SCHMIDT involves its suppliers in its low-carbon strategy
The Schmidt Group has chosen Decarbo’Solution® to assess the carbon footprint of its operations, as part of its commitment to ethical and sustainable business practices and its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.
Group creation date
Schmidt Group employees
kitchen components manufactured every day
Decarbo’Solution® was exactly what we needed.
Context
In 2021, the Schmidt Group carried out a GHG balance based on 2019 data (2020 being Covid's year...), using average emission factors from ADEME. The inaccuracy of this assessment was between 50% and 80%.
Schmidt wanted to achieve several things:
- Improve the accuracy of your balance sheet.
- In particular, to improve the accuracy of Scope 3, which accounts for the bulk of its emissions (99.4%)
- Motivate your in-house purchasing team to collect accurate data.
- Involve suppliers in the process, the majority of whom are SMEs and very small businesses, i.e. companies with little experience of carbon issues.
- Compare carbon footprints and track emissions.
- Guide the group's future choices based on the results.
What's more, the Schmidt Group has always been keen to be a forerunner rather than a follower when it comes to environmental issues. Its B Corp certification attests to its commitment to business ethics and sustainability, just as its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030 attests to its proactivity. The careful verification of Purchases made according to their labels, and the and the promotion of Responsible Purchasing are part of these objectives.
To fulfill its commitments, the group has chosen an innovative partner specializing in decarbonizing procurement, offering a collaborative solution : Decarbo’Solution®.
Company presentation
The Schmidt Group is France's leading manufacturer of made-to-measure kitchens, storage units and bathrooms.
Their raison d'être: "Creating sustainable, inspiring and inspired living spaces!"
Why did you choose Decarbo’Solution®?
Decarbo’Solution® is a precise tool based on internationally compliant, recognized, and constantly updated methods and databases. The emission factors used are accurate.
It's also a tool with an innovative educational approach. It is designed to empower partners and encourage them to integrate decarbonization issues into their strategy, by teaching them to draw up their own Product Carbon Footprint ( PCF ).
This is achieved primarily through explanations, tutorials, and videos (Decarbo’Solution® Academy) provided to help users navigate the tool, which is intuitive, easy to learn and use, and offers support in case of any issues. Both internal teams and suppliers have easily gotten the hang of it and quickly built up their skills.
For some suppliers, it was a revolution: not all have the same level of maturity on the subject, and the tool enables us to raise their awareness and support them in their approach .
A major advantage of Decarbo’Solution® is that suppliers can access the platform for free. Engaging suppliers is indeed a real challenge for a corporate low-carbon strategy. The fact that Decarbo’Solution® is free for suppliers ensures maximum engagement. The Schmidt Group has been able to sign up 80% of its suppliers (in terms of financial volume).
What have been the results of your collaboration with Decarbo’Solution®?
All the group's objectives were achieved, and more!
First, the use of Decarbo’Solution® has led to a significant reduction in the uncertainty of the GHG inventory— particularly for Scope 3 emissions— from 50% to 5%. The group now has data that is 95% accurate.
Using supplier data collected and analyzed by Decarbo’Solution®, in-depth internal analyses were conducted on the environmental impact of 35,000 products, grouping suppliers into 170 categories. This represents over 80% of purchases in terms of both volume and value.
The tool enabled very precise tracking and combined with the Group's reporting tool, a rapid view of carbon impacts by supplier, product and material. This facilitated the development of a more effective and visual action plan, as well as supplier engagement by showing them directly the impact of their products - and where they came from.
The smart use of Decarbo’Solution® has made it a decision-making tool, helping the group think in terms of carbon for years to come.
Finally, thanks to the possibility of breaking down the product, the group was able to notice the impact of certain materials in certain products and identify substitutes.
For example, he realized the impact of polypropylene in the garbage cans produced - 93 tonnes of carbon/year - and after discussions with the supplier in question, was able to switch to recycled polypropylene, which has a lower impact.
This was followed by similar discussions with other suppliers, all of whom agreed to switch to recycled material. As a result, a saving of 242 tonnes of CO2 per year has been calculated for the new 2024/26 product range.
This makes Decarbo’Solution® a powerful tool for the eco-design of the group’s products.
What are the benefits of Decarbo’Solution®?
The excellent tracking capabilities, the ability to run simulations of our balance sheets, to break down the carbon footprint of individual items, and to integrate the results from the Decarbo’Solution® platform with various information systems: Procurement IS, ERP, and Business Intelligence.