Schaeffler uses Microsoft Sustainability Manager for systematic planning of decarbonization measures

Schaeffler has ambitious sustainability goals: by 2030, the company aims to reduce the emissions generated in its supply chain by upstream products and raw materials (Scope 3 upstream) by 25% compared to 2019. In its own production (Scope 1 and 2), Schaeffler plans to avoid 90% of production emissions that have an effect on the climate (baseline year 2019) in that same time frame. A digital solution developed in-house and based on Microsoft Sustainability Manager helps to identify the right measures for long-term emission reduction scenarios and to draw up decarbonization scenarios.

The challenge: Linking data sources and identifying decarbonization potential

In its production operations, Schaeffler relies on energy from renewable sources and energy savings on-site to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions. For Scope 3 upstream—the emissions generated indirectly in its supply chain—the fact that there are many parties involved and many sources of data adds complexity. However, to take meaningful and effective steps toward decarbonization, Schaeffler needs to know what the main drivers of emissions are in its products and in the components of its products. “Effective decarbonization requires a sound data basis and suitable measures. Both of these are collected and reported on by various areas in our individual company divisions—for example in purchasing, product development and manufacturing, research and development, and controlling,” says Johannes Möller, Senior Specialist Materials Simulation at Schaeffler. “To be able to address complex issues and dependencies in the area of sustainability, this data must be compiled and linked on a suitable data platform in interdisciplinary collaboration.”

An innovative data lake based on Microsoft Fabric provides Schaeffler with a consistent, standardized, and consolidated view of sustainability in its products. “We’ve connected various data sources to create a common basis for analysis—but relying on that alone would be like driving into a more sustainable future while only looking back in the rear-view mirror,” explains Alexander Thiede, Sustainability Data Architect at GLOBEZERO.AI. “For more foresight, we need to know things like which products we’ll still be producing in large volumes in the future, so we can apply the decarbonization lever right there.”

Creating decarbonization scenarios plays a major role here. “We needed a solution that could handle big data. With analyses of this type, the number of data records increases rapidly, and a few hundred quickly become 100 million,” Möller says to explain the choice of technology. It should be possible to try out different combinations of CO₂ reduction measures, select the optimum ones, and derive corresponding plans and scenarios for decarbonization. To achieve this, Schaeffler has developed a central platform based on Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability and Microsoft Sustainability Manager.

The solution: Assign measures efficiently to products—thanks to Sustainability Manager, Microsoft Fabric, and Power Platform

Various natively integrated modules form the basis for the Schaeffler Sustainability Manager: Microsoft Fabric, Power Platform, Power BI, and other data lake and data engineering components. “We’re building on Microsoft Sustainability Manager, as this lets us connect, consolidate, and integrate data from different sources quickly and easily,” Thiede says. “And thanks to the low-code approach of Power Platform, we can replace old input forms and provide new interfaces in a familiar environment within a very short space of time. Power BI is already in use at Schaeffler for various reports.” At the same time, the solution centralizes the focus on sustainable products at Schaeffler: “Thanks to Microsoft Fabric, we’ll be able to answer lots of questions about climate neutrality and decarbonization company-wide via a single platform—and we can implement new use cases for our colleagues in short sprints within two to six weeks,” says Julia Nikulina, IT Solutions Engineer at Schaeffler. “The platform’s agility generates enormous added value—especially in the area of sustainability, which is developing very dynamically and in which producing forecasts is challenging.”

One use case for the Schaeffler Sustainability Manager that has already gone live for beta users is the Portfolio Decarbonizer. This tool links the purchasing department, which is responsible for qualifying and auditing suppliers, directly with the product managers. It allows the main drivers for emissions both in the portfolio and within a product to be identified, based on current and future sales figures in combination with the specific carbon emissions of all Schaeffler products. Purchasing uses the input screen to enter a time frame, costs, and availability for each decarbonization measure; product managers can then use this to create scenarios for reducing the carbon footprint of their product or product line. “The Portfolio Decarbonizer allows us to simulate various combinations of measures, such as switching to other materials or suppliers, and choose the best way to reduce emissions,” Möller says. “If, for example, a product manager receives feedback directly in the tool that a change of supplier reduces the emissions of a product by no more than 10%, but the target is 40 to 50%, then they know a technological leap is the only thing that will help, such as switching from blast furnace steel to recycled steel from an electric arc furnace.” So, the Schaeffler Sustainability Manager helps to find the most efficient combinations of measures.

Another use case is that the new Purchasing Report covers all carbon emissions generated by purchased goods. “In the past, the data for this reporting was aggregated manually in Excel. Today, the head purchasers have access to the current status of carbon emissions at all times,” Nikulina says. “The data is consistent from a single source, can be filtered by category, division, or business unit, and is visualized in Power BI. And the reporting not only shows how current emissions figures are developing, but also permits a forecast for the rest of the year.”

By the end of 2024, these two use cases will be finalized with feedback from beta users and two more will be implemented. Preparations are also underway for the possible use of AI and Azure OpenAI Service. “AI can help enormously, especially with questions that are repeated often but vary slightly,” Möller says. “If, for example, a material needs to be replaced with a more climate-friendly one, AI can help identify the affected products so that we can get in touch with the relevant customers—this allows us to quickly create the necessary transparency.”

Schaeffler’s solution can be viewed in Microsoft Experience Centers around the world, for example in Munich, since July 2024.