Free Self-Assessment Tool for Sustainability in the Municipal Vehicle Industry for SMEs: Assess and improve your sustainability activities.
The sustainability of products and services has become an increasingly important issue, especially in times of climate change and resource scarcity. But how can companies assess their own sustainability activities? This is where the digital self-assessment tool Sustainability Assessment comes in. The tool enables companies to make an initial assessment and identify where action is still needed. This allows SMEs to achieve their sustainability goals in line with municipal vehicle industry requirements and make improvements. In this article we will take a closer look at the tool and explain its advantages and possibilities.
With our digital self-assessment tool Sustainability Assessment, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the municipal vehicle industry now have the opportunity to assess their own sustainability activities. In cooperation with the VAK juniors, the WBV municipal vehicle technology provides the self-assessment form on the web page
www.lx4c.de
free of charge.
Background of the Self-Assessment Tool
The self-assessment questionnaire sustainability assessment was developed as part of the master thesis “Conception of a holistic sustainability management system for SMEs in the European municipal vehicle industry” by Ann-Kathrin Kieler in 2022. The work revealed that many SMEs in the municipal vehicle industry are very interested in the topic of sustainability. However, these companies often do not have concrete plans to implement corporate sustainability. They also have a harder time making the shift to corporate sustainability than large companies because SMEs often specialize in specific products and customers and work with small suppliers. In addition, SMEs often do not have the resources such as time, money, personnel and skills to design and implement holistic sustainability management on their own compared to large companies.
Nevertheless, implementing sustainability management is an essential step toward a climate-friendly future and social justice in the workplace. SMEs in particular can benefit from sustainable management and make their contribution to the change towards corporate sustainability. Therefore, the objective of the master thesis was to develop a holistic sustainability management system specifically designed to meet the needs of SMEs in the municipal vehicle industry.
Fields of action of the sustainability management system
In order to design a holistic sustainability management system, specific fields of action and aspects of the sustainability management system in the municipal vehicle industry were first analyzed. Five fields of action emerged, namely economic efficiency, environment, social affairs, innovation and circular economy. Each of these fields of action contains specific aspects that describe it in detail.
The efficiency field of action includes, for example, measures for handling complaints and grievances as well as the introduction of CSR and sustainability requirements for suppliers. The environmental field of action includes the implementation of an environmental policy and an environmental management system to reduce the company’s environmental impact, as well as decarbonization measures. The Social or Human Well-Being field of action is primarily concerned with the implementation of working conditions and human rights guidelines as well as occupational health and safety measures. In addition to this, it includes support for charitable projects and training programs to improve corporate social responsibility. The Innovation and Future field of action includes innovation management, employee involvement in receiving and implementing suggestions for improvement, a management system for increasing efficiency, and a research and development department. In the circular economy field of action, SMEs should use recycled materials, take recyclability into account when developing new products, and introduce a waste management system.
Implementation of a sustainability management system in 4 steps
The implementation of the sustainability management system includes four steps, namely Check, Act, Plan and Do. The steps are based on the PDCA cycle, but the sequence is adapted to the current requirements of the municipal vehicle industry. In the first step, check, companies fill out the self-assessment form on the website
lx4c.com
fill out. In the process, SMEs in the municipal vehicle industry can assess their level of compliance with sustainability. After companies complete the self-assessment form, they receive individualized feedback in the form of a results report that helps them identify weaknesses and take the next steps toward Act, Plan, and Do. The self-assessment tool provides companies with a way to get started on the topic of corporate sustainability without much effort. In this way, SMEs can take targeted measures to transfer the identified fields of action to their company and achieve improvements.
Click here for the self-assessment tool Sustainability Assessment: https://lx4c.de/nachhaltigkeit/
