How to combine industrial maintenance and CSR?

Choosing to ally industrial maintenance and CSR makes perfect sense when a company wants to adopt an approach that is more respectful of its environment and make social and societal commitments.

Learn in this article:

• what CSR is precisely and what it implies for a company,
• What are the advantages for manufacturers to turn to CSR,
• why all levels of the industrial sector are concerned,
• And how combining industrial maintenance and CSR thanks to its CMMS, a real performance driver.

Find out why industries have every interest in adopting this approach and How to achieve it.

What is CSR?

Still too unknown 10 years ago, the corporate social responsibility (or CSR) refers to the approach that they can choose to adopt to take into account ethical and social issues in their activities (whether internal or external). This implies that they make commitments to their employees, shareholders, customers, etc. This approach is intended to be transparent and contributes to the sustainable development effort.

As explained by the CCI, it is translated into a desire to:

• to guarantee the well-being of and in the company
• to respect the legal framework in force as well as the international standards that apply (issued by theInternational Labour Organization for example)
• to take into account the interests of the various stakeholders, who may have a role to play in the decisions of the structure
• to align all its decisions and to act in accordance with the commitments made.

There is a normative framework for this CSR approach, since companies can rely on the ISO 26000 standard which outlines the ways in which a company can organize itself to be part of this approach. In addition to the guidelines indicated above, there is obviously the need to contribute, in line with the company's resources, to sustainable development and more generally to taking into account the social and environmental impacts of its activities.

This desire to move towards a greener world and to include in this process all actors in this world, whoever they may be, appeared in the 1970s, which marked a real turning point in taking account of the environment, initially in the United States. For example, in 1971, after the Vietnam War, the Greenpeace association was founded. A change in mentalities that was therefore made possible thanks, in particular, to personalities such as René Dubos, at the origin of the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (in 1972) and the slogan “Think global, act local”.

Towards a greener industry: why it matters

INSEE indicates that no less than 45% of companies with more than 20 employees consider that they have implemented CSR actions. Data confirmed by a study conducted in 2019 by L'Usine Nouvelle and Dyson among 229 decision-makers in the industrial sector, which shows that they are becoming more and more aware of CSR issues and at the same time attach increasing importance to it.

Beyond the fact that adopting such an approach allowsencourage collaboration between structures (large groups, SMEs, start-ups...) to create new markets, the changes that are taking place within companies, and more particularly within those that were the least advanced in this field, are remarkable.

Overall performance is increasing

A company that turns to CSR maintains the interest of stakeholders. Performance, whether social or financial, is improved thanks to more fluid cooperation between the various actors.

If the structure adopts a more global approach to understand all the levers of its performance, it is in a better position toassess risks and opportunities inherent to its activity. This is a competitive advantage significant: more aware of its environment, the interests of stakeholders and market fluctuations, it becomes more efficient.

In this context, the structure can be brought to Turning to innovation, whether at the level of the product, its organization or its management, in order to find new ways to stand out from the competition and to create synergies to move towards more ethical functioning.

Use quality channels

When a business is awake to these CSR issues, she is reviewing her processes and questioning her ways of working. It is therefore also an opportunity for it to ensure its supply of raw materials from sectors that are more committed to respecting the environment in order to guarantee a commitment at all levels.

Thus, it fits more strongly into the local industrial fabric and values the sectors that are nearby.

An improved image

Unsurprisingly, the company's image is improved as a result. These approaches are now increasingly valued and real indicators that customers or employees can take into account.

If it is committed to taking measures in this direction, the company will be able to more easily attract new talent to enrich its teams and will be sure to motivate and retain its employees. She will benefit from a better image with its customers and will see its approach valued. Adhere to an ISO standard can be a significant first commitment and a good indicator, given that more than half of businesses that have turned to CSR have done so.

Industrial maintenance and CSR: an alliance made possible thanks to CMMS

While the fields of action of this commitment are numerous, the ISO 26000 standard offers guidelines and allows businesses unfamiliar with this approach to gradually change their practices. One of the fields of action on which the structure can act is the management of its industrial maintenance.

That's exactly where it comes in. CMMS software (computer-aided maintenance management), and more particularly the new generation solutions. Designed to facilitate your daily maintenance processes, they help you digitize your factories and to adopt a logic of continuous improvement.

Reduce your downtime with your CMMS

Industrial maintenance and CSR can be combined thanks in particular to your CMMS software. Once all the data from your equipment is entered into the software, you monitor all the performance of your machines.

La community maintenance management platform Mobility Work is, for example, equipped with a analytical tool, which compiles all the data concerning your equipment for you. You will thus find the list of those who have undergone the most interventions, the people who have intervened the most, the most recurrent tasks...

Mobility Work is a Mobile CMMS available in SaaS (under Android and iOS) which therefore allows technicians to work on the machines and to provide information about their activities directly in their application. All of this guarantees a information sharing at the level of the entire factory or the entire industrial group, optimal to ensure transparency of interventions and above all to guarantee a clear follow-up of everything that is carried out.

It is precisely thanks to such a solution that you can reduce the downtime of your machines. Indeed, teams can communicate via the chat in their application and notify each other of interventions carried out. Thanks to this ease of communication and a tool like analytics, the factory can choose to adapt its maintenance strategy and opt for preventive rather than corrective measures.

Fight against the obsolescence of your machines

By proposing such changes and deploying a CMMS software To simplify its industrial maintenance, the factory is guaranteed to fight against the obsolescence of its machines. As we said, she chooses toadapt your maintenance strategy according to its needs and its performance to improve it.

If maintenance teams adopt a CMMS solution, they can more easily monitor equipment and, through their actions, extend their lifespan. This pushes the company to adopt a more responsible behavior and to take advantage of its equipment: not only does it keep it longer and bet on maintaining it rather than replacing it, but it logically makes significant savings.

Limit your industrial waste

One of the major advantages of choosing to link industrial maintenance and CSR is of course the reduction of your waste and its better treatment. It is by becoming more aware of its environment and the interests that it has to opt for an operation that is more respectful of the planet that a company can take concrete action.

In view of the previous arguments, which prove to what extent industrial maintenance and CSR are linked themes, maintenance teams, through their actions, reduce superfluous industrial waste. But to go even further, the company can turn to industrial ecology and find effective ways to valorize its waste locally, by collaborating with companies in its region.

Industrial maintenance and CSR are therefore, as we will have understood, very good allies. The first can allow you to move on to the second, all by implementing certain practices and adopting simple tools, such as new generation CMMS software. You already have the possibility tocarry out an initial self-diagnosis of your business to find out if you are already involved in this CSR approach.