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Business Post
05-07-2025
- Business
- Business Post
Operational benefits beyond compliance
The business landscape is undergoing a profound transformation as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations move from the periphery to the heart of corporate strategy. And while regulatory compliance often serves as the initial driver, the real value of ESG implementation lies in its operational benefits. However, for small and medium-sized enterprises, this evolution presents both challenges and unprecedented opportunities for growth, operational efficiency, and long-term resilience. While large corporations have been grappling with ESG requirements for some time, SMEs are increasingly finding themselves in the spotlight. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) may not currently mandate reporting for smaller businesses, but not only is this exemption temporary: more immediately pressing is the growing demand from larger entities for ESG data throughout their supply chains, creating a ripple effect that reaches even the smallest suppliers. The complexity of ESG reporting can appear daunting. With approximately 200 data points to consider across environmental, social, and governance metrics, many SME owners and staff feel overwhelmed before they even begin. This complexity is compounded by the fact that ESG encompasses everything from energy consumption and waste management to employee wellbeing and board diversity. The challenge is often exacerbated by SMEs discovering their need to provide ESG data only when larger clients make sudden demands. Ashleigh Connors, an ESG consultant at TEKenable, said that businesses often remain 'blissfully ignorant - until someone comes knocking on their door looking for specific data points'. The pressure is mounting from multiple directions. Large corporations, increasingly held accountable for their entire value chain's environmental and social impact, are demanding greater transparency from suppliers. Meanwhile, public and private tenders now routinely include ESG criteria, making sustainability performance a competitive differentiator rather than merely a regulatory requirement. While regulatory compliance often serves as the initial driver, the real value of ESG implementation lies in its operational benefits. 'There are also cost savings to be had, as it makes energy use very obvious,' Connors said, pointing to how systematic monitoring of environmental metrics makes consumption patterns immediately visible, highlighting inefficiencies that might otherwise go unnoticed for years. There is also the example of supply chain responsibility: 'It's not just what you're doing as a company,' Connors said. 'If you're buying from other companies that has a knock-on effect. If you buy palm oil, it's your responsibility to ensure it's not contributing to deforestation.' This extended responsibility might seem burdensome, but it actually drives innovation in sourcing strategies and can lead to more resilient supply relationships. The competitive advantage However, the financial implications are equally compelling. Energy audits frequently reveal substantial cost-saving opportunities, while improved resource management can significantly reduce waste-related expenses. Companies that embrace ESG early often discover that what initially appeared to be additional overhead actually enhances their bottom line. The key to successful ESG implementation lies in systematic data collection and analysis. Modern technology solutions can integrate with existing business systems, automatically capturing relevant metrics and presenting them through intuitive dashboards. As Connors puts it: 'If you're not tracking it, then you're not managing it.' For businesses wondering where to begin, Connors recommends starting with energy management. 'Starting with energy makes sense as it's the biggest thing,' she said; as energy consumption typically represents one of the largest controllable operational costs, it is an area where improvements deliver immediate, measurable results. A comprehensive energy audit examining heating systems, transport, and machinery provides a solid foundation for broader ESG initiatives. Once baseline measurements are established, the focus naturally shifts to optimisation. This might involve upgrading to more efficient equipment, implementing smarter scheduling systems, or simply raising awareness among staff about energy consumption patterns. Crucially, SMEs embarking on their ESG journey need not go it alone, Connors said. 'There's a lot of support out there. You have the likes of Enterprise Ireland, you have the IDA and so on. There is money sitting there, from the EU, ready to help SMEs do things in this area.' The European Union has also introduced the Voluntary SME (VSME) standard, providing a structured framework for companies ready to embrace ESG principles without the full complexity of enterprise-level reporting requirements. This graduated approach allows businesses to build capability progressively rather than attempting to implement comprehensive systems immediately. Simply looking at heating, transport, and machinery, you can audit that and at TEKenable we can create dashboards Professional guidance can prove invaluable in navigating the initial complexity. ESG consultants help businesses identify which metrics matter most for their specific sector and circumstances, avoiding the paralysis that can result from trying to address everything simultaneously. Forward-thinking SMEs are discovering that early ESG adoption creates significant competitive advantages. As procurement processes increasingly incorporate sustainability criteria, companies with robust ESG credentials find themselves better positioned to win contracts and attract investment. The reputational benefits extend beyond formal procurement processes. Consumers, particularly younger demographics, increasingly favour businesses that demonstrate genuine commitment to environmental and social responsibility. This trend is particularly pronounced in business-to-business (B2B) relationships, where corporate customers face their own ESG reporting requirements. The ESG revolution represents more than regulatory compliance or market pressure; it reflects a fundamental shift towards more sustainable and resilient business models. For SMEs, early engagement with ESG principles offers the opportunity to shape their approach proactively rather than reactively. Success requires viewing ESG not as an additional burden but as a framework for operational excellence. Companies that embrace this perspective often find that ESG implementation enhances decision-making processes, improves risk management, and creates new opportunities for innovation and growth. The message for SMEs is clear, said Connors: ESG engagement is no longer optional for businesses serious about long-term viability. With appropriate support, strategic planning, and the right technological tools, even the smallest enterprises can successfully navigate this transformation while unlocking new sources of value and competitive advantage. 'Simply looking at heating, transport, and machinery, you can audit that and at TEKenable we can create dashboards. After that you start optimising – you will then be able to start to move the dial,' she said.
Business Post
26-04-2025
- Health
- Business Post
Technology that responds to material reality
Sometimes it seems like everything is connected to the internet: from doorbells to fridges, more and more devices in our home want to phone home. In some cases the benefits are clear, while in others the utility is marginal at best. However, the internet of things (IoT) isn't really about gadgets, and in the commercial and industrial space it represents both a continuation of the implementation of automation and a significant leap forward. Industrial IoT applications are now well beyond pilot projects: smart sensors, data analytics, and interconnected machinery are providing actionable insights, optimising operations, and, as a result, bolstering the bottom lines of forward-thinking enterprises. However, nothing stands still, and Peter Rose, group chief technical director of TEKenable, said that IoT devices amounted to much more than consumer electronics or factory equipment. Indeed, TEKenable is working on a number of projects that highlight the innovative ways IoT is being applied to solve complex problems. 'The first one is in healthcare, where we're working with a company that develops a product to improve the quality of life for nursing home residents,' he said. The device sits behind the bed of a resident and if they have been incontinent, it will pick up on this and send a message to the cloud-based server, saying they need attention. 'That message also makes its way to a mobile app used by the staff, so the resident gets the attention quickly. That's up and running, it's in trial now,' Rose said. However, there is more to the product than sensors and apps. Given the computational power available today the system also has predictive abilities, meaning it can help to avoid the patient experiencing incontinence. 'AI analytics are performed on the data to predict an event before it happens, so we can improve the quality of life for the resident,' he said. This is a good example of information technology today moving away from rigid procedure-following, resulting in significant improvements in how devices respond to their users and surroundings. AI models are learning how to optimise the machinery and process the orders as efficiently as possible 'We don't always know [when we start] what the data points are that you need to capture, but, in this case, it is supplemented with feedback from the nurses' data, captured by the mobile app. That's used, in this project, to tune the device and decide what is a problem and what only seems like a problem,' he said. Another current TEKenable project, which will be announced formally soon, is deploying IoT technology in a food component production company. Rose said that the company makes ingredients for foodstuff with Microsoft Business Central as its core application, but its factory is IoT and SCADA [supervisory control and data acquisition] enabled. 'What we're doing is managing the production schedules and optimising them on the ingredient mix going in, orders coming in, and so on. The raw materials can come in at different times and the processing – all of this being done from a finance package,' he said. This gives the company the ability to manage complexity. For example, if a large amount of wet material comes in, the software will know how long it takes to dry it. As a result, it can inform the decisions downstream, stopping the factory from being idle. 'Normally this is done from the manufacturing system, but in this case the optimisation is done by AI models – and the AI models are learning how to optimise the machinery and process the orders as efficiently as possible,' he said. For Rose, the meeting of real world events and conditions with our ability to perform calculations is key: real value emerges when the vast amounts of data generated by connected devices are intelligently analysed. 'Once you have the data you have the ability to get really useful insights'.
