value chain. Therefore, industry and integration competence are combined, because the large-scale use of SAP systems allows a large part of the relevant data to be bundled in an uncomplicated manner. This ensures short communication channels, optimised information flow and access to the relevant interfaces. Based on this, it is possible to generate a meaningful report at the push of a button that completely and transparently displays the actual energy consumption.

What happens next once CO2e emissions have been tracked and mapped? Optimally, the emissions can be sensibly avoided or prevented by taking the right measures. Here, a view of all business areas is required: By means of tracking, it can be seen, for example, in which stages of the production process there is a need for corrections, where energy consumption is too high and in which areas efficiency improvements must be aimed for.

These insights can be taken into account in the product development process in the future by considering CO2e-friendly options as early as the development stage.

In order to simplify these processes beyond the analysis, NTT DATA Business Solutions has set itself the goal of developing a decision monitor that enables the concrete derivation of measures according to the prevailing conditions:

• Where are „hot spots” of greenhouse gas emitters?
• Can production lines be operated with lower emissions?
• How can current and future products be manufactured with lower emissions?
• Which alternative suppliers are suitable for consideration?

All of these questions are addressed systematically. In many cases, this also means hard cash, because energy costs are operating costs and a burden on potential funding pools. Driven by sustainability goals, broader corporate development is also triggered, because one core idea of sustainable development is the idea of a circular economy instead of a linear economy. This in turn inspires new processes, solutions and business models.

Last but not least, a responsible use of resources also has a positive impact on the reputation of companies and demonstrates their ecological and social commitment, which in turn attracts people and thus also potential job applicants.

Emissions that in general are unavoidable are compensated for through offsetting measures. This usually involves the purchase of corresponding certificates that offset climate-impacting emissions elsewhere.