How digital transformation enhances sustainability

Companies that don’t embrace digital technologies will most likely struggle in the future. Nadja Schaubhut, content marketing specialist at OnLogic, looks at how digital transformation can directly impact and enhance the sustainability goals of a business.

Digital transformation and sustainability is a widely discussed topic. OT professionals responsible for production lines, manufacturing facilities and factories are keen to identify ways to leverage the data their machines are producing every day.

The benefits of digital transformation are clear, and include improved operational efficiency, minimised waste, reduced costs, enhanced quality of manufactured products, and faster response to market requirements and customer demands. However, most businesses have a long way to go to realise these benefits.

In fact, paper logs are often still archived in file folders and data is stored on local hard drives or servers with shaky VPN connections. Emails are often still sent with large data sets or even printed out. Relevant data may be stored locally and may not be accessible to all who need it.

Despite the awareness of Industry 4.0’s potential, digital transformation is still proceeding slowly in many industries. The reasons for this slow evolution are diverse, including:

• Conscious decisions not to extend digital transformation because the organization does not see any added financial value
• General contentedness with the status quo of current processes
• Lack of awareness and know-how at the management level
• Difficulties in upgrading and connecting old equipment
• Lack of qualified personnel

The Covid-19 pandemic also had a considerable impact on digital transformation plans as budgets were reallocated away from digitalisation and toward collaboration tools for remote work initiatives.

Reconciling digital transformation and sustainability

Digitalisation and sustainability are among the biggest issues of our time and extend into all areas of a business. At first glance, these two fields seem to be completely contradictory. After all, technological innovations require resources. At the same time, companies are under increasing pressure to operate sustainably and often have dedicated teams assigned to pursue initiatives related to sustainability.

But digital transformation and sustainable business practices go hand in hand. Through digital transformation, an organisation can realise a number of benefits that not only impact the business’ bottom line, but also embrace sustainability. Some examples include:

• Building automation using smart technologies ensures sustainable and more efficient use of energy.
• Electronics in modern vehicles support a more environmentally friendly driving style.
• Machine vision on roadside mowing tractors can identify and avoid animal habitats and litter while reducing processing costs.

Now you may wonder what actual real-world examples look like in which digital transformation enhances sustainability. One company that has been dedicated to the digital and sustainable transformation of production processes for years is the Austrian snowboard manufacturer Capita MFG. The entire design and energy supply of the production facility ‘Mothership’ is highly innovative and sustainable.

In fact, Capita sources 98% of the materials used for the snowboards locally within a 5-hour drive of the Mothership to reduce their carbon footprint. With their low power consumption and ability to be placed close to other production equipment, the OnLogic Karbon Series of rugged PCs fits perfectly into Capita’s goals.

Supporting biodiversity by digitalisation

You probably know of at least one invasive plant species. They grow quickly and multiply at a rapid pace. On riverbanks, forest paths and roadsides, they can displace native vegetation and impact the food chain.

Dutch company Datacadabra is tackling this problem with its intelligent mowing system MowHawk. Using computer vision, the mower detects invasive plant species. These are mowed separately from the other vegetation. Thus, the clippings can be safely disposed afterwards. The MowHawk features 4G and can send plant location data and other information directly to the cloud. Datacadabra leverages the OnLogic Karbon series of rugged PCs for its MowHawk system.

Digital transformation is a long-term process, which involves cooperation and input from multiple teams across all levels of an organisation. But it’s an effort that holds incredible value. You can directly incorporate the business objectives of digital transformation and sustainability and thus set two processes in motion. And it doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. The best time to get started is today.