The business landscape is an evolving one, marked by a changing economic climate and consumer behaviours. There is now more uncertainty than ever – an unpredictable and fluid economy and a global crisis that may potentially spiral into a recession.
In addition, business leaders must be cognizant of the fact that stakeholders now value making positive environmental impacts, and consumers are now more eco-conscious than ever before. This means that consumption habits and purchasing behaviours have shifted to more sustainable products and brands.
Not only does this present an opportunity for brands to make more eco-conscious decisions, but it is also a chance for them to reach more customers and strengthen relationships with their existing customers, thereby helping to reduce risk and bolster reputation.
Making sustainability a priority
In light of the revised Code of Corporate Governance and the SGX Listing Rules, climate reporting will be mandatory for issuers in the financial, energy, agriculture, food, and forest products industries from the 2023 financial year. The same rule will be applied to companies from the materials and buildings and transport industries from 2024.
SGX Regulations has highlighted that the prioritisation is based on industries identified by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures as being most affected by climate change and the transition to a lower-carbon economy.
As Singapore makes a push toward sustainability across sectors such as printing, production, manufacturing, and fashion, business leaders are asking how they can incorporate sustainability into their business strategy and how much business value these initiatives could bring.
Epson’s commitment to sustainability
Epson aims to support partners and customers in the region in their climate ambitions with sustainability partnerships, knowledge sharing and eco-innovations that are better for business and our world.
To achieve sustainability and enrich communities, Epson’s Environmental Vision 2050 is to become carbon-negative and underground resource free by 2050. An immediate focus within our strategy is to promote decarbonisation by increasing renewable energy use and ensuring our production, logistics, and other operations are performed with eco-consciousness in mind.
For example, our factories in the Philippines and Indonesia have transitioned to 100% renewable electricity, with the latter using biomass fuel.
Epson will also be using resources more effectively by reducing the size and weight of products, using more recycled materials, and extending product service lives to help close the resource loop.
We are committed to helping customers mitigate their environmental impact. This will be done by developing products with lower power consumption, longer product life, and fewer consumables.
For 10 years until 2030, Epson is investing approximately 100 billion yen on decarbonisation, resource recycling, and environmental technology development to reduce GHG emissions in the supply chain by more than 2 million tonnes. A key milestone will be to switch to renewable energy for all of Epson’s electricity needs by 2023.
In November 2022, Epson became the first company in the Japanese manufacturing industry to convert to 100% renewable electricity for all its domestic sites, amounting to a total of 530 GWh annually.
Our partnerships will also play a key role in delivering on our environmental initiatives. For example, we are committed to RE100, a global initiative that brings together the world’s most influential businesses driving the transition to 100% renewable electricity.
How Epson supports partners in their climate ambitions
Epson has revolutionised the fashion ecosystem with its digital textile technologies that enable limitless design innovation and short to long-run production versatility. Furthermore, Epson’s signage printers continue to support various cities across the globe with an integrated system.
These new technologies are accompanied by software that lets decision-makers control them via the centralised Epson Cloud Solution – which means they now can work on calibration and colour control remotely.
Epson’s large format printers, ranging from entry-level to factory level, have allowed businesses and partners to manufacture at scale accordingly. For example, business owners who would like to make the switch to dye-sublimation printers can now start with an entry-level model and then make an upgrade to meet growing supply and demand without encountering the hassles of interoperability issues.
Our robotics capabilities enable end-to-end automation of production facilities across the manufacturing floor for greater efficiencies, and this is aligned with the global trend of moving manufacturing plants closer to regional markets where customers are serviced.
As businesses grapple with what it means to be truly sustainable and determining what the key actions are for them to make the transition, it is crucial that they first take a step back and strategise. Now more than ever, businesses need an integrated strategy and a long-term plan to influence their communities positively, as social responsibility and corporate sustainability become more and more intertwined.
Businesses need to uncover a higher purpose beyond economic wealth, leverage the momentum of the digital transformation to rethink our business model, and make significant changes to how we operate and add value to both stakeholders and employees in the years to come.
This article is written Mr. Siew Jin Kiat , Regional Managing Director of Epson Southeast Asia.
[JT(1]This is overstatement. There is potential in recession. Not yet.
[JT(2]Incorporate our company purpose too.
[JT(3]Over 10 years till 2030, Epson is investing….
