Company environmental information system

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Corporate environmental information systems ( BUIS ) have the task of systematically recording, processing and providing environmentally relevant data and information in a company. They are usually software-based and represent a fundamental concept of sustainability management.

Basics and implementation

A BUIS is an information system that "is used for the recording, documentation, planning and control of environmental impacts from operational activities and thus supports operational environmental management in its tasks". A BUIS records, processes and outputs environmentally relevant data and thus serves to quantify and evaluate the influences of entrepreneurial activity on the natural environment. A company environmental information system can thus be assigned to the class of environmental information systems .

Environmental information in the sense of a BUIS is not only physical measured variables (e.g. emissions, waste, energy consumption), but also related monetary effects. These can, for example, be mapped and analyzed in an environmental cost accounting . The computer-aided implementation then falls within the remit of BUIS.

In addition to the recording of actual conditions, a BUIS also offers the possibility of analyzing alternatives and weighing them economically. In relation to day-to-day operations, BUIS can thus be used as planning instruments. They make it possible to recognize complex relationships between operational activities, environmental pollution and monetary effects and to be able to react appropriately. Depending on the degree of complexity of the software, a BUIS can be used on an operational, tactical and strategic level.

Corporate environmental information systems can basically be implemented in three ways:

  • as an independent software system (island solution),
  • integrated into other company information systems (integrated system),
  • or linked to existing systems via an interface.

Environmentally relevant data as a data basis

Environmentally relevant data form the data basis for BUIS. They can be divided into five categories (see Lang-Koetz 2006):

  • Substance and material master data (substance and material properties),
  • Structural data (organizational structures, production structures and process sequences),
  • Process data (functional relationships within individual processes),
  • Substance and energy flow data (type and amount of substances, materials and energies flowing in the company),
  • Organizational data (documentation of organizational processes).

Environmental data can be found in ERP systems as plan data and actual data, machine or personnel related to the operating data in the ERP system , in technical and industrial information systems or in special EMIS (eg emission databases, drop databases or hazardous material data banks). The PAS 1025 acts as a standardized interface between ERP systems and BUIS .

Strengths and potentials for meeting the sustainability challenge

Ecological : Environmental information is the basis for controlling operational environmental impacts and is therefore a key requirement for meeting the ecological sustainability challenge. BUIS ensure that environmental information is available and transparent for decision-makers in companies and provide pointers for a continuous reduction in corporate environmental impacts.

Economical : The use of BUIS contributes to the development of efficiency potential, especially with regard to energy and material consumption. By integrating ecological and economic data, employees and executives are able to continuously increase the eco-efficiency of their production and thus reduce costs.

Integrative : BUIS are increasingly integrated into the existing IT structures and interact with other company information systems. At the same time, BUIS-relevant data is increasingly being integrated in conventional ERP systems, so that a development towards fully integrated solutions is emerging.

Limits and weaknesses

The data quality of corporate environmental information also influences the informative value of BUIS. A lot of data with environmental relevance can often only be estimated or taken from general life cycle assessment databases or they have to be measured and determined in a costly and time-consuming manner. The social dimension of sustainability has so far been largely ignored in BUIS.

Practical example Mohn media

Mohn Media operates one of the largest printing plants in Europe in Gütersloh and has integrated environmental protection into production. An environmental data analysis was carried out as early as 1991 and numerous other measures were taken as a result. All environmentally relevant systems are recorded in Mohn media's material flow-based BUIS. A total of approx. 6,000 material master data are recorded annually and approx. 100,000 movement data from the purchasing management system are integrated into the BUIS. This enables the automatic generation of a transparent and detailed ecological operating balance sheet and numerous evaluations with regard to material and energy efficiency at various levels (e.g. entire company, locations, production lines, machines).

literature

  • Federal Environment Ministry (BMU); econsense (ed.); S. Schaltegger, C. Herzig, O. Kleiber, T. Klinke, J. Müller: Sustainability management in companies. From the idea to practice: management approaches to implement corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability. 3. Edition. BMU, econsense, Center for Sustainability Management, Berlin / Lüneburg 2007. CSM Lüneburg (PDF; 1.6 MB)
  • S. Handke, D. Schnapperelle, I. Scholz: Reference architecture for the integration of BUIS in environmental management systems. In: M. Hilty, D. Schulthess, TF Ruddy (Hrsg.): Strategic and cross-company applications of company environmental information systems. Metropolis Verlag, Marburg 2000, pp. 97–112.
  • P. Hofmann, W. Jänicke: Can the treasure trove of data available in standard software be used for environmental controlling? In: M. Tschandl, A. Posch (Hrsg.): Integrated environmental controlling. Gabler, Wiesbaden 2003, pp. 199-216.
  • G. Jürgens, C. Lang, S. Beucker, T. Loew: Requirements for company environmental information systems (BUIS) to support instruments of environmental controlling, interim report of the INTUS research report. Stuttgart 2001.
  • Lang-Koetz: A process model for the introduction of an integrative environmental controlling based on an ERP system. Jost-Jetter Verlag, Heimsheim 2006. (also University of Stuttgart, diss.)
  • I. Lippert: Environment as Datascape: Enacting Emission Realities in Corporate Carbon Accounting. In: Geoforum. 66, 2015, pp. 126-135. doi: 10.1016 / j.geoforum.2014.09.009
  • JC Marx Gómez: Company environmental information system. In: K. Kurb, J. Becker, N. Gronau, E. Sinz, L. Suhl (eds.): Enzyklopädie der Wirtschaftsinformatik. - Online lexicon. Third edition. Oldenbourg, Munich 2009.
  • A. Möller: Fundamentals of material flow-based corporate environmental information systems. Bochum 2000.
  • A. Möller, S. Schaltegger: The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard as an integration framework for BUIS. In: M. Tschandl, A. Posch (Hrsg.): Integrated environmental controlling. Gabler, Wiesbaden 2003, pp. 243-266.
  • A. Möller, T. Viere: Fields of application of corporate environmental information systems based on the EMA framework. In: C. Lang, U. Rey (Hrsg.): Company environmental information systems - best practice and new concepts. Shaker, Aachen 2005, pp. 51-69.
  • C. Rautenstrauch: Company environmental information systems: Basics, concepts and systems. Berlin / Heidelberg / New York a. a. 1999.
  • U. Rey, G. Juergens, A. Weller: Company environmental information systems: Requirements and application. Study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering and Organization, Stuttgart 1998.
  • U. Rey, C. Lang, S. Beucker, D. Heubach: Architecture for the integration of ERP systems and BUIS, report 4 from the research report CARE, IAT. University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart 2003.
  • V. Wohlgemuth: Component-based support of methods of modeling and simulation in the operational context of environmental protection. Shaker, Aachen 2005, ISBN 3-8322-4383-6 .
  • V. Wohlgemuth (ed.): Concepts, applications, realizations and development tendencies of corporate environmental information systems (BUIS). Shaker, Aachen 2008, ISBN 978-3-8322-7385-9 .

Web links

Basics
Institutes
research
  • IT-for-Green , research project for the conception and development of newly aligned corporate environmental information systems for proactive environmental protection
  • MOEBIUS - Research project for the conception and development of open-source-based applications for the acquisition of environmentally relevant information via mobile computing as a data source for corporate environmental information systems.
  • Uwe Rey: Internet catalog of corporate environmental information systems (IKARUS). ( Memento from February 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Research report of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering and Organization, 2001.
Teaching
commercial providers

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jürgens et al. 2001.
  2. ↑ Butterbrodt et al. 1995.
  3. ↑ Rautenstrauch 1999, p. 11.
  4. ↑ Wohlgemuth 2005.
  5. ↑ Schaltegger 2007, p. 78.
  6. ↑ a b c Schaltegger 2007, p. 79.
  7. ↑ We think of everything - including our environment. ( Memento from February 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) on: mohnmedia.de
  8. ↑ ifu.com ( Memento from September 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ V. Skrzypek, V. Wohlgemuth: Application and integration of Umberto® in the operational IT structure using the example of Bertelsmann large printing company MOHN Media Mohndruck GmbH. In: H.-J. Bullinger, S. Beucker (Ed.): Material flow management - success factor for corporate environmental protection. Stuttgart 2000.