45 percent - just so many representatives of large Polish companies believe that an ecological approach to business and the implementation of initiatives in this field can bring them specific benefits. Is that a lot? Or maybe it still not enough? It is difficult to say, but the fact is that awareness in this regard is growing year by year.
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The above-mentioned data comes from the DNB Bank Polski report "Directions 2020. Green responsibility of business. Is environmentally friendly business profitable? ”. It quite clearly shows that the business awareness of the ecological approach and care for the natural environment is constantly growing, which resulted in the implementation of new solutions, ranging from the most prosaic ones, such as replacing light bulbs in production plants with energy-saving ones or segregating rubbish in offices, to activities on a much larger scale, such as putting more emphasis on rail transport at the expense of air traffic.
The search for advantage
The ecological approach, however, is not only individual movements that are supposed to simulate the shape of a much wider action. Of course, there are those who try to function in this way, but today we talk about comprehensive strategies much more often. Comprehensive plans that are to affect the functioning of businesses on all possible fronts and - which, apart from ideological reasons, is the most important - bring benefits.
Looking at the issues of ecology in industry or business, it is impossible to get the impression that we still have a lot to do. - Companies in more developed countries are at a higher level of development, which in turn means that basic good environmental practices have already been implemented by them - admitted the president of DNB Bank Polski, Artur Tomaszewski.
Every year, as Poles, we reduce the distance from the European and world leaders. Still, the key benefit is that can be achieved. This, in turn, may be gaining an advantage in the market, where an ecological attitude is not only welcome, but even more and more often required. - More than 67 percent of the largest companies in Poland have already implemented initiatives to reduce their negative impact on the environment, and another 15 percent have it in their plans for the near future - said Jacek Socha from PwC Polska.
The customer has to choose
Today, there is no longer any doubt about what consumers are looking for. In addition to the highest quality goods and services, they also want the company they rely on to represent a philosophy related to them. One of them is, of course, environmental care. For some it is a secondary issue, but for others it is crucial in the context of bet on a specific company. So if someone in their private life puts a lot of emphasis on ecology, having a choice where to allocate their money, they will choose a company that is closer to them.
One of the trends of the ecological approach in large business is, among others a retreat from producing and "consuming" goods that have a very limited lifetime. A specific device may simply stop working after a certain amount of time, which in turn prompts you to buy new ones, and so the circle is closed. However, you can approach the topic in a different way and try to turn the table upside down.
This is exactly the initiative taken by Automation Trader, which in addition to hard-to-reach parts for industrial automation, also offers professional service. Without the need to send a specific part or go with it in person, you can price its repair remotely. Effect? A specific financial saving resulting from not paying for transport + leaving an amount in your pocket, which can potentially become the difference between repairing a specific component and buying a new one. But that's not all.
An additional advantage of the situation in which we haven’t to send parts to find out the cost of its repair is the fact that it has a very specific impact on the environment. Of course, we are talking about reducing CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, reducing the production of pollutants and waste to a small extent, but probably no one has any doubts that caring for the environment is a collective work, which consists of the efforts of individuals and companies.
The foundation for legislation
Interestingly, taking pro-ecological initiatives, such as remote valuation of repair by Automation Trader, very often become the basis for subsequent legal acts. Jacek Socha argued that entrepreneurs see further and take action without any orders from above, while creating their own reality. - Many entrepreneurs introduce their initiatives ahead of the law. This means that they are looking for a reliable source of market advantage in them, he said.
Ultimately, all of these activities lead us to the broadly understood Industry 4.0, or actually the fourth industrial revolution. Its main issues, however, are a topic for a completely different story, which we will discuss in the next text from our ecological cycle.
