This way of doing things simply doesn’t make sense, and endangers both planetary and human health. We’re tearing through resources at a staggering rate, using up the equivalent of 1.6 Earths every year. With the climate crisis rapidly coming to a head, we urgently need to transform this wasteful and harmful system.

But there is a solution: the circular economy, which flips this traditional take-make-waste approach on its head. With sustainability at its centre, the circular economy is our pathway to a greener, fairer world.

The circular economy’s 3 central principles

The Ellen Macarthur Foundation – a charity which aims to accelerate the transition to a circular economy – outlines its three foundational principles as follows:

1. Designing out waste and pollution. This means driving down energy and water usage, eliminating toxic chemicals, and minimising carbon dioxide emissions.

2. Building products that are made to last. When they do stop working, products can either be repaired, broken down and built into something new, recycled, or returned to the earth to biodegrade.

3. Restoring the natural world. Rather than degrading the environment and triggering climate change, our systems can replicate the regenerative methods of nature and help undo the damage we’ve done to the world.

The advantages of a circular economy

Since natural resource extraction and processing are responsible for half of greenhouse gas emissions, a circular economy would be a powerful tool in tackling climate change. It would also help stop the onslaught of biodiversity loss and other catastrophic environmental issues we face.

A circular economy would bring benefits for people, too. Eliminating waste and pollution would hugely improve public health, as well as social justice, as these issues often disproportionately affect marginalised communities. It would also cut the price of consumer goods, giving people more disposable income, while planned obsolescence (when your phone suddenly stops working after two years) would no longer be an all-too-common problem.

Businesses would also benefit from lower costs, and be less dependent on volatile supply chains for raw materials. A circular economy would unlock new economic opportunities for Australia, spurring economic growth and innovation while helping businesses boost their sustainability.

Obstacles and opportunity

There are a number of barriers to the circular economy – from a lack of government support, to a lack of infrastructure and investment in recycling services, to our cultural preference for convenience over sustainability. But perhaps the biggest challenge is that the circular economy is not a piecemeal solution – it’ll require us to totally transform our economic system from the ground up.

Article Source – perspektiv

The post A Beginner’s Guide to the Circular Economy appeared first on Ericks and Fredericks International Consulting Pty Ltd.

Here at Tratech, we take a holistic approach to all your project management needs. This enables us to fully integrate with your business and help manage your project effectively and efficiently. There are multiple benefits for startups to focus on project management, so let’s look into them.

Benefits of project management in startups:

As mentioned above, there are many benefits of project management for startups. 

Effective team management and communication

Effective team management and communication are essential for project management. Especially for startups. When a business is still young there is typically a requirement for one person to wear many hats. This can result in muddy communication and team management. 

Working with a project manager can help smooth out the lines of communication, as well as ensure team management is a priority. 

Progress reports and evaluation

As a startup, it is essential to continually assess your progress to ensure you are on the right track. This progress evaluation allows you important information on how your business is performing. Sticking your head in the sand and ploughing on ahead with a potentially ineffective strategy isn’t going to help you hit those targets and goals.

Understanding how your startup is progressing is one of the key benefits to project management. 

Organise and optimise your workflow

A priceless aspect of project management for startups is the ability to organise and optimise your workflow. 

Working hand in hand with progress reports and evaluation; this gives you the insight to truly optimise your workflow. Having an organised and optimised workflow allows you to work smarter and not harder. 

Spending your time on the tasks and processes that work for you and not against you is something that you can’t put a price on. An efficient and effective workflow is key to any successful startup. 

Continuous oversight

Adopting project management at the beginning of your startup business provides you with a constant overview of the business. This oversight allows you to plan and control your costs and budgets more effectively. 

Not only that this oversight allows you to think critically about your business and where you plan to take it. These are essential factors that need to be considered throughout the time you are in business.

Adopting these practices will help set you up for success, and not failing in the early years. 

Risk identification

Starting up any business always comes with some risk. It’s the nature of the game. Many business owners will testify to this statement. But, what if you reduce or identify risk quicker? You’d be all for it.

That’s exactly what project management helps you achieve. Due to the nature of project management, it can help you identify risks in your business and as such you can work to avoid or minimise those risks. 

Even knowing what risks could affect your business is valuable information. It allows you to plan ahead and help absorb the impact of the risks or as mentioned earlier remove them.

Having effective project management is key to a successful startup. After all, the early stages of a business are heavily dependent on project management. 

Article Source – tratechconsulting

The post Why do startups need to focus on project management? | Benefits of project management appeared first on Ericks and Fredericks International Consulting Pty Ltd.

Digital transformation is often connected to the customer experience, while customer experience is mainly people-focused. Digital transformation can have a large impact on many aspects of a customer’s experience.

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation refers to the process a company uses to implement new digital systems in their current way of doing business. This could be replacing old manual systems with a more streamlined digital process or updating older digital processes with new software which has more functionality than previous systems.

What types of Digital solutions are currently being used in consumer-focused industries?

There are many types of digital solutions that are being used in customer-focused industries. For example, when you head into your local supermarket each check-out has the ability to pay via contactless. This system now includes using software such as apple pay or digital wallets found on your smartphone or smart device. Many stores now have self-scanning machines, these self-checkouts weigh the items in the bagging area. For larger stores, you can also scan as you go. This digital solution puts the scanner in the hands of the shopper to use while they are walking around the store.

There are many different digital solutions that stores can access, and digitising the shopping experience will only continue as more technology is introduced.

How does Digital Transformation affect the Customer Experience?

Digital Transformation can affect the customer experience in many ways. Most companies hope that digital transformation will have positive effects on a consumer’s experience, either by speeding up the sales process. Or by enhancing the experience and creating a long-lasting memory that will continue to bring the customer back for more.

Depending on the digital solution that a business has introduced, some of these transformations have had negative impacts on the customer experience. If you think back to the first time self-checkout was introduced in supermarkets many people detested the idea. As a business, you need to get under the skin of your customers and employees, decide what digital solutions are going to enhance their experience for the better, and also decide if they are ready for that transformation. As we get more comfortable with digital solutions affecting our everyday lives, more consumers will be more accepting of newer solutions.

What digital experiences can we expect to see in consumer-focused industries?

As we look at the digital landscape as a whole there are many speculations we can make in regards to digital transformation. Firstly, the adoption of Augmented Reality will become more prominent as the solution becomes more affordable for businesses to adopt. Using AR for consumers to virtually try on items or digitally place them around their homes will be available on the wider market.

In addition to AR, Artificial Intelligence may become more integrated into our society. Having AI systems in place to help with generalised questions and order processes may be seen in many stores. Amazon go is already using similar technologies, it is only a matter of time before other stores begin to implement them.

There are many ways digital transformation can drive the customer experience forwards. For the most part, this advancement will only be beneficial to businesses and customers alike. If you want to ensure that the digital solutions you are integrating are the right ones for your customers, employees and business contact us now for our holistic approach to digital transformation.

Article Source – tratechconsulting.

The post How Digital Transformation is Driving The Customer Experience | Breaking down digital transformation appeared first on Ericks and Fredericks International Consulting Pty Ltd.