Sustainability and Compliance Trends – What Kept Companies Busy in 2018?

At the beginning of 2018, iPoint started to conduct a survey on Sustainability and Compliance Trends 2018  – and the response was overwhelming: More than 450 participants from different industries provided information on the top sustainability and compliance challenges their companies are facing.

Challenges 2018

The survey revealed that compliance with regulations such as REACH, RoHS, California Proposition 65, and Conflict Minerals is the most commonly posed challenge in 2018 (30%). The implementation of a sustainability strategy, including a sustainable attitude as well as adapting the production processes, was mentioned by 14% of the participants as the most challenging issue, followed by the general management of requests and reporting due to the many requests by multiple customers using different systems (12%). Other challenges mentioned by the participants were aspects related to collecting data on material composition, e.g. getting information from suppliers in time, as well as keeping updated in the ever-changing regulatory landscape.

A small percentage of the surveyed already think one step farther and mentioned that the development of or search for a suitable software system or tool posed the greatest challenge for them in 2018.

The most effective solution

iPoint also asked the participants about the most effective solution to acquire the cleanest and most accurate compliance data. The most common answer provided was a combination of both software and services. But for a relatively large percentage, money also mattered: 30% stated they would prefer the solution with the lowest cost. About a fifth of the surveyed named a software application that provides real data as most effective solution.

Conclusion

The survey provided us valuable insights into the sustainability and compliance challenges, which we can take in account when developing our solutions. Companies struggle with compliance to legal regulations concerning conflict minerals or restricted hazardous substances. Indeed, most believe that a combination of software and services is the most effective solution to these tasks.

> Download the survey results

The Sustainability & Compliance Survey 2019 – Focus on Cost of Compliance and Digitalization

Now, in 2019, we will continue with a slightly altered version of the survey with a focus on the importance and estimated cost of compliance and sustainability.

We would highly appreciate if you would be willing to spare 2 minutes of your time to share your thoughts on the Sustainability & Compliance Challenges of 2019!

> Answer 5 questions