71 RESOURCES of the supply chain and for making them more effi cient and sustainable Has digitalization on the factory floor become more advanced than that At least for Schaeffler I can answer that with a clear yes We ve been integrating several thousand ma chines in networks per year and keep doing so In three years time we plan to have achieved one hundred percent network integration That means we re going to have an exact overview of which ma chine is working where on what and how much and will be able to intervene immediately in the event of idle times excessive workloads or machine trou ble Through network integration we optimize the efficiency of our internal flows of goods and ener gy consumption But not the consumption of materials In that area action must be taken much earlier in the product development stage where perfor mance and costs used to be the focus of attention Today we re increasingly focusing on usage of ma terials resource conservation and CO2 efficiency not least because that has become more important to our customers as well Digitalization helps op timize processes based on recorded performance indicators as well as in synchronizing product de velopment and production At Schaeffler these control loops have traditionally been interlinked very closely but obviously that doesn t mean that we don t want to improve in that area too When talking about the optimization of processes we mustn t lose sight of our upstream and down stream partners where closer digital integration will help conserve resources as well You mentioned partners How important are they for achieving your own sustainability goals We feel that it s our responsibility to understand and to continue developing the new supply chains across their entire lengths together with our part ners That s why finding the right partners for the required processes will be of crucial importance not only in terms of their professional or techni cal expertise but also based on the firm conviction that the pathway toward a sustainable world has to be pursued with no ifs and buts Equally important is the consensus that that will be associated with massive additional costs that ultimately will also have to be borne by the consumer in other words by all of us We have to understand that as well The success of changes always heavily depends on people too How do you stimulate the pioneer ing spirit of your employeees Actually it doesn t have to be stimulated A pio neering spirit is firmly anchored in Schaeffler s DNA We re sensing a very very high motivation among our employees to develop and implement sustainable solutions at all of our plants and at all of our locations Our people are proud of pursuing new pathways be it in product development on the factory floor or in relation to establishing the things that are necessary in the supply chains To actively promote and appreciate top perfor mances delivered by our employees the executive board together with the family shareholders created the Schaeffler Award a few years ago Mr Schaeffler personally presents the award to the winners in four categories reflecting our corporate values Sustainable Innovative Excellent and Pas sionate That s another example that shows how much the company values the pioneering spirit of its workforce In closing would you share with us where Schaeffler currently stands on the road toward zero emissions We plan to achieve climate neutral operations start ing in 2040 This target includes the entire supply chain and is underpinned by ambitious mid term goals Our own manufacturing operations that is Scope 1 and 2 will be climate neutral as early as by 2030 We re definitely headed in the right di rection because we re executing our plans consis tently Since 2021 Schaeffler has been purchasing 100 percent of its electric power from renewable sources at its European production sites By 2024 we plan to do so at all of our locations worldwide We re making good progress also in terms of en ergy efficiency Before the end of the year we re going to save around 47 gigawatthours which roughly equates to the annual electricity consump tion of 15 000 two person households in Germany The implementation of our Sustainability Roadmap is progressing as planned The international Car bon Disclosure Project non profit organization has upgraded us in a special water rating from B to A and awarded us with an overall A rat ing as well In the EcoVadis sustainability rating the Schaeffler Group scored 75 out of 100 possi ble points equating to Platinum status As a result we re now in the top one percent of our peer group

Hinweis: Dies ist eine maschinenlesbare No-Flash Ansicht.
Klicken Sie hier um zur Online-Version zu gelangen.