3 minutes
Efficient environmental and resource management at all global sites: the technology company Voith, based in Heidenheim, Germany, is making this a reality. They started using the EHS and CSR software Quentic in 2011 to help them on their road to sustainability. Quentic allows all those responsible to carry out their tasks simultaneously within a single system.
Voith, a family-owned company, was founded in 1867 and operates in more than 60 countries. Their portfolio of industrial plants, products, and services supplies five essential markets worldwide: Energy, Oil & Gas, Paper, Raw Materials, and Transport & Automotive. Their operating activities are organized into four group divisions: Voith Hydro, Voith Paper, Voith Turbo and, Voith Digital Ventures.
Voith has set itself four main goals for resource and environmental protection: the reduction of energy requirements and greenhouse gas emissions, fresh water consumption and material consumption. Through the implementation of a consistent group-wide green controlling system, more than EUR 12 million per year in the form of energy, water and waste have been saved since fiscal year 2011/12. The ambitious goals and progress achieved are monitored by the Corporate Sustainability & HSE (Health, Safety & Environment) department and documented each year in the sustainability report, which can be viewed on the company's website.
Just a few years ago, the mechanical engineering company’s environmental data was decentralized across several separate systems. The company needed a reliable database to control its internal goals andincrease efficiency. Also, reporting was supposed to be built on the international standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Voith started using Quentic in the EHS sector in 2011 and rolled it out across locations within a few months. It was used, among other things, to create a worldwide hazardous chemical register to centrally verify and clear the status of hazardous chemicals.
“We have created a solid foundation for our reporting of all ecological aspects of sustainability by implementing a centralized system. The effort required to record, verify and evaluate data has been reduced significantly since we can automatize many work steps with Quentic.”
Markus Schönberger, Team Leader Sustainability Controlling, Voith GmbH & Co. KGaA
Today, the data entered into the Sustainability module is checked during the recording process. The plausibility of values and unusual deviations compared to previous periods are evaluated immediately. This means that those responsible for entering the data do not need any expert or specific knowledge in order to identify discrepancies. The standardized procedure for recording and approving data ensures the integrity, consistency and uniformity of data from all locations worldwide. All involved parties can work in the system simultaneously, regardless of time and place. Thanks to versioning, all changes remain traceable while the reporting plan clearly shows the current status of all reporting tasks.
After approval, the contents are immediately made available for flexible evaluation. For every indicator, the development over time and geographical distribution of values and costs can be depicted and compared to local and global target values. Monetary data is presented in the required currency while automatically taking fluctuations in exchange rates into consideration. Physical data can be automatically converted to other units. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are generated automatically and visualized in diagrams. These KPIs are the foundation for presenting ecological and social aspects in the sustainability report. Indicator catalogs from common reporting standards (currently: GRI and DNK) are also available.
