Case Study
Identifying Product Hotspots Guides Targeted Redesigns, Supplier Collaborations
As regulatory scrutiny and customer expectations around carbon transparency accelerated, a global product manufacturer faced mounting pressure to deliver accurate product carbon footprints (PCFs). Yet, the complexity of electronics made it difficult to assess emissions across components like PCBs and ICs. By deploying TechInsights’ EcoInsights sustainability suite, the company transformed its carbon reporting process—unlocking deep visibility, streamlining supplier comparisons, and guiding data-backed product design for emissions reduction.
The Challenge
A leading electronics manufacturer needed to produce comprehensive PCFs to support its carbon reduction goals. But the process was plagued with gaps and inconsistencies. Uniform emissions data across components like printed circuit boards, integrated circuits, and connectors was difficult to obtain, especially from a global network of hundreds of suppliers. The lack of standardization made it nearly impossible to benchmark suppliers or inform product design decisions aimed at lowering emissions.
Key obstacles included:
- Difficulty collecting consistent emissions data across PCBs, ICs, and components.
- Inability to compare suppliers on carbon performance.
- Fragmented data that hindered scalable, product-level PCF creation.
The Solution
To solve these challenges, the company adopted TechInsights’ EcoInsights sustainability suite, a purpose-built tool for identifying electronics’ carbon footprints. Working with the System Carbon Module, product designers and engineers could now upload a bill of materials (BOM) and instantly access trusted carbon data for each listed component—from ICs and PCBs to connectors and displays.
The platform's standardized methodology ensured consistency across teams and product lines, while its expansive database enabled apples-to-apples comparisons of suppliers. This empowered engineers to model design alternatives and proactively manage emissions.
EcoInsights enabled the company to:
- Instantly calculate PCFs using verified data from hundreds of suppliers.
- Compare carbon impacts across alternate components and vendors.
- Standardize emissions modeling across global teams.
- Identify high-emission hotspots and prioritize reduction strategies.
The Results
With EcoInsights in place, the manufacturer successfully built accurate PCFs across its product lines, satisfying both customer and regulatory requirements. The platform revealed memory as a top emissions driver—insight that led to focused redesigns and targeted supplier negotiations.
The company didn’t just improve reporting—it influenced supplier behavior, used data to guide sustainable procurement, and took measurable steps toward its net-zero targets.
Results included:
- Completed reliable PCFs across product lines, improving sustainability reporting.
- Identified memory as a key emissions hotspot and pursued lower-carbon alternatives.
- Used carbon data to influence supplier practices and emission disclosures.
- Demonstrated meaningful progress toward emissions reduction goals.
