When we announced that Al Gore will be speaking at our Superfluid World Tour, a few people asked me what his connection was to Celonis. The answer is sustainability.
Sustainability is increasingly important in business today. As Al Gore points out the world is on the brink of unprecedented environmental change. Business today must make sustainability a priority for three simple reasons.
First, the government will impose the costs of environmental impact, and businesses will be forced to impute these costs into doing business. Second, while companies that take their customers to outer space are popping up, most businesses today still operate on earth. In order to foster long-term success, they must treat the environment as an equally important constituent (equal to “shareholders”) in value creation. And lastly, (and more relevant to this blog post), it’s simply good business.
At Celonis we work with some of the largest companies in the world with the most expansive supply chains. Last week we had our customer Megan Guzauskas from L’Oreal on stage at our New York event and as she presented, you realize when they make process improvements by even a few percentage points, it creates change on a massive scale.
Prioritizing growth over sustained success isn’t a trade off companies need to make. In fact, there’s a way to achieve both.
That’s where process excellence comes in. Celonis helps companies create transparency, understand root causes of inefficiency, streamline processes, and drive business outcomes.
The companies we’ve helped have identified where they can make their business more effective in reducing waste in many forms. This can be reducing excess stock in warehouses, taking waste out of delivery routes or manufacturing processes to decrease CO2 emissions. It can also be better leveraging their teams to drive employee productivity that leads to sustainability investments.
What always strikes me is that sustainability makes a ton of business sense. Less waste means lower costs, and smarter, sustainable business practices translate into a better competitive edge. For consumers, it also creates environmentally conscious brand affinity. Ultimately, isn’t the goal of a Superfluid enterprise to remove all friction from processes?
In an organization without friction, it’s easy to see when goods are available, and delivering right on time without previous losses is standard. Bills are paid optimally to release trapped working capital. Products are procured from approved vendors in the most productive way to maximize profit for sustainability.
We are pleased to welcome Al Gore to our Superfluid World Tour in San Francisco on November 14th to talk about how powerful sustainable strategies are for businesses.
They are those that don’t borrow from future earnings, whose sustainability practices drive revenue and competitive positioning, and whose goods and services are consistent with a prosperous and equitable society. It may be ambitious, but it’s also achievable.