Evocon and Green Manufacturing
About Evocon
Evocon is an Estonian software company. It was launched at the end of 2010 to solve the “black box” problem many manufacturers face. They know what resources go in and what products come out, but there's no visibility of what's actually happening inside the factory. There is just a lot of guesswork.
Working in this way is still very common worldwide, leading to inefficient processes and unnecessary waste of time and materials. A related side-effect of this approach is a disengaged workforce - it's nearly impossible to improve a process when you don't have insights into what's happening.
Evocon's solution enables manufacturers to digitize their production process and gives them a platform for smart decision-making. It enables users to track and monitor different aspects of the manufacturing process in real time, such as OEE, downtime, cycle time, quantity, quality maintenance, etc.
350+
factories worldwide
55+
countries
23
employees
2000+
lines and machines
Context
The manufacturing industry is responsible for approximately 21% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Europe and 24% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the US. Meanwhile, customers globally are starting to shop more and more consciously for their environmental impact and prefer to buy items from companies that align with their values. This is igniting a change in the manufacturing industry.
Sustainability of the manufacturing industry wasn’t something Evocon founders prioritized when starting to build their solution 10 years ago. However, the sustainability benefits of the solution are obvious - if manufacturers reduce the number of products that need to be scrapped and use the available resources to their fullest potential, they are saving energy, materials, and all other resources that went into creating an item. It's obvious that increased efficiency reduces the environmental footprint.
However, “obvious” doesn’t fly in a sustainability context. The Evocon team needed to find ways to quantify their positive impact and to find more ways they could support their customers on their sustainability journey.
Challenge
Evocon involved me in finding answers to how the manufacturing industry is changing, identifying what their customers actually need to succeed on their sustainability journey, and helping identify business opportunities.
Another important part of the journey was to help Evocon educate its core team members on what sustainability means for their industry. We worked together to identify what is the most important sustainability KPIs their customers already track and how Evocon contributes to reaching them.
The end goal of our collaboration was to create a game plan for Evocon’s sustainability journey: a list of achievable goals the Evocon team could take on to create a positive impact and support their customers.
Before we get to the solution & result section of this article…
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Solution
During our 10-month collaboration, I became an extension of the Evocon team. We started with market research and customer interviews. We compiled insights on what is the current process, challenges, and opportunities for their customers in the context of sustainability.
We concluded that currently, Evocon helps customers reduce their environmental impact in 3 in-direct ways:
reducing waste
reducing energy consumption,
reducing their carbon footprint.
We expanded my scope of work, and I helped write copy for the landing page that would explain that. The main message we wanted to convey was that Evocon is a tool to be used beyond efficiency - Evocon can also help reach manufacturers' sustainability goals. This sparked ideas for more topics to cover in an article series, Sustainability in Manufacturing.
During our work together, I also advised the Evocon team on what their sustainability journey should look like and what are the best practices for companies their size. During the period of our collaboration, we held regular check-in calls to align priorities and foster collaboration.
Result
Evocon core team is confident in their knowledge and understanding of sustainability-related terminology and ideas. The team has a clear set of goals for Evocon’s sustainability journey, and they’re already working on their execution. And I'm here to support them on their journey whenever I can.
Customer testimonial
Having Kristine as part of our team exceeded all expectations we had for the cooperation. She has played an integral part in helping Evocon make its first steps in the sustainability area.
— Martin Lääts, Head of Product & Design at Evocon
