Trend 1: Growing Pressure on Businesses to Meet Sustainability Demands

“87% of business leaders expect to increase their organization’s investment in sustainability over the next two years.”*

Sustainability has become something of a buzzword in recent years, and for good reason. The devastating impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly apparent and highlight the urgency of adopting sustainable practices and reducing our environmental footprint. As a result, sustainability has become a crucial strategic and operational priority for organizations of all sizes around the globe. To manage this shift in prioritization, businesses must embrace technologies that not only make their operations more resilient and adaptive but also enable them to meet their sustainability goals. By leveraging the power of the Cloud, companies can improve both visibility and sustainable practices across the supply chain. These are two areas that play a vital role in building strong ESG strategies at a time when governments, business partners, investors, customers, and other stakeholders are paying closer attention to these efforts. 

…currently have a sustainability initiative

Stricter regulations and compliance requirements

The focus on sustainability has become an undeniable force across the modern business landscape, with a surge in regulations that are geared at driving sustainability and poised to reshape the way companies operate. Some examples include the EU Digital Product Passport, carbon labeling, the EU Ecolabel, and Fairtrade certification. As businesses grapple with these and other regulations, Enterprise Labeling solutions help to streamline compliance. Automation and integration should not be underestimated; the ability to create accurate labels that seamlessly meet regulatory requirements across different jurisdictions, and without data replication, ultimately reduces mislabeling and the risk of fines and penalties. When it comes to product identification, integrating labeling directly with data sources of truth helps to ensure consistency and precision. Additionally, through the ability to perform real-time checks, these technologies can instantly flag any non-compliant elements or errors in labels.

…reported that stricter regulations and compliance requirements are pushing the business to adopt sustainability practices

Consumers demand sustainable products and practices 

Companies have needed to “green” their operations, not only in response to regulations but also increased consumer pressure. Fuelled by their desire to safeguard the planet, an increasing number of consumers are driving a shift towards higher ethical standards and greater transparency. Cloud technologies help to meet these demands by allowing companies to track their products across the entire manufacturing process. This improved supply chain visibility also ensures that products are made, shipped, and delivered to the correct destination, thereby helping to eliminate errors and reduce the amount of unnecessary waste. Being able to reliably trace products both upstream and downstream is important for managing the product lifecycle and ensuring sustainable sourcing. These intelligent supply chains can track, trace, and authenticate goods at every stage of the journey, from raw materials to consumer goods.

…said consumer preference for sustainable products continue to drive adoption of sustainability initiatives in their supply chain.

Sustainable operations result in cost cutting measures 

In today's dynamic business landscape, companies find themselves struggling with escalating cost pressures. The focus now is to proactively embrace innovative strategies and technologies to not only weather this storm but also seize bigger opportunities for cost-cutting measures. Many business leaders today are feeling the weight of rising energy prices. However, cloud-based solutions are designed to optimize resource utilization and energy efficiency in data centers. The enhanced supply chain visibility and flexibility afforded by these technologies allow companies to identify and rectify inefficiencies, reduce inventory levels, and eliminate waste from pre-printed label stock. It also minimizes transportation costs, eventually leading to considerable savings across the enterprise. By hosting mission-critical business processes such as labeling in the Cloud, companies can reduce their energy consumption and carbon footprint, resulting in lower utility bills and reduced environmental impact - all while aligning with their sustainability goals. 

…reported reductions in environmental impact, such as reduced product and packaging waste, carbon emissions, or resource consumption, as a result of using cloud.

*Gartner, 2022 Sustainability Survey: Use Sustainability to Drive Value and Mitigate Disruption. Sarah Watt, Kristin Moyer, Lauren Wheatley