Supply chain analytics dashboard

As PCFs is a complicated sustainability subject, we worked with sustainability experts to gather some basic understanding of the challenge and requirements in PCF before jumping into the design:

How are they calculated?

We also gained a basic technical understanding of how PCFs are calculated. As with other environmental accounting methods, PCF calculations are fundamentally based on:

1. The amount of inputs that goes into the product manufacturing process, including:
   1. Materials
   2. Packaging
   3. Transportation
   4. Energy and water use
   5. Wastes produced
   6. Process emissions
   7. Refrigerants and leakages
   8. Services employed
2. Emission factor for each of the input type.
   (The amount of greenhouse gases released per unit of input)

Sustainability is a very competitive space, where many innovators are working to replace established manual / off-line tools. So it was essential to understand these competing tools to identify what additional value we could offer.

While researching these tools, it became apparent that each of them works very differently to try to simply the complicated PCF calculation process.

Key variations:

1. Level of automation:
   1. Aided emission factors (EFs) sourcing: where tools allow users to choose from a pre-loaded database.
   2. Semi automated EFs sourcing: where tools attempt to automatically match user defined material with emission factors.
2. Anticipated level of knowledge in users:
   1. High:where tools provide highly editable but minimally guided product-object builder.
   2. Low(er):where step-based UI guide user through each data fields.
3. Quality vs quantity of calculations:
   An effect of differing level of automations means that more PCFs could be calculated by highly automated platforms. However there is a trade of where each level of automation relies on additional value assumptions, and therefore can reduce the level of accuracy of the results.

The users on M2030 are split by 2 major segments:

1. Corporate buyers concerned with improving their supply chain. In collaboration with our sales, and sustainability consultations functions, many discussions were carried out with buyers.

   Key learning

   1. Most buyers are at early stage of PCFs journey, and appreciate it would be the same for most suppliers.
   2. Initially they want to have a limited, controlled rollouts for selected suppliers and products. To avoid overwhelming suppliers, and to overtime better understand the benefit of PCFs for themselves.
   3. Data accuracy is important to inform effective business decisions.
2. Manufacturing suppliers providing their products to buyers. To learn more about supplier’s experience and expectation, an initial survey was carried out.
   

   Key learning

   1. 78% of respondents have zero to basic understanding of PCFs only.
   2. 86% are willing to share high level PCF results with buyers, and even other suppliers.
   3. Only 4% have already calculated PCFs for most/all their products.
   4. The 2 major reason for not having these PCFs are:
      1. There were no previous request from customers.
      2. Insufficient internal resources.