A recent episode of Razorleaf’s Stay Sharp podcast—featuring a discussion between co-hosts Jonathan Scott and Juliann Grant and their guest, co-founder of the PLM Green Global Alliance, Jos Voskuil—made a preliminary foray into the connection between PLM and sustainability. In response, another industry practitioner joined the virtual conversation, offering a white paper that delivers a thorough and thoughtful examination of how sustainability data can flow seamlessly across the digital enterprise.
PLM and Sustainability
In his paper, “The Sustainability Thread: Rethinking the digital thread to drive sustainability performance and green R&D,” Klaus Brettschneider, Director, Sustainability Products, for Linx-AS LLC, suggests the creation of a Sustainability Thread. He argues that this new type of digital thread, which captures sustainability data and integrates sustainability requirements into the enterprise’s product development lifecycle, can not only revolutionize sustainability and product development, but also deliver gains in operational efficiency and reporting accuracy.
Brettschneider makes the point that when creating a digital thread strategy, “a 30,000-foot view of processes across your enterprise is needed to avoid digital silos, understand relationships, and acknowledge where digitalization is not a reality.” He evaluates nine digital thread attributes in the context of both PLM and sustainability and suggests, “When you think about PLM and sustainability, evaluate what these attributes mean in your business context and capitalize on where the people, processes, and data converge.”
One goal of the Sustainability Thread is trying to ensure environmental, social, and economic data is present, traceable, and able to be analyzed throughout the product lifecycle. In addition, it’s also critical that the data is available for corporate sustainability reporting. Adding sustainability data to any attribute of digital threads, Brettschneider says, raises visibility and promotes consideration of sustainability concerns across the organization as well as throughout the lifecycle.
To optimize digital thread strategy to include sustainability data requirements, analyze where business processes and supporting systems converge. While sustainability and PLM complement one another, distinct differences remain that must be accounted for in the data model.
Credit: Klaus Brettschneider, The Sustainability Thread
The white paper includes a Venn diagram of where PLM and Sustainability Threads overlap, noting that they “complement each other without fully overlapping, each fulfilling unique roles in supporting operational, environmental, and social objectives.” Sustainability Threads, which Brettschneider says have a broader scope and aren’t “as linear process-wise as PLM,” go beyond PLM Threads in areas such as ESG (environmental, social, governance) reporting, corporate carbon tracking, social and ethical supply chain audits, and more. The two types of threads intersect in a variety of applications that include supply chain transparency and traceability, compliance and regulatory reporting, and real-time monitoring and process optimization. The collaboration between PLM and Sustainability practices, processes, strategies, and tools can benefit both approaches—and the organization as a whole.
The Digital Thread Makes Sustainability Easier
Brettschneider provides use cases that prove the idea of the Sustainability Thread is more than a theory. He discusses how automated sustainability data improves operations, output, reporting, and overall sustainability goals through efforts such as digitalizing your carbon footprint, providing transparency for ethically sourced products, and conducting lifecycle assessments in the early design stage. Every example shows how seamless data exchange throughout the organization and its systems makes it easier to track and report on efforts and impact, which in turn improves efficiency and profitability.
The paper also offers a path for getting started on your own Sustainability Thread strategy. While he admits that aligning sustainability goals with an organization’s IT strategy is often a challenge, Brettschneider suggests “the key to achieving alignment lies in identifying shared priorities … this reassures us that alignment is not only possible but also beneficial for both domains.” Ultimately, he assures us, “Integrating sustainability into IT strategies creates a synergistic relationship where both areas reinforce each other’s goals and drive value across the organization.”
Learn More About the Sustainability Thread
Brettschneider notes in a LinkedIn post that what’s necessary is “a critical mindset shift: Sustainability is not a bolt-on. It must be embedded in designing, developing, and delivering products.” His white paper backs up his assertion with analysis and use cases, and he offers a blueprint for embarking on your own Sustainability Thread journey.
We invite you to learn more through Stay Sharp Episode 83: Sustainability in PLM: A Pathway Forward, to read more in Klaus Brettschneider’s white paper, and to join the virtual conversation on PLM and sustainability with Jonathan and Juliann via our website or by reaching out to podcast@razorleaf.com.
