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From Data to Impact: Scaling Sustainability Across Manufacturing Enterprises

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The Hard Truth: Reporting Doesn’t Change Anything

Most manufacturers are drowning in spreadsheets and annual reports, but emissions don’t drop from reporting alone. The real bottleneck isn’t ambition. It’s data that’s too coarse to change real decisions. In our most recent webinar, partnered with NAEM, “From Data to Impact: Scaling Sustainability Across Manufacturing Enterprises” our experts stressed a simple reality: spend-based estimates might check a compliance box, but they will never redesign a product, reshape a supply chain, or win you a tender.

Key Takeaways

  • Activity-based data is essential. Our experts emphasized that bill of materials (BOM)-level data enables manufacturers to move beyond spend-based estimates and into actionable Scope 3.1 reporting.
  • A laddered approach to data quality. Start where you are: BOM-based modeling when available, weight or average factors when necessary, and spend-based methods only as a last resort.
  • Collaboration is non-negotiable. Procurement, engineering, and sustainability functions must be aligned if product sustainability data is to influence real business decisions.
  • Digital twins enable scale. By linking product, supply chain, and impact data, organizations can automate LCAs, close supplier data gaps, and create portfolio-wide transparency.

The Data Ladder: How to Climb Out of Spend-Based Guesswork

Most organizations are not constrained by a lack of data but by the wrong type of data. Scope 3.1 requires product-specific, activity-based data to enable meaningful action. Without it, sustainability reporting risks becoming an exercise in compliance rather than a driver of competitive advantage. Our experts underscored that to create impact, sustainability insights must flow into design and sourcing decisions, not remain trapped in reporting cycles.

A Practical Data Ladder for Scaling Sustainability Data

  1. BOM-based (preferred): Map the bill of materials, normalize material and process categories, and apply life cycle inventory factors. This is the most actionable level for design and sourcing decisions.
  2. Average/mass-based (backup): When full BOM data is unavailable, use product weight and representative averages to approximate impacts.
  3. Spend-based (fallback): Leverage spend data multiplied by EEIO factors only when no other information exists. This approach should be replaced progressively with activity-based data.

This ladder allows organizations to begin modeling with the data at hand and gradually refine accuracy through supplier engagement and primary data collection.

The point? Start now, climb steadily. Don’t let “perfect data” be the excuse for doing nothing.

The Barriers Manufacturers Face

Scaling sustainability isn’t straightforward. Common challenges include:

  • Data silos across PLM, ERP, and compliance systems.
  • Incomplete product records, such as missing weights or coatings.
  • Rapid change in engineering and sourcing, which often outpaces traditional LCA cycles.
  • Competing priorities across teams, with procurement focused on cost, engineering on manufacturability, and sustainability on reporting deadlines.

Breaking the Silos: From Sustainability Reports to Product Decisions

ERP and PLM systems were built to optimize cost and risk—not sustainability. The result? Fragmented records, incomplete supplier info, and teams working in isolation. The solution made clear: scaling sustainability demands a single source of product truth that procurement, engineers, and sustainability teams can all access and act on.

To overcome these barriers, our experts recommend a repeatable operating model:

  1. Normalizing product records by harmonizing BOMs, applying default assumptions, and defining a single source of truth for material attributes.
  2. Building an LCA-at-scale service via digital twins that connect cost, compliance, and footprint data, keeping models current as designs change.
  3. Prioritizing supplier engagement based on material impact, focusing requests for primary data where it matters most.

Embedding sustainability into workflows so that footprints are considered alongside cost and lead time in procurement events, design reviews, and customer disclosures.

Data Quality Isn’t the Excuse

Yes, your data is messy. Everyone’s data is messy. But the myth that you must “fix data first” before scaling sustainability is paralyzing progress. As our experts highlighted, you can achieve more than you think—even with imperfect data. The maturity curve proves it: novices wrestle spreadsheets, intermediates integrate flows, and advanced players run centralized master data governance. The winners don’t wait—they build maturity as they go.

What Success Looks Like

Signals that sustainability has scaled include:

  • Broad coverage of up to 80% revenue/SKUs using activity-based methods.
  • Automated impact updates tied to BOM or supplier changes.
  • Sustainability metrics integrated into sourcing and design decision gates.
  • Clear supplier mix shifts toward lower-carbon options, informed by quantified trade-offs.

Real-World Win: Microsoft – 28% Footprint Reduction on Surface Pro

Microsoft’s Surface team discovered that manual LCA processes were outdated, slow, and riddled with generic data.

By automating through Makersite, they:

  • Cut LCA effort from months to minutes.
  • Increased accuracy from 20% primary data to 70%.
  • Freed 80% of resources to focus on reductions instead of reporting.
  • Achieved a 28% footprint reduction on the Surface Pro.

The lesson: Automation doesn’t just accelerate reporting—it creates the space to design real carbon reductions.

Read the Full Case Study

Real-World Win: FLS – Tackling Massive Complexity

FLS, a global mining equipment leader, faced customer demand for timely LCA data that far outpaced their manual capacity. Their products involve thousands of BOM lines and hundreds of tons of material.

With Makersite, they:

  • Scaled LCAs across complex, customized portfolios.
  • Embedded carbon transparency into tenders and sales.
  • Gained actionable insights to drive supplier and material decisions.

FLS turned sustainability into a competitive edge—not a reporting chore.

Read the Full Case Study

So, What Should You Do?

  • Run a pilot, not a POC. Prove scale, accuracy, and speed on real SKUs or sites—not toy examples.
  • Get cross-functional buy-in. Procurement, sales, and engineering must see the business value, or sustainability stays underfunded.
  • Pick a partner you trust. The sustainability software space is still the Wild West. Don’t just buy tools—find people who deliver.

Addressing Common Pushbacks

  • “We don’t have the data.” Use the ladder—begin with what is available and improve over time. Hybrid approaches are both recognized and effective.
  • “LCAs take too long.” With a connected digital twin, models update automatically, reducing time to insight.
  • “Scope 3 is just reporting.” When tied to product and sourcing decisions, Scope 3 becomes a lever for both emissions reduction and margin growth.

Still Skeptical? Let’s Address the Hard Questions

  • “We already have a sustainability team handling this.”
    Good—but if their insights never reach procurement or design, you’re leaving value on the table. Scaling means wiring their work directly into product and supplier decisions, not confining it to reports.
  • “We’re not ready for a new tool or vendor.”
    You don’t need another silo—you need a connected digital twin that feeds your existing PLM, ERP, and sourcing systems. The right partner integrates with what you have and accelerates ROI.
  • “We don’t have good enough data to act.”
    No one starts with perfect data. The key is the ladder approach: use what you have, improve as you go, and replace assumptions with primary data over time.
  • “This all sounds too complex.”
    Automating LCAs across thousands of BOM lines for heavy mining equipment is complex, but it can be done. Complexity is exactly why scalable automation exists.
  • “Scope 3 is just reporting.”
    Reporting alone doesn’t change outcomes. But when Scope 3 metrics drive sourcing, design, and tender decisions, they become a lever for cost savings, margin growth, and differentiation.

Closing Thought

Our experts’ message was clear: sustainability at scale isn’t about “more reports.” It’s about hardwiring footprint into product and supplier decisions. That’s the difference between reporting carbon and actually reducing it.

On-Demand Decarbonize by Design: How Product Sustainability Fuels Business Growth

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Masterclass Key Takeaways

Despite headlines hinting at a “sustainability slowdown,” the data tells a very different, but encouraging story. In our recent masterclass with PwC’s David Linich and Makersite CEO Neil D’Souza, we dug into the real business levers behind climate action and decarbonization. Spoiler alert: they’re not just about ESG scores. They’re about growth, resilience, and bottom-line performance.

Sustainability isn’t dead. It’s maturing

PwC’s latest State of Decarbonization study found that more companies are increasing their climate ambitions than pulling back—37% of companies are stepping up their goals, compared to just 16% dialing them down. Many of those lowering targets are simply recalibrating early, overly ambitious goals to reflect more realistic roadmaps. In just five years, there’s been a 9x increase in companies setting emissions reduction targets.

 

Scope 3 is the new frontier—and the biggest opportunity

Progress on Scope 1 and 2 is real, but Scope 3 remains the largest untapped lever. Why? It’s tough to tackle, but it’s also where most value chain emissions, and business value, live. Most enterprises still rank low in supplier engagement maturity. That’s where tools like product carbon footprinting and collaborative design come in.

Product sustainability drives growth. Literally. 

Sustainable products deliver measurable ROI. PwC found that companies marketing products with sustainability attributes are seeing a 6–25% revenue uplift, through price premiums, increased purchase intent, and entirely new revenue streams like circular business models. Double claims, “durable + PFAS-free”, are particularly powerful, boosting purchase intent by up to 30%.

The business case isn’t one-and-done. It’s a drumbeat

One of the biggest blockers? Failing to make (and maintain) the business case. Leaders need to advocate for decarbonization like they would any core investment, with a repeatable story, clear ROI, and alignment to strategic priorities. Capital allocation is key. Leading companies are ring fencing budgets for decarbonization or applying internal carbon prices to support longer-term investments.  

Digital product twins are redefining what’s possible

Legacy LCA methods don’t scale, but scalable, AI-driven platforms can. With digital twins, manufacturers can simulate cost, carbon, risk, and compliance trade-offs in real-time across entire product portfolios, not just pilot SKUs. The shift: From once-a-year compliance reports to daily design decisions.

Circularity is suddenly more economical

Thanks to tariffs, raw material volatility, and shifting customer preferences, circular business models that didn’t pencil out before are now financially viable. But unlocking that value requires scenario planning and data orchestration at scale. From reuse to take-back programs, sustainability and margin of growth are finally aligning.  

Why it Matters

Product sustainability is becoming a top priority for both sales teams and engineers, and for good reason. According to PwC, by 2030, over one-third of global company revenues will come from climate-focused solutions—think lightweight products, alternative fuels, and circular business models for B2B and consumers. It’s clear: meaningful climate action and business growth now go hand in hand.

What You Can Do on Monday

If you’re not ready to overhaul your entire product sustainability strategy (yet), start here:

  • Assess your product sustainability maturity: Take stock of your cross-functional coordination, LCA capabilities, and supplier engagement efforts. Understand your current baseline and identify where to improve. 
  • Build (and sustain) the business case: Clarify how product sustainability directly supports revenue, margin, and compliance goals. Revisit it often to maintain leadership support and investment. 
  • Explore design levers for Scope 3: Pinpoint where your product and sourcing choices influence emissions and cost. Focus efforts where they’ll yield both carbon reduction and commercial value. 
  • Equip Sales & Marketing with the right tools: Provide clear, credible messaging and ROI calculators to help teams communicate sustainability claims effectively, especially in B2B contexts. 
  • Pilot scalable digital tools: Trial digital twins or rapid LCA platforms on a small product set to evaluate speed, cost, and business insight potential before scaling up. 

Take Action

Watch the full masterclass and download PwC’s State of Decarbonization report for sector insights, value chain strategies, and practical playbooks.

Need help scaling your product sustainability efforts? Makersite’s experts are ready to help.

Book a Demo

Quantifying Circularity: A Data-Driven Approach to Chip Lifecycle Emissions

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Turning Vision into Action: Advancing Circular Manufacturing

To open this masterclass, Gruber and Dillman presented a bold perspective on circular economy strategies, using a case study that compared the environmental and economic impacts of reusable and linear semiconductor chip designs. With sustainability leaders from companies like Amazon, IKEA, and Cisco in attendance, the discussion emphasized integrated, data-driven decision-making as a critical enabler for meeting today’s sustainability standards.

Contrasting scenarios included:

  • A linear model, where the chip is manufactured, used, and discarded.
  • A circular model, where the chip is recovered, re-balled, and reused.

The circular model demonstrated slightly higher emissions for the reprocessing step (2.36 kg CO₂e vs. 1.94 kg CO₂e for linear disposal), but by extending the lifetime of the initial chip in the circular model, where the linear would now be replaced by a new chip (1.94 x 2 = 3.88 kg CO₂e) the benefits of the circular approach is shown. By eliminating the need to manufacture new chips for future production cycles, the circular process reduces total, system-wide emissions while also drastically minimizing raw material extraction, water usage, and land use. 

Circular manufacturing offers a transformative solution for reducing environmental impact and building long-term economic resilience. Forward-thinking companies like Jabil are already operationalizing these principles, turning what was once considered waste into valuable resources through systematic recovery and reuse programs that can also deliver significant cost savings.

Gruber and Dillman’s data-driven example underscores how this model can cut resource consumption, support compliance with evolving sustainability regulations, and drive progress toward a fully circular economy. Businesses adopting these strategies position themselves as sustainability leaders, strengthening their operations against resource scarcity and climate challenges. By embracing circular innovation, companies unlock a powerful pathway to sustainable growth and competitive advantage.

“Circularity isn’t just about recycling—it’s about smarter design, sourcing, and evaluating trade-offs,” said Dillman. “To close the loop, we must assess impacts beyond carbon.”

Designing for Circularity: Key Insights from the Session

Key takeaways included:
  • Sustainability Requires System Thinking: Achieving a circular economy demands cross-functional collaboration across design, procurement, logistics, and recovery. A unified data foundation is critical to driving these efforts effectively.
  • Data-Driven Decisions Over Assumptions: The circular chip example scenario underscores the importance of high-fidelity modeling in evaluating circular strategies. Circular initiatives often lack granular emissions and cost data, making it difficult to assess trade-offs or justify actions internally. Digital tools that enable engineers and sustainability teams to quantify carbon impacts and material costs at the component level provide the analytical rigor needed to support data-backed circularity decisions.
  • Leadership Focuses on Actionable Insights: The strong participation of executives and senior managers in the session underscores growing C-level commitment to sustainable innovation and responsible driven business models.
  • Scalable Platforms Are the New Standard: Fragmented tools fall short in today’s complex landscape, creating new data silos and preventing transparency. Forward-thinking sustainability leaders are turning to scalable platforms and digital tools to seamlessly integrate sustainability, cost efficiency, and product compliance into their operations.

Driving Circularity with Actionable Product Intelligence

As manufacturers push toward circular economy goals, decision-makers are increasingly turning to digital tools that provide high-resolution insights across the product lifecycle. These platforms are enabling sustainability, procurement, and design teams to move beyond assumptions by modeling the environmental and economic implications of circular strategies in real time.

By bringing together lifecycle data, cost metrics, and supply chain considerations, these tools support:

  • Comparative analysis of linear vs. circular models
  • Identification of trade-offs across environmental categories
  • Alignment across teams through shared, data-driven insight.

In a rapidly shifting regulatory and market landscape, the ability to simulate design choices at scale — grounded in real-world data — is essential. Organizations that invest in this type of intelligence aren’t just improving products; they’re reshaping how sustainability is operationalized across the enterprise.

Turning Circular Strategies into Scalable Impact

For manufacturers, achieving sustainability success requires integrating data-driven insights and lifecycle thinking into design and procurement processes. This approach empowers teams to scale effective strategies such as reducing product carbon footprints, ensuring regulatory compliance, and driving operational efficiencies. With data and cross-functional alignment at the core, circularity evolves from a lofty goal to a measurable competitive advantage, positioning businesses as leaders in innovation and sustainability.

Learn more about the facilitators


Kevin Dillman PhD., Solutions Engineer at Makersite | Rich Bulger, Partner at Capital Growth Partners | Cassie Gruber,  Director of Sustainability Business Solutions at Jabil | Peter C. Evans PhD., Senior Advisor at Capital Growth Partners | Deborah Dull, Managing Partner at Trillium Digital Services 

Key learnings: Navigating Material & Substance Compliance

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Masterclass Key Takeaways

Manufacturers today are navigating an increasingly challenging compliance landscape. Global regulations are evolving faster than ever, supply chains are more complex, and regulatory expectations demand far more than just ticking boxes. Modern product compliance now requires robust data management, seamless supplier collaboration, and continuous process optimization to keep pace.

Recognizing these challenges, Makersite’s material & substance compliance experts take a deep dive in our most recent online masterclass to walk through proven strategies to help North American manufacturers not only stay compliant, but scale their compliance operations efficiently, strengthen supplier engagement, and protect product availability.

Here’s what you need to know to build a scalable, resilient product compliance approach, and turn regulatory complexity into a competitive advantage.

The Evolving Compliance Landscape

Regulatory requirements are accelerating at an unprecedented pace, creating new challenges and complexities for manufacturers across every industry. Staying compliant is no longer just about keeping up, it’s about staying ahead.

Here’s a look at the biggest hurdles North American companies are facing right now.

Key Challenges for Manufacturers

  • Complex and Expanding Regulations: Regulations like REACH, TSCA’s PFAS reporting rules, and RoHS exemptions are adding thousands of new substances to watch, often at an accelerating pace.
  • Disjointed and Isolated Data Systems: Traditional tools like spreadsheets, ERP, and PLM platforms often operate in silos, making it challenging for organizations to establish seamless communication between systems. This lack of cohesion leads to disjointed, unstructured data that is difficult to integrate, analyze, and leverage effectively for decision-making. As a result, teams may experience inefficiencies, errors, and missed opportunities for growth and innovation.
  • Fragmented Supplier Communication: Relying on emails and forms, without a centralized platform for managing supplier responses, approvals, and escalations, leads to confusion, delays, and errors. On top of that, suppliers are overwhelmed with requests from hundreds of different customer portals, making engagement and data collection even harder to scale.
  • Compliance Addressed Too Late: Reactive compliance approaches don’t just risk shipment delays, costly redesigns, and regulatory fines. They also limit strategic options. Staying ahead of evolving legislation, like monitoring the SVHC Candidate List, enables companies to substitute risky materials early. New regulations like PFAS reporting in the US require companies to trace product data backwards, in some cases as far as January 2011.

The consequences of non-compliance are becoming more severe, and increasingly business critical. Without robust processes in place, manufacturers risk facing shipment holds, financial penalties, loss of customer trust, and even market bans. In some cases, a single missing declaration or outdated material can block product access to entire regions, leading to lost revenue, disrupted supply chains, and strained customer relationships.

The Exploding Regulatory Horizon

The challenge isn’t static; it’s expanding. Manufacturers must keep pace with key regulatory deadlines such as:

  • California & New York PFAS Bans: Taking effect in 2025. These bans have significant implications for industries like Automotive, where PFAS are commonly used in coatings, upholstery, and other vehicle parts. Additionally, New Mexico’s HB 212, signed into law on April 8, 2025, makes it the third U.S. state, following Maine and Minnesota, to enact a broad PFAS ban.
  • REACH Updates: Universal PFAS restrictions are currently under review, but what makes this regulation unique is that it doesn’t target specific substances, but an entire group of chemicals. This presents a particular challenge for industries like medical devices, where certain products can’t currently be manufactured without PFAS.
  • Current discussions at ECHA indicate two possible directions: Industry may continue to use fluoropolymers only where no alternatives exist. Meaning if a competitor can produce a similar product without PFAS, you may be required to do the same. Secondly, consumer uses of fluoropolymers are still being considered for a complete ban.
  • RoHS Lead Exemption Phaseouts: Changes expected in the next 12–18 months. The EU’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive has historically allowed certain exemptions for the use of lead in specific applications, particularly in complex electronics and medical devices where no viable alternatives existed. However, many of these exemptions are now under review and expected to be phased out in the coming 12–18 months. This presents a significant challenge for manufacturers, especially in sectors like electronics, automotive, and industrial equipment, where lead has been critical for soldering and high-reliability components. Companies relying on these exemptions need to act now to identify alternative materials, redesign components, or prepare for requalification processes, all of which can be costly and time-consuming if left too late.

The overlaps in these regulations—such as varying thresholds and contradictory rules between federal and state mandates (e.g., TSCA vs. California PFAS disclosures)—add further complexity.

Pro Tip

To remain competitive and compliant, manufacturers need scalable systems that enable centralized compliance tracking, cross-functional regulatory reviews, and ongoing horizon scans.

Supplier Engagement & Data Collection

Effective compliance starts with obtaining the right input data from suppliers. Without this, meeting regulatory requirements becomes an uphill battle. Leading organizations are overcoming this challenge by leveraging a centralized supplier portal, a single source of truth that not only streamlines data collection but also provides built-in escalation paths and approval workflows.

By equipping suppliers with a central portal that offers escalation and approval functionalities, companies can ensure faster response times, better data accuracy, and improved collaboration. This approach reduces confusion, minimizes back-and-forth emails, and provides full traceability across supplier communications, a critical advantage when managing complex global supply chains.

Minimum Data Requirements

Ensure seamless and comprehensive compliance by securing access to:

  • Bills of Materials (BOMs): A detailed breakdown of all materials and components used in your products, essential for accurate regulatory reporting.
  • Supplier-Provided Files: Full Material Declarations (FMDs) and Certificates of Compliance (CoCs) to ensure traceability and adherence to standards.
  • SCIP and Regulatory IDs: Streamline automated submissions and maintain efficiency in meeting regulatory demands.

FMDs vs. CoCs: Understanding the Difference

  • FMDs provide complete transparency, offering a robust framework for long-term compliance that evolves with regulatory advancements.
  • CoCs, while suitable for immediate needs, require frequent updates to align with changing regulations—making them less sustainable for future-proof compliance strategies.

Pro Tip

Revolutionize your compliance approach with a focus on innovation, efficiency, and sustainability. By leveraging advanced data strategies, your business can stay ahead of regulatory demands while building a foundation for long-term success.

Simplify Supplier Collaboration

Simplifying supplier collaboration isn’t just about sending standardized forms. It requires the right technology to scale effectively. Equip your suppliers with intuitive, standardized formats like IPC 1752 to prevent fatigue and reduce friction. But to truly streamline the process, companies need a software solution that enables automated workflows for collecting, validating, and managing supplier data at scale.

Automation not only saves time for everyone involved but also reduces error rates and ensures data consistency, something manual processes simply can’t deliver when dealing with complex supply chains and evolving regulatory demands.

Automating Internal & External Compliance Reporting

Compliance demands transparency at every level. Here’s how automation transforms reporting processes.

  • Drill into the details: Analyze BOMs at a granular level to pinpoint components and assess compliance risks with precision.
  • Big-picture monitoring: Gain complete visibility across your portfolio with real-time dashboards tracking product status, supplier responsiveness, and key compliance metrics.

External Stakeholder Reporting

Streamline compliance management with automation that eliminates manual processes, delivering:

  • Ready-to-submit regulatory documents (e.g., SCIP or ECHA submissions).
  • Customizable dossiers tailored to meet customer and market-specific requirements.

Manufacturing enterprises need a centralized platform seamlessly integrates with ERP and PLM systems, ensuring stakeholders always have access to accurate, up-to-date compliance data.

Scaling Compliance Efforts-Why it Matters

With growing product lines and expanding global markets, manual compliance efforts no longer cut it. They fail to keep up with evolving regulations, hamper market readiness, and increase operational costs.

Next-Generation Solutions for Scalable Compliance

  • Leverage Automation: Automate workflows and data flows to reduce manual errors and accelerate compliance efforts.
  • Adopt Standardization: Use globally accepted data formats (e.g., IPC), enabling smoother communication across teams.
  • Adapt to Change: Implement systems that not only flex with new regulatory requirements but also enable companies to proactively identify and substitute substances or materials, even before new regulations come into force. This future-proofing approach helps avoid costly redesigns, reduce risk, and accelerate market entry.

By investing in digital tools, companies can significantly reduce time-to-market while managing the growing complexity of product compliance. You can accelerate data processing, automate regulatory checks, and helps identify potential product compliance risks early, even across large, fragmented supply chains. This not only speeds up supplier data validation but also enables smarter decision-making when it comes to material substitutions, regulatory reporting, and risk mitigation.

Looking Beyond Compliance

Compliance isn’t just a legal mandate; it’s a strategic advantage and an untapped opportunity to drive sustainability and innovation.

Product Compliance Managers sit on a gold mine of product and material data, often without realizing its full potential. The detailed supplier, material, and substance information collected for compliance purposes forms the perfect foundation for conducting Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) and Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) at scale.

This creates a unique opportunity to break down organizational silos between product compliance and product sustainability teams. By leveraging compliance data more strategically, companies can accelerate sustainability initiatives, reduce Scope 3 emissions, and design greener products — all without starting data collection from scratch.

Driving Sustainability Through Innovation

Enhancing BOM data with material insights empowers manufacturers to:

  • Conduct precise Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) and calculate accurate Product Carbon Footprints (PCF).
  • Monitor and report Scope 3 emissions for comprehensive corporate sustainability strategies.
  • Implement Eco-design Scenarios to replace non-compliant materials with greener, cost-efficient alternatives.

Strategic Recommendations

Adopt a proactive, scalable compliance strategy designed to drive efficiency and ensure sustainability.

  1. Leverage Supplier Data: Analyze existing data to map compliance gaps and address deficiencies with targeted outreach.
  2. Minimize Supplier Fatigue: Implement long-term data solutions like FMDs to reduce repetitive requests and build stronger, collaborative supplier relationships.
  3. Bring Compliance In-House: Enhance transparency, reduce reliance on external consultants, and stay agile in adapting to regulatory changes.
  4. Automate Reporting Processes: Deliver precise, real-time reports that integrate seamlessly with external systems, ensuring compliance with ease.
  5. Future-Proof Your Strategy: Build scalable systems that adapt to evolving regulations, emerging markets, and sustainability requirements, keeping your business ahead of the curve.

With these steps, you can transform compliance from a challenge into a strategic advantage, driving innovation and fostering sustainable growth.

What to Do Tomorrow — Whether You Have a System in Place or Not

Have:

  • Grade your existing BOMs for compliance gaps and missing data points. This helps prioritize where action is needed most.
  • Set up dashboards to provide live updates to stakeholders on product compliance status, supplier responsiveness, and upcoming regulatory risks.
  • Evaluate supplier alternatives early to avoid costly, last-minute substitutions, especially for materials flagged by upcoming regulations like PFAS or RoHS.

Have Not:

  • Start by mapping what data you have today, often in spreadsheets, ERP, or PLM tools, and identify gaps.
  • Engage with suppliers to begin collecting material declarations in standardized formats like IPC 1752.
  • Explore solutions like Makersite to centralize your compliance data and automate reporting, laying the foundation for scalable, future-ready compliance processes.

Compliance doesn’t have to be a burden. With the right tools and approach, it becomes a competitive advantage, helping you enter new markets faster, reduce operational risk, and design more sustainable, innovative products.

On-Demand Masterclass: How to Evolve Beyond Spend-Based Scope 3 Reporting

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Sustainability reporting has moved from being a niche requirement to a central element of modern corporate strategy. For many organizations, the focus on Scope 3 emissions — which account for most of their product’s carbon footprint — presents an opportunity to lead in environmental responsibility and drive innovation. Yet, most companies still rely on spend-based methodologies that provide limited accuracy and fail to capture the full picture of their impact. As stakeholders demand greater transparency and regulators implement stricter compliance measures, businesses must evolve their approach to ensure they remain relevant and resilient in a competitive landscape.
 

In a recent Makersite Masterclass, our data experts Fabian Hassel, VP of Services and Pablo Downer Päster, Principal Sustainability Engineer, provide a roadmap for organizations looking to transition away from spend-based approaches.

The session emphasized the need for robust, data-driven strategies that go beyond surface-level reporting, providing organizations with the tools and strategies needed to begin the transition.

Below are 10 key takeaways you can use to optimize your sustainability practices. By implementing these strategies, businesses can not only meet compliance requirements but also unlock long-term value in their operations.
 

Top 10 Key Takeaways

Understand the Limitations of Spend-Based Reporting

Spend-based reporting has been a common practice due to its simplicity and scalability, but it is heavy with drawbacks that limit its effectiveness in meeting modern sustainability goals. We highlighted three major weaknesses of this approach:

  • Lack of Accuracy: Relying on industry averages often fails to capture the complexity and uniqueness of individual supply chains.
  • Overlooked Factors: Key variables, such as material choices, product design, supplier energy sources and production efficiencies, are ignored.
  • Regulatory Risks: Increasingly stringent regulations demand more product level granularity and transparency, making spend-based methodologies insufficient. 

To keep up with global standards, businesses must transition to data-driven methods that go beyond high-level estimates.

 

The Power of Granular Data in Scope 3 Reporting

Accurate, granular data is a necessity for sustainability reporting. Transitioning from general estimates to detailed, material-specific information allows businesses to make better decarbonization decisions and take targeted actions.

Granular data provides:

  • Material-Level Insights: A clear understanding of the impact of each material in the supply chain.
  • Product-Specific Assessments: Precise measurements of emissions tied to specific products.
  • Supplier Data Integration: A more accurate and strategic approach to managing supplier emissions.   

This actionable level of detail equips businesses to develop proactive sustainability strategies rather than merely meeting reporting requirements.


Digital Twins as a Game-Changer

Digital twins are virtual data models that replicate real-world products, processes, and supply chains. We emphasized their transformative potential for Scope 3 reporting.

Digital twins enable companies to: 

  • Simulate scenarios to evaluate sustainability interventions.  
  • Identify “hotspots” of emissions in supply chains to focus on reduction strategies.  
  • Foster greater collaboration among procurement, research, and engineering teams to align sustainability goals.  

For example, a manufacturer of complex systems like wind turbines could use digital twins to visualize emissions across thousands of components and adapt processes accordingly.


Navigate Transition Challenges 

Moving beyond spend-based reporting is rewarding, but it isn’t without challenges. As we identified the most common roadblocks and how to address them: 

  • Data Gaps: Ensuring suppliers provide accurate and comprehensive data.
  • Integration Barriers: Streamlining fragmented data systems into a unified platform.
  • Cost and Complexity: Investing in advanced tools and frameworks for long-term gains. 

Despite these obstacles, high-impact organizations have successfully overcome these barriers with meticulous planning and the right tools.


Industry-Specific Insights for Scope 3 Reporting

Different industries face unique challenges and opportunities in Scope 3 reporting.

Here are some examples discussed in the masterclass: 

  • Automotive: High supply chain complexity coupled with strict emissions regulations.
  • Electronics: Significant impacts from raw materials requiring circular practices.
  • Heavy Machinery: Long product life cycles and complex components necessitate precise data collection.  

Tailoring reporting strategies to industry-specific needs is essential for achieving both accuracy and actionable insights.

 

Preparing for a Shifting Regulatory Landscape

Regulations like the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and SEC climate disclosure requirements demand unprecedented levels of transparency. We emphasize that companies need to: 

  • Build traceable and robust supply chain mechanisms.  
  • Adopt methodologies that exceed regulatory expectations to ensure long-term compliance and readiness for future standards. 

Organizations that begin adapting now will gain a head start over competitors once these regulations are fully enforced.

 

Advanced Master Material’s Approach to Scope 3 Reporting

To achieve your Scope 3 reporting goals, the importance of integrating an AI or tech tool to simplify and assist in the transition to more accurate Scope 3 reporting.

What you should look for in a tech tool to help you achieve your goals in Scope 3 Reporting:

  • Automated Data Integration: Seamless integration with ERP and PLM systems consolidates disparate data sources.  
  • Material and Supplier-Specific Modeling: Detailed emissions data to guide informed decision-making.
  • Collaboration Tools: Enables real-time engagement between cross-functional teams, such as procurement and sustainability managers.

By addressing key challenges of data granularity and system integration, you should look for a tool that supports businesses in meeting their sustainability goals effectively.

 

Turning Scope 3 Reporting into a Competitive Advantage

Far from being a regulatory burden, Scope 3 reporting can be a strategic opportunity.

We highlight its potential to drive business growth by: 

  • Market Differentiation: Establishing leadership as a sustainable brand.  
  • Data-Driven Innovation: Creating better products informed by actionable insights.
  • Supply Chain Resilience: Building transparency to adapt to disruptions and mitigate risks.  

Forward-thinking companies are leveraging Scope 3 as a catalyst for innovation and lasting competitive advantage.

 

Real-World Scenarios

We discussed  two different global manufacturing companies we worked with faced the common challenge of inconsistent and missing Scope 3 data, which led to inefficiencies in their product design and cost analysis.

The solution involved:

  • Enhanced Precision: Transitioned from generalized spend-based estimates to precise, material-level reporting, empowering data-driven decisions.
  • Cost Efficiency: Identified inefficiencies and optimized procurement strategies, driving measurable savings and sustainable growth.
  • Compliance Assurance: Secured full regulatory readiness, ensuring confidence and adherence to the highest industry standards.

For a deeper dive into our success stories click here.

 

Actionable Steps to Get Started   

If your organization is ready to evolve beyond spend-based Scope 3 reporting, here are four practical steps to take today:  

  • Assess Your Current Process: Identify gaps and areas for improvement in your current reporting practices.
  • Engage Stakeholders: Collaborate across departments—procurement, sustainability, engineering—to align goals and define data needs.  
  • Adopt Advanced Tools: Leverage advanced data management and integration tools, specifically, sustainability or environmental focused reporting platforms for accurate data integration and emissions modeling.
  • Pilot and Scale: Launch pilot projects to refine methodologies before scaling them across the organization.

Unlock the Full Potential of Scope 3 Reporting  

Accurate Scope 3 reporting is more than just a regulatory requirement—it’s a pathway to innovation, efficiency, and sustainable growth. Companies willing to embrace advanced methodologies and tools will not only meet compliance standards but also position themselves as leaders in a rapidly evolving market. 

By taking incremental steps, businesses can gradually transition to more advanced reporting practices without overwhelming existing systems. 

Curious to learn more about overcoming the Scope 3 Reporting challenges?

Click here to meet with a Makersite team member.

 

 

 

 

 

The emergence of ecodesign: Navigating the future of sustainable products

Posted on by adminmarketing

Despite more than 25% of total revenue and profits across industries coming from the launch of new products, it’s been estimated that fewer than 1% of those products have sustainability as a design parameter. But times are changing. An ecodesign approach, coupled with market demand, emerging regulations and consumer pressure, is changing the way new products are designed as well as creating more sustainable supply chains.

Ecodesign, at its core, is an approach to designing products and services while considering environmental impact in every phase of the development and life of the product. With up to 80% of the ecological impact of a product happening in the design phase, it is essential that this first step acts as a gateway to getting more sustainable and circular goods into the world.

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As our world grapples with an urgent climate crisis and spiraling environmental degradation, the importance of ecodesign is clear. By incorporating ecological considerations from the inception to the disposal of a product, an ecodesign approach ticks a number of boxes when it comes to consumer needs, environmental responsibility, and economic feasibility, as well as reducing resource consumption, improving recyclability, enhancing energy efficiency, extending product lifespan, and promoting collaboration among supply chain stakeholders. The recent introduction of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) promises to further elevate the significance and reach of ecodesign, pushing industries towards more sustainable practices.

However, its meaningful implementation is not without its challenges.

The challenges of ecodesign

  1. Stakeholder satisfaction: Pleasing all the stakeholders can sometimes seem like an impossible task. From regulators demanding compliance to customers seeking value, suppliers ensuring viability, and internal teams seeking clarity, achieving the right balance in your approach is integral to ensuring success.
  2. Complex supply chains: With fluctuating global markets, geopolitical instability and multi-faceted product lines, it can sometimes seem that there are simply too many subjects to address. The vastness of many supply chains adds a further layer of complexity when it comes to successfully embedding an ecodesign approach.
  3. Internal communication: The siloed nature of many business departments presents a particular challenge when it comes to communication. The ecodesign discussion brings with it topics that departments within organizations might not have broached before. Establishing and maintaining new lines of communication, aligning goals, and fostering understanding are pivotal.
  4. The data dilemma: In an age where data drives decisions, the lack of comprehensive, electronic data can cripple ecodesign efforts before they get started. This dearth of readily available and easily accessible information can hamper informed, environmentally-friendly decisions.

Five key takeaways:

As the conversation around ecodesign continues to evolve, certain topics are coming to the fore. Makersite’s Sophie Kieselbach recently spoke at Synergy Media Group’s ‘A Roadmap for Ecodesign’ webinar, where attendees focused on the following five key talking points:

A shift in focus:

Redefining aesthetics: The very foundations of product design are undergoing a transformation with ecodesign. While traditional designs primarily emphasized appearance and functionality, ecodesign integrates environmental considerations consistently.

Lifecycle thinking: Instead of merely focusing on the end product, ecodesign considers the entire lifecycle, upstream and downstream — from raw material extraction to disposal or recycling. This perspective ensures minimized environmental impact throughout the product’s existence.

ESPR’s extended reach:

Beyond energy efficiency: While previous regulations mostly addressed energy consumption, ESPR expands the focus to include factors like product durability, repairability, and recyclability.

Consumer empowerment: With a greater emphasis on product longevity and repairability, consumers are empowered to make informed choices, favoring products that won’t just end up as waste in a short time.

Collaboration is key:

Breaking silos: Ecodesign calls for departments that may have previously functioned in silos to come together. Marketing needs to understand the environmental impact, production teams should be informed about sustainable materials, and design teams must consider end-of-life scenarios.

Shared vision: For an ecodesign approach to be successful, the entire organization, from senior management to ground-level employees, needs to share the vision of sustainability and environmental responsibility.

Data is a valuable commodity:

Informed decision making: Ecodesign relies heavily on data and transparency. Understanding material impacts, energy consumption patterns, and waste generation rates requires robust data analytics.

Spotting trends: With accurate and comprehensive data, businesses can also anticipate market trends, making them better equipped to meet future regulatory and consumer demands and manage risk.

Ecodesign’s inevitability:

Consumer demand: As the global consciousness shifts towards sustainability, consumers are increasingly demanding products that align with their values. Ecodesign isn’t just a regulatory requirement; it’s becoming a market demand.

Environmental imperative: With the escalating climate crisis, sustainable product design isn’t just driven by economics or regulations — it’s an existential necessity. Businesses that adopt ecodesign aren’t just staying compliant; they’re contributing to global sustainability efforts.

Next steps for you:

If you’re looking to implement an ecodesign approach to the designing of your products and services, there are certain steps to take to ensure that your company is on the right path.

  1. Awareness and education: The first step towards integrating ecodesign is understanding its tenets and implications. Look to equip your team with comprehensive knowledge about ecodesign and emerging regulations like ESPR.
  2. Embrace collaboration: An open dialogue fosters innovation and increased adoption. Promote a company culture where departments actively engage in cross-functional discussions, ensuring full visibility when it comes to the embedding of ecodesign processes.
  3. Invest in data management: Prioritize the modernization of your data collection and management systems. A digitized, streamlined data system is the backbone of effective ecodesign integration. Ecodesign is only feasible when designers have data about the sustainability of their product, but also about its compliance, should costing, environmental, health, and safety criteria.
  4. Be proactive: Instead of waiting for regulations to enforce change, be a frontrunner. Proactively integrate ecodesign principles, setting industry standards.
  5. Engage and involve: Your end-users – consumers – hold invaluable insights. Engage them in your ecodesign journey, gather feedback, and make them active participants in shaping sustainable futures.

If you’d like to learn more about LCA software solutions for ecodesign, read more about Makersite’s ecodesign application.

How can manufacturers know the implications of design and purchase choices

Posted on by adminmarketing

Knowing the impact of your cost and environmental choices is hard to evidence.

To understand the trade-offs you need to make on cost, sustainability, compliance is made even more difficult when shortening product innovation cycles. Supply chain visibility and resilience to risk remains a challenge for many in a post-COVID world.

How do you overcome these challenges?

Our Founder and CEO, Neil D’Souza discussed these topics and more on Let’s Talk Supply Chain show hosted by Sarah Barnes-Humphrey.

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Top three takeaways:

Takeaway 1: Get a deeper understanding of your supply chain so you can assess the cost and environmental impact of different materials and processes

One of the challenges manufacturers face when trying to make better products is the sheer complexity of their supply chains. In many cases, a single product can involve dozens or even hundreds of different suppliers and materials, each with its own set of environmental and social impacts. This complexity can make it difficult for manufacturers to get a clear picture of the environmental impact of their products, let alone make informed decisions about how to improve them. Makersite can help address this challenge by providing a centralized platform for visualizing and analyzing the supply chain.

Takeaway 2: Collaboration between teams is key – but it requires a harmonized data set

One of the challenges manufacturers face in collaborating effectively is the siloed nature of many organizations. Different teams within a company may have different priorities and goals, and may be working with different sets of data. This can make it difficult to get everyone on the same page and make informed decisions about the supply chain. Makersite can help break down these silos by providing a shared platform that allows all stakeholders to access the same data and collaborate more effectively.

Takeaway 3: Transform visibility into action – have a plan to measure, report and improve

To be successful in implementing sustainable practices in the supply chain, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the environmental impact of each material and process. Makersite’s data analysis capabilities can help businesses identify areas where they can make the biggest impact on sustainability, such as reducing carbon emissions or minimizing waste. One of the challenges manufacturers face when trying to implement sustainable practices is the lack of visibility into the environmental impact of their products. In many cases, manufacturers may not have access to detailed information about the materials and processes they use, or may not have the tools to analyze this information effectively. Makersite can help address this challenge by providing a way to analyze and visualize data about the supply chain, and identify opportunities for improvement.