How to implement ESG? The solution is a production application or custom software.
To ensure that a business is profitable and continuously progressing, it is important to focus not only on its performance in terms of results but also to take a step back. Actually, all the way back to the beginning – to its foundations. One of these is production. It is a unique process accompanied by numerous steps across various departments, from placing an order, whether in an e-shop or a brick-and-mortar store, to the final production of the product. Each step has its specifics. And in the vast majority of them, there is room to optimize. For example, manufacture faster, with lower costs, with higher precision, less waste, and so on. Are these precisely the goals your company is addressing? Or would you like to achieve them? If so, you will be interested in how a custom manufacturing application can save on production costs, significantly contribute to its efficiency, and additionally apply ESG.
What is a manufacturing application and who is it suitable for?
A manufacturing application is a custom-programmed and designed interface that is tailored to the manufacturing processes in a company or plant. It is a software that can automate, monitor and also control production as a whole or its individual steps.
At ui42, we solve the development and programming of custom applications for smaller local productions and brands, as well as large companies that provide products for the global market. Who is a manufacturing application a suitable solution for?
- Manufacturing enterprises
- Textile factories
- Food industry
- Domestic producers
- Smaller companies that outsource production
How does a manufacturing application work?
The application can be a helper in the complete process of manufacturing a product or just its part, such as a spare part for a car or a mold for composite production. However, from experience, we know that the broader the scope and more processes included in this sophisticated helper, the more significant the result. What can a manufacturing application do?
- plan and control production, thereby reducing waste
- reduce error rate
- track inventory stock and the position of goods storage
- automate orders to the warehouse
- evaluate production data
- integrate systems such as CMS, CRP, ERP
- provide a current overview of the order status for the customer
- and many others
Since it is custom software, it is difficult to generalize how it works. However, let's give an example of how a manufacturing application made processes more efficient across the entire production for our client Pískacie, for whom we also built an e-shop on the flexible CMS BUXUS.
The manufacturing application for Pískacie reduced waste and facilitated production management
Pískacie is a Slovak brand that has built its success on textile products with an original squeaking feature. Unique t-shirts, dresses, and other garments are produced by the company in Slovakia. Longer delivery of the product to the customer was initially caused by an inefficient production process, which was slowed down by production outside the company's headquarters. At a time when the project was growing faster than the original e-shop could handle, it was time to address the challenge regarding production and overall management.
We needed smooth and as automated as possible forwarding of information between the e-shop, warehouse, and production.
Marian Németh, the owner of the Pískacie project, succinctly summarized
With the help of the new content management system, connected with ERP, and the manufacturing application, Pískacie felt a significant difference. At the point when the order from CMS landed in the ERP system, it was necessary to create a new interface for the next steps that would speed up the subsequent processes in cooperation with the workshops. Important factors such as the maximum number of t-shirts from one bundle of fabric, the time-consuming thread change on a number of machines according to the ordered product, and the like come into play.
The solution? We made it to measure.
The application downloads orders from the ERP system so that production is as efficient as possible. For example, by summarizing all t-shirts and garments from one type of fabric. It also prints labels with metadata about the order and a barcode, which accompany the product at every next step. After cutting, there is sewing, ironing, checking the garment, and finally a satisfied smile from the customer when they open the package with their coveted squeaking t-shirt. Thanks to the scanner, which the production worker always uses to scan the label, the customer service department can always answer the customer in real-time about where the t-shirt is located and also monitor the entire process in real-time. The product in production is automatically paired with a specific order and with the customer account, which the client can use in further communication with the customer, thus maintaining a positive relationship.
With the manufacturing application for our client Pískacie, we were able to track every single product, from order to finale. Thanks to the optimization of production processes and materials, we reduced the time it took to produce a t-shirt or dress and at the same time saved a lot of waste that was generated during sewing. And that's a big shift in terms of reducing costs and also towards a satisfied customer.
Milan Kurečko, project manager and developer at ui42
The advantages of such a custom manufacturing application are several. We have already mentioned:
- more efficient production,
- lower costs,
- acceleration and automation of individual steps within the production process,
- reducing the volume of waste
- or improving the quality of the product.
The icing on the cake is ESG. An acronym that has been increasingly mentioned in Slovakia recently.
What is ESG?
ESG is a concept that combines standards set for companies in the field of environmental protection, social aspect, and governance (Environmental, Social, Governance). More precisely, it means monitoring impacts on the environment, maintaining equality, suitable working and social conditions for employees, and governance, within which it is clear who is pulling the strings. ESG has quickly become known as sustainability in our geographical latitudes. However, it hides much more.
UIČKOVSKÝ TIP: ESG is often confused with the acronym CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility. The difference between them is in participation. While ESG, introduced by EU directives, will be mandatory, CSR is not standardized and remains voluntary. You can find more information on this topic in the uičkovská alphabet.
And why should ESG interest companies and corporations?
ESG comes, among other things, as a response to so-called greenwashing. This means misleading, for example, in the field of ecology with statements that the company does not have substantiated. ESG has its guidelines and is based on real data. This means that it is no longer enough to write we think ecologically, to make it look great. Each such statement needs to be substantiated specifically.
Overall, however, ESG provides a tool to evaluate and improve corporate activities with regard to minimizing negative environmental impacts, improving the social standing of employees, and contributing to the sustainability of businesses. If a company implements ESG, its credit increases in the eyes of investors and also customers, who think in broader contexts. According to a KPMG survey, ESG and customer experience are closely related. Up to 52% of respondents surveyed are willing to pay extra for a product if the company behaves sustainably, ethically, and in accordance with environmental protection.
What awaits us regarding ESG in the near future?
Already in 2025 some companies (banks, etc.) will have to report a so-called ESG report. Large companies are slowly but surely starting to collect data to be able to present the first non-financial ESG reports to the public in 2026, but smaller players are not left out either. Large companies will require ESG reports from them, if they are their suppliers.
How can a manufacturing application contribute to ESG?
Let's now take a step back to the manufacturing application. When you remember its advantages, it is clear that such software can significantly contribute to the implementation of sustainability and all other principles that ESG strives for, with the necessary data and analysis. How, for example?
The application reduces the amount of waste
Calculating the amount of material needed to produce each piece of product reduces the amount of waste. In the case of Pískacie, these were textile remnants created during the cutting of fabrics. This not only saves costs for the company, but also minimizes the environmental footprint of production.
UIČKOVSKÝ TIP: If you haven't heard of the environmental footprint of production, you may know it as the PEF label. It works the same as a traffic light because it indicates the environmental load of a product on a scale of colors from green to red. The resulting color comes from the entire life of the product - from production through use to its disposal. And it can be a deciding factor in whether a customer buys the product or not.
Statistics from the application can direct better use of resources
For example, monitoring energy consumption in real-time allows identifying and eliminating inefficient processes. The application can recommend optimal times to start energy-intensive operations and reduce energy consumption or other resources.
Automation improves employee conditions
In production, especially the more complex one, there are many steps suitable for automation to any extent. The manufacturing application automates administration and repetitive tasks that software can handle after proper programming instead of the manual labor of a person. This creates space for new, less monotonous work tasks, which contributes to the overall wellbeing of the employee.
The development of the company creates job opportunities
Efficient production means higher competitiveness and more demand, which naturally leads to the creation of new jobs and improving the economic and social development of regions or communities. A thriving business brings opportunities for the influx of additional subcontractors and overall improvement of the economy.
Thanks to the manufacturing application, company management is more transparent
Tracking the product throughout its production in real-time and detailed reports and data on each step of the production process allow for much better management and optimization of individual steps. Moreover, if the company's management has accurate and transparent information about every detail, its further decisions can lead to greater prosperity.
Do you already have an idea of how a manufacturing application could also help your business and at the same time move you towards implementing ESG, which is already on your doorstep? Contact us, at ui42 we are made for such specialties. In addition to having extensive experience with custom manufacturing applications, our one-stop shop agency groups together more than 60 experts from every area of e-commerce and brings more than 27 years of solutions for the most successful brands and businesses.
