MILWAUKEE – THE Equipment Manufacturers Association (AEM) launched its equipment industry Sustainability Toolkitwhich provides assessments and resources to help manufacturers and their supply chains minimize operational environmental impacts.
The toolkit will assist the equipment manufacturing industry in its efforts to align with evolving environmental regulations and support a more sustainable world. Multiple assessments are available through the toolkit, all of which provide actionable best practices to minimize risk while improving sustainability and efficiency.
The Sustainability Maturity Model assessment helps determine where an organization is in the four stages of maturity and develop an action plan on how to move forward by collecting a list of attributes of the organization’s business. The first stage is compliance, followed by effectiveness, leadership, and purpose.
“The different attributes include what motivates a company at this stage, what is your organizational motivation, what are the boundaries around this stage and who is responsible for it,” said Julie Davis, senior director of workforce and industry initiatives at AEM. “A company might be in one area for motivation and another area for tools, actions and accountability. This model gives you an idea of which stage you are most in.”
Davis said the assessments are meant to be useful tools for businesses, to provide guidance and resources, and can be used by anyone involved in manufacturing in any way, regardless of the size of the company.
Related. Tanel takes over as head of the Equipment Manufacturers Association
“At the compliance stage, things are very reactive. You do it because it’s the law, but when you start going further (in the model), you’re not just reactive. There are different guidelines and regulations that can come in, and you want to get ahead of them,” Davis said.
The Supply Chain Readiness Assessment addresses all elements of the corporate social responsibility program that companies have implemented or plan to implement and provides a comparable measure of sustainability readiness and highlights areas for improvement.
The AEM Sustainable Development Council noted that seven of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are priorities for AEM and its member companies. In assessing supply chain readiness, manufacturing organizations can see what concrete steps need to be taken to achieve these development goals, including clean water and sanitation, decent work and economic growth, and responsible consumption and production, among others.
Related. Gold 100 Awards and Trade Show Executive Summit: Grand Celebration Heralds the Return of an Industry
Operational risk assessment can be used to understand the risks that certain suppliers pose to the supply chain, such as long lead times and other common issues, and in some cases forced labor, which can lead to much more serious problems for manufacturers using parts produced under such conditions. It helps a company understand the functionality of its suppliers and can be used as a tool to evaluate potential suppliers.
Davis said: “We’re trying to assess where the industry is today so that in five years we can go to government agencies and tell them where we were, where we are now and whether we’ve made progress.”
Access the Sustainable Development Toolkit here.
AEM is also the producer of The exhibition of public services, which was a huge success at this year’s Trade Show Executive Gold 100 Awards & Summit, winning four Grand Prizes and #1 in the Gold 100 ranking in net square feet.
Contact Julie Davis at (414) 429-6210 or jdavis@aem.org