CO2 savings have long been an issue for us, for which we design and implement digital solutions.
Car manufacturers consume enormous amounts of energy and, as an industry, are responsible for high CO2 emissions. Achieving ambitious climate targets starts with energy-saving potential and the optimal selection of energy sources.
In a comprehensive energy and environmental initiative, a concept was to be drawn up and software implemented to optimally reduce CO2. Part of this program deals with the planning, communication and management of CO2 emissions in the context of
of the production process.
The algorithms for the energy transformation of pressure, gas, electricity, etc. and their CO2 effects were initially designed by McKinsey employees in an Excel spreadsheet.
Due to technical restrictions and hardly solvable circular references, we were allowed to take over the technical conception and migration from Excel to a database-supported system. This rather manual task was then the start of a really interesting task:
Platform for CO2 savings
On this basis, we have developed a concept proposal for collaborative idea management in order to identify potential CO2 savings throughout the company based on the combined power of the entire workforce.
Our solution approach allowed employees across all hierarchical levels to actively contribute suggestions for effective and easily feasible energy-saving measures and to track these - from the idea to implementation and sustainable measurement.
The concept is based (in simplified terms) on the following assumption: an employee can initially document their idea unsupervised and then share it with selected colleagues for collaboration and refinement. If the employee or team feels that the idea is mature enough, the owner of the idea can have it evaluated by a "small circle of confidants". This eliminates the need for embarrassment.
Algorithms ensure that ideas with defined evaluation keys (e.g. high popularity, high impact, easy to implement, etc.) can be shared all the more widely. Using the algorithms, ideas that best meet the value criteria rise in priority the fastest.
Ideas with high priority are bundled thematically and decided on for implementation and/or awarding the idea providers. Implemented ideas are evaluated in terms of their actual impact and are available to other organizations as recommendations for action.
CO2 savings on a grand scale
The realized benefits of the approach were dramatic and set a big ball rolling, for which we were not only nominated for the Best of Green IT Solutions Award by CIO Magazine, but were also able to exceed all savings targets in a very short time.
Direct benefits arose from the
- Scalable digital calculation solution
- Collaborative Energy-Saver ideas platform activates the ideas potential of all employees
- Anonymous participation possible up to the approval level
- Achievement of savings targets in a dramatically shorter time than initially aimed for
Outlook
The solution has been further developed over generations, interlinked with other systems in many ways and used intensively.
The solution was discontinued due to restructuring. The potential could be reinterpreted professionally and digitally.
