Digitalization: The key to unlocking sustainable industry

The sustainability challenge

Only about two percent of the emissions from Sandvik come from its own sites. The vast majority is found in the value chain: roughly two thirds from customers using Sandvik products and one third from suppliers. This makes the sustainability challenge clear: most of the impact lies beyond internal operations.
“The sustainability work at Sandvik must start with our customers,” says Ivarsson. “We need to enable their transition by offering sustainable solutions.” Here, digitalization plays a central role. It allows Sandvik to support customers in becoming more productive and resource-efficient: achieving more with less.

Data: the currency of digitalization

Digitalization depends on reliable data, especially as regulatory demands like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) tighten and customers and investors require solid proof of impact.

“The industry still relies too much on estimates and assumptions instead of hard data,” Ivarsson notes. “What we need is better access to live data, more automated data gathering, improved use of predictive analytics and real-time feedback, and stronger collaboration across industries.”

One initiative Sandvik has joined to address this challenge is Massive Plus, a collaboration with Volvo, SKF, LKAB, IKEA and Microsoft. The partners are building a shared digital platform for emissions data, replacing estimates with standardized and transparent reporting across value chains.

From QR codes to AI-powered operations

Digitalization also drives innovation in other areas. By giving machining tools digital IDs through QR codes, Sandvik can track each tool’s full lifecycle, enabling reconditioning, recycling and even new business models.

“With digital IDs we can track tools across their entire lifecycle and refurbish them instead of producing new ones. This also opens up new business models such as leasing, since owning the tool throughout its lifetime gives us even stronger incentives to extend its use. The result is better cost efficiency and stronger sustainability,” says Ivarsson.

Artificial intelligence is another lever, applied in mining, machining, and manufacturing.

“By monitoring data from mining sites and machines, we can advise customers on when to service equipment and how to use it more efficiently. Adding this analytics and AI layer often can result in double-digit productivity gains in everyday operations,” says Ivarsson.

Looking ahead

For Ivarsson, the conclusion is clear: “Digitalization is a critical enabler of any sustainability transformation, and data is what makes digitalization possible. With secure data sharing and high-quality information, we can create solutions where sustainability and profitability go hand in hand.”

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