IFS is delighted to announce the winners of its second annual Change for Good Sustainability Awards, which are designed to recognize sustainability excellence across its community of customers and provide an opportunity to celebrate those who act sustainably and make a genuine difference through the work they do.
The entries were reviewed by an expert judging panel that included Lewis Pugh, the United Nations Patron of the Oceans and IFS’s Sustainability Ambassador; Jacqueline de Rojas, President of Digital Leaders and IFS board member, and Ian Gillott, managing director of Wrightbus, whose chairman Jo Bamford was awarded the Individual Contribution Award in 2021.
This year’s awards were split into four categories.
Volvo Group Circular Operations and Solutions won the Best use of IFS technology in a sustainability initiative award. Circularity is considered in much of what is done at Volvo, and the company’s remanufacturing process is seen as an important way of managing resources. IFS’s solutions play a key role in managing this process, which has been revamped to focus on environmental sustainability as well as the circular economy.
Intensifying the remanufacturing process is an objective of the Volvo sustainability program; with the aim of growing the remanufacturing business by 60% by 2025. A common phrase at Volvo Remanufacturing is “win-win-win”, referring to the environment, customer, and business. All three areas benefit from lowerCO2 emissions and less energy usage (an 80% reduction for remanufacturing).
Extending the service life and operational uptime of assets contributes to increasing circularity. For example, a remanufactured gearbox can save between 50% and 80% of resources compared to a new one. Savings come from avoiding processing and refining new materials and the associated energy and emissions. Furthermore, remanufacturing means that virtually all metal scrap from Volvo production operations are recycled or reused.
The judges commented: “Volvo has a clear purpose. This is not some fleeting ESG initiative. This is right at the heart of their business.”
The second category, Most innovative solution for sustainability was won by Technogroup, which as part of the Evernex Group, is the European market leader for third-party maintenance. Many companies have historically relied exclusively on manufacturers to maintain their hardware in the data centre. Technogroup ensures that this hardware can remain in use up to three times longer than specified by the manufacturers. In addition, it gives IT components a second life through the use of refurbished hardware. The longer service life and refurbished hardware means fewer new devices are manufactured and electronic waste is avoided.
Technogroup, with the help of an ERP system from IFS, services and sells refurbished hardware, giving discarded components a second life. Parent company, Evernex, has calculated that around 15% of all equipment handed over to it as IT scrap can be reused. Around 235,000+ spare parts are delivered worldwide, while more than 50,000 components enter the spare parts inventory via recycling and are re-installed in data centres every year. Of the remaining 85%, 93% is recycled and turned into a secondary raw material.
According to the judging panel: “Technogroup is thinking beyond today and using technology to make sure technology is used wisely, thoughtfully and sustainably in the future.”
The winner of the Journey of transformation to a sustainable business award was IFS customer Cape Air. The North American airline, which operates 104 aircraft in the Northeast and Midwest of the US, the state of Montana and in the Caribbean, is responsibly tackling a low-carbon aviation future. The company was one of the first to make use of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) arrays at its headquarters and is currently (in 2022) generating 625,000 kWh per year.
Additionally, energy efficiency measures utilised at facilities throughout its service system have reduced heating, cooling, and lighting with carbon-based energy by 30%. The company has also been proactive with its employees, offering incentives such as $1,000 towards the purchase of Electric Vehicles (EVs); on site EV charging at the company’s headquarters, solar rebates to employees for installing PV systems at their homes; and energy-efficient lightbulbs for all.
Looking forward at its core business, the company envisions a future where it will operate fully electric aircraft using renewably-generated electricity to charge the batteries, thus transforming its fleet to a “carbon free” form of transportation. To that end, Cape Air has been working with e-aircraft company Eviation to build and certify the first nine-seater commercial aircraft.
The panel commented: “Cape Air is a great example of a business fusing corporate responsibility with personal responsibility for sustainability. It is an approach that really makes a difference in terms of outcomes because it drives home the message to everyone.”
US-based electric utility company, Tucson Electric Power (TEP), won the Social Impact award. The company provides safe, reliable power to customers in the Tucson metropolitan area, and also offers a wide range of incentivized programs to help residents reduce energy costs and build a better future. TEP focuses philanthropic investments on community assistance, environmental stewardship, education, and racial and social equity.
Through its investments, TEP helps feed the hungry; provide shelter, direction and hope for homeless teens and adults; and educate youth in science, technology, engineering and maths.
TEP contributed over $2.1 million to charitable causes in 2021. While, TEP’s employees volunteered 9,971 hours in 2021 to support 176 non-profit groups. In 2021, TEP supported the creation of over 1700 jobs in Southern Arizona as part of continued efforts to stimulate economic development in their community.
As one of the judges commented: “I’m amazed that they do all those things. They’re addressing the task of the day, and educating for tomorrow. So, I was really impressed with that approach.”
Celebration of success
Congratulations are in order to all the winning entries and to everyone who participated.
In addition to the prestige of achieving success in their category, winners will also get the opportunity to join us for IFS Unleashed in Miami (October 10-14, 2022), an innovative conference that will unite IFS’s ecosystem of partners and customers and explore how to unleash faster business growth and business value.
At Unleashed the winners will get the opportunity to hear from other customers focused on achieving their sustainability goals. We hope they will share their drive, learnings, and challenges to unite in changing business for good.
We are looking forward to an exciting and enjoyable event.
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