Sustainable Asset Management makes a difference

Presentation of the MORE4Sustainability benchmark survey results

The industry is very aware of the need to become more sustainable. Manufacturing companies are already taking major steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. But there is still a gap to be filled in reaching the European climate and energy targets. Sustainable Asset Management could be the answer.

The industry is the largest consumer of fossil energy. So, we are on a mission: the goal is to reduce CO₂ emissions by 55% by 2030, and to improve energy efficiency by 32.5%. But what measures can be made by the maintenance department? And which measures have the biggest effect?

Sustainable AM

In the past months four maintenance associations in Belgium (BEMAS), the Netherlands (NVDO), France (MC2) and Germany (IVF) encouraged their network to take part in a large benchmark survey about Sustainable Asset Management. Mainnovation – international consultancy firm in the field of Maintenance & Asset Management and experienced research agency – led the execution. Mark Haarman, managing partner at Mainnovation, explains: ‘It is an extensive project, funded by Interreg North-West Europe. We started by formulating a Sustainable AM framework. This framework shows 17 best practices which can be used to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.’

Measures with impact

With the MORE4Sustainability benchmark survey, we investigated the extent to which companies are already engaged in Sustainable Asset Management or have plans for the near future. Based on the gathered data, we also gained insight in which measures have the biggest impact to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The survey focussed on manufacturing companies, situated in one of the four previously mentioned countries. ‘With a focus on a specific target group we were able to compare apples with apples and create a Roadmap to help this specific industrial sector to implement Sustainable AM’, Haarman explains.  

Roadmap

The outcome of the survey confirmed that most Maintenance & Asset Management departments are still at the beginning of a more sustainable approach. Haarman: ‘They are aware of the fact that the company has an obligation to reach the sustainability goals, but the possible measures and also the effect of these options, were not quite clear.’
That is exactly why this survey was conducted. ‘The benchmark study maps the degree of implementation and the effect of methods and best practices. The insights were used to draw up a comprehensive roadmap, which in a later phase serves as a basis for creating training materials for the Maintenance & Asset Management community.’

Added value

We need to take action when it comes to protecting our planet. The MORE4Sustainability benchmark shows that the Maintenance & Asset Management departments play a significant role to achieve this. ‘This points out the added value of proper and capable Maintenance & Asset Management, now with a focus on sustainability.’