Jelle Kerstjens (Circular Design Group) organized a meeting, where five SMEs from the manufacturing industry shared their findings from the 0-meting, which they did under the guidance of the Circular Design Group. A 0-meting is the starting point of an improvement process in which the current situation of a company or organization is inventoried. A 0-meting makes you as a company aware of where opportunities for sustainability and circularity lie, but it also gives you an idea of what you are already doing. Each company presented their findings: Mark Thijssen of Montair, Rogér Keijsers of Interduct Group, Colin Dobber of MIFA, Jan Jansen of Dejatech and Paul Jacobs of Kelpagroup. From the presentations and conversation among the attendees, several shared insights emerged that they experienced during this process.
Anchoring actions in the company
Montair is one of the companies that conducted a 0 measurement, guided by the Circular Design Group. Montair's employees work daily to ensure a clean, safe and sustainable living environment through turnkey process installations around the world. Mark Thijssen: "The main conclusion we drew from the 0 measurement is that if you don't anchor sustainability, hardly anything happens. As a company you are already unconsciously doing a lot, but that is often not recorded. Writing everything down gives it hands and feet. All the actions that came out of the 0 measurement of improvements we have put in a timeline and are being implemented one by one." At Interduct Groep, the largest ventilation technical specialist in the Netherlands, they created four working groups as a result of the 0 measurement. Rogér Keijsers: "Together we determined small steps toward 2040. There is a clear action list with spearheads that is managed by an action holder. In this way, everyone within the company has his or her responsibility." In conversation with the various companies, it emerged that sustainable and circular business must be anchored in the DNA of the company. However, it is often still seen as a separate project, as something 'we do on top of it'. Chances are that you quickly lapse into old patterns and processes. In order to embed it properly, it would be best if one person is fully responsible for this task within the company. Someone who leads the way and brings the rest along with him or her with enthusiasm. That is often not the case now.
Sustainable procurement as an entry point for change
From the 0 measurements of all five companies there were many insights and follow-up actions in the area of procurement. Procurement was the area where quick insight could be gained into the follow-up actions that could be taken to improve sustainability. Colin Dobber: "MIFA is a company that specializes in aluminum profiles. As a company we regularly ask the question: 'do we still want to use a certain material?' Together with suppliers we look for the best options in which harmful raw materials are used less and less. Because we want that ourselves and because more and more guidelines and rules are coming from the European Union." MIFA suppliers are assessed annually for sustainability.
More local and regional focus
The unsustainable choice dictates: get everything everywhere as cheaply as possible. Discounts and speed together determine who gets the contract. But, says Jelle Veersma of the Circular Design Group, "You can get a discount, but it is always a discount on sustainability. "The sustainable choice in the manufacturing industry prefers local and regional. Where issues are approached more integrally and the circle remains small. According to the five participants, SMEs help companies find partners nearby. Find suppliers for raw materials and all the supplies to deliver, a network to build shared knowledge and even the so formidable competitors to learn from each other and determine how to strengthen each other. Because no matter how you look at it, in a sustainable and circular world, collaboration is the key to success. There is nothing wrong with a little competition, but there is much more need for joint learning-and devising solutions to the big challenges.
A changing demand on education
Students can be of great value to a company. They are eager to learn, curious and have young minds. Mark Thijssen: "At the moment, a student is working on an assignment about what AI can do for our company. It is very special to see what she conjures up on the screen. We could never have done that ourselves." Partly because it takes a lot of time, but also because employees look at what needs to be done with very colored glasses. Students don't have these glasses on. Or at least they have a very different, young pair of glasses on. Glasses that are not yet completely familiar and safe. "We can put those glasses to good use," Mark said. He does want to emphasize the importance of continuity in deployment. Long-term projects in which students don't reinvent the wheel each time, but coordinate with each other so that what students are working on can actually be deployed. It is also true that the demand for learning is changing. Mark Thijssen: "We are working on such new things that we often don't have the answers yet. A school will have to go along with that. Embracing that uncertainty and learning together during the time students are with us."
SMEs at the front of the sustainable train
We can think of sustainability as a kind of train. A train that started running a long time ago, but in which there is still more than enough room. More and more people, companies, governments are getting on the train, as are these five companies. Ultimately, everyone on the train wants toward the same thing: a livable, healthy planet where people can live happily. But who is driving that train? That's a question that was also asked at the meeting. We often look first at the big, publicly traded companies. 'If they go, then we go too.' Or we point to the government and cry that policy will figure out what we will do. The general feeling during the meeting is that ultimately it is precisely the SMEs that need to be at the front of that train. MKB Nederland represents the vast majority of the business community in our country. And so it makes sense that the biggest steps can be taken there. There comes a time when the big companies have to. That they can no longer look away and have to accelerate drastically. Colin Dobber: "Then, as an SME, you have to have your sustainable options ready, because otherwise they will move on to the next one."
Sustainable positioning and awareness
There is quite a bit to be said about marketing sustainability and circularity. Much marketing and sales is experienced as greenwashing; a company that is only a little bit sustainable and proclaims much bigger. However, you can stand out as a company and put yourself on the map as a sustainable leader, provided your product is right. You can properly include your existing and new customers in your journey towards 100% circularity, like the Interduct Group. Rogér: "We show why it's important to work with sustainable products and what effects non-sustainable products have in certain spaces." Colin: "At MIFA, we incorporate sustainability into our USPs and therefore think about what is the 'best' choice for each product group." By asking critical questions and collecting data, MIFA is able to serve customers well and always offer them multiple, informed options. "Then customers also become aware of the consequences of the choice they make," Colin said. At Interduct Group, they give customers insight into the CO2 saved from sustainable choices. Rogér: "We take the customers through the story and that has now resulted in many won, sustainable quotations."
But what if your customers don't choose sustainability? What if the customer still wants to go for fast and cheap? The participating companies are still struggling with customer demand vs. their own desire to become more sustainable. Colin: "Eventually, due to pressure from society, the government and the European Union, everyone will have to change." Even the customers of SMEs." And then, according to the participants, you better be ready!
Dit artikel is onderdeel van het Regioportret Limburg (artikel 2/2). Daarmee brengen we in beeld hoe onderwijs en bedrijfsleven in regio Limburg samenwerken aan ‘Sustainability skills’: de vaardigheden die nodig zijn in de circulaire economie van de toekomst. We hopen andere regio’s te inspireren en zo de transitie naar de circulaire economie te versnellen. View other regional portraits of this region:
Regioportret Limburg 1/2Author: Clarisse Kers-van der Veld
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