Challenge

Siemens’ Electronics Works Chengdu (EWC), a World Economic Forum digital lighthouse, produces programmable logical controllers for the Chinese market. In parallel to its efforts to achieve carbon neutrality through a 93% reduction in its Scope 1 and 2 emissions, EWC has been seeking to drive Scope 3 reduction with suppliers through the exchange of PCF data. To this end, the factory needed to address an important challenge: identifying an approach that enables the exchange of PCF data in a trustworthy and confidential manner for all value-chain players.

Solution

EWC reached out to the ESTAINIUM non-profit association, of which Siemens is a founding member, to use its TSX (Trustworthy Supply Chain eXchange) connector and ensure transparency, verifiability and confidentiality in the exchange of PCF data with its suppliers.

Through a decentralized ecosystem, the ESTAINIUM network offers an open, cross-industry approach for the creation and exchange of verifiable credentials and shared information among manufacturers, suppliers, customers and partners – with each partner maintaining sovereignty over its own data.

Impact

Using the ESTAINIUM network and Siemens’ carbon emission management tool, EWC gained transparency into raw-material emissions from local suppliers. For example, it could verify that one product’s total PCF was 122 kgCO2e, with 91% coming from parts suppliers. This granular transparency enabled the identification of the main emission contributor: the printed circuit board (PCB), accounting for approximately 50% of total emissions.

The factory then undertook two actions to reduce those emissions: (1) drive joint initiatives with its suppliers to reduce the supply chain CO2e impact; and (2) redesign the product to reduce CO2e emissions, e.g. via raw material usage. Specifically for the PCB, these actions led to a 16% weight reduction and achieved 100% waste saving by removing disposable frames. The scaled impact resulted in a total CO2e reduction of ~2,000 metric tons/year.

By using ESTAINIUM TSX technology, EWC was able to increase visibility within its value chain and uncover efficient decarbonization strategies, while ensuring verified accounting and secured sharing of PCF data.

Featured in our paper "The “No-Excuse” Opportunities to Tackle Scope 3 Emissions in Manufacturing and Value Chains"