Sustainability in Action: Lessons from PTC’s Dave Duncan and Industry Leaders

The recent session titled “Getting Ready for Sustainability Tracking Regulations” at the Service Council’s Smarter Services Executive Symposium offered a compelling discussion led by Dave Duncan, VP of Sustainability at PTC. With his deep expertise, sharpened by an 11-week tour across Europe discussing current and future regulations, Dave provided insightful perspectives on the shifting landscape of sustainability reporting, environmental regulations, and how manufacturers can adapt to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Digital Product Passports.

The core of the conversation: Sustainability at the forefront

In this peer discussion, Dave Duncan was joined by Scott Ward, Director of Supply Chain and Operations Management at Agco, and Mike Kerstein, Chief Product Officer at OnProcess, an Accenture Company. Together, they highlighted the growing importance of sustainability, particularly in the context of new environmental regulations and the pressing need for decarbonization and circular economy initiatives.

Dave’s European tour validated key trends, particularly around the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). A central theme of the discussion was the requirement for manufacturers to publish Digital Product Passports, demanding a high level of transparency around their products’ lifecycle, from materials sourcing to end-of-life recycling. Dave emphasized that the implications of this directive are profound—manufacturers not only need to reduce their carbon footprints but must also design products with circularity in mind.

Scott and Mike built on these points by sharing insights into how industries are tackling these new requirements. The high embodied emissions of electronics, the growing need to electrify transportation, and the pressures of decarbonizing industrial equipment all add complexity, but also opportunity, to manufacturers’ sustainability efforts.

Circular economy and the road to net-zero

Dave, Scott, and Mike delved into how the circular economy is transforming the manufacturing landscape. As sustainability becomes a non-negotiable expectation for manufacturers, the importance of modular, repairable, and recyclable product designs is growing. In particular, the European Union's Digital Product Passport is a game-changer, driving manufacturers to track every aspect of their products’ lifecycle. This shift is not only driven by regulatory pressure but also by customer demand for more sustainable products.

The role of carbon offsets and credits

Another key takeaway was the evolution of carbon pricing. Carbon pricing exists in many large markets today, especially in Europe, and “carbon border adjustments” are proliferating internationally. However, with Science Based Target (SBT) commitments, manufacturers will need to purchase high-quality verifiable offsets ramping next decade through 2050. This would effectively drive a market-based price of carbon, rather than one more arbitrarily set by participating governments as taxes. The session explored how companies can balance the use of offsets for “hard-to-abate” activities while prioritizing tangible carbon reductions within their own supply chains.

The power of Servigistics in achieving sustainability goals

In the face of these challenges, Servigistics has shown its strength as an adaptable tool for manufacturers to navigate the fast-changing regulatory environment, supply chain disruption, and ever-evolving customer expectations. Already equipped with advanced inventory optimization capabilities, Servigistics enables companies to consider embodied carbon, and transportation carbon, and utilize carbon footprint as a tuning mechanism for its AI-powered optimization engine. This unique capability allows organizations to balance operational efficiency with sustainability, a feat increasingly critical to meeting both regulatory requirements and consumer expectations.

Servigistics R&D leadership has again demonstrated its ability to anticipate market needs, delivering game-changing solutions that optimize the service supply chain while integrating key sustainability considerations. This foresight ensures that Servigistics clients are not only prepared for today’s regulations but are also positioned to thrive in the future. As such, Servigistics is in a class of its own. The combination of an AI-powered optimization engine and machine learning-based workflows enables exponential improvements in service supply chain optimization. Servigistics has become indispensable for manufacturers striving to meet sustainability goals while maintaining service efficiency, including Volkswagen, John Deere, Airbus, Cisco, Philips Healthcare, and numerous other industry leaders.

By incorporating embodied carbon and other sustainability metrics into the optimization process, Servigistics proves that environmental responsibility and operational excellence are not mutually exclusive. With its ability to deliver superior results through advanced technology, Servigistics has positioned itself as the go-to solution for manufacturers facing the dual challenges of regulatory compliance and sustainability while doing so in the most cost-effective way and delivering on its customer commitments.

This session underscored that manufacturers must embed sustainability into every facet of their operations to stay competitive. As with many PTC solutions, including Servigistics, they are empowered to do just that.