Amid persistent threats from climate change, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) need to take a more proactive approach in doing business by always considering their impact on the environment while meeting customer expectations.
Epson, in its SME Study on Digital Transformation in Southeast Asia, found that almost 30 percent of respondents in six of the largest Asean member-nations in terms of gross domestic product agreed managing customer experience as their top business challenge. About half of the participants in the Philippines considered this to be a lead concern.
Knowing the increasing importance of environmental concerns among their customers is high among the corporate SMEs in the region, especially when purchasing office equipment, the study showed, as nearly 70 percent of them said they think about it when choosing a printer. This is more apparent among Thai SMEs, according to the research, the study showed.
While “going green” is gaining momentum in the region’s business community, the same study noted, investing in new innovations, though, seems lacking.
The Epson survey, for instance, revealed that more than 60 percent of Asean SMEs do not move forward with updating existing technologies due to cost.
This is a discouraging result despite the fact that an “upgrade” can lessen the organization’s environmental footprint and total cost of ownership, the survey showed.
Newer heat-free inkjet printers, for example, have become faster and more energy efficient than laser
printers which require a lot of electricity and heat to operate, the study added.
High capacity ink tank printers today, on the other hand, the study said, mitigate resource consumption, carbon-dioxide emissions and waste generation. With the adoption of interactive projectors, meanwhile, companies contribute to lowering their carbon footprint via reductions in travel for meetings.
Latest laser projector technologies also have a brighter, longer-lasting light source over standard projectors with bulbs, which lowers the total cost of ownership.
To make a notable transition to a company’s environmental consumption and footprint, the survey results indicated that SMEs in Southeast Asia should commit themselves to create business environments that enable them to take advantage of innovation to facilitate meaningful change that also delivers positive results on their entities.
Being the lifeblood of the Asean economy, they will play a pivotal part to the environment as the regional economy keeps on growing.
For manufacturers, this means ensuring their products are environmentally conscious and that supply chain and production processes use energy and water efficiently.
Because transportation and logistics are key contributors to global warming, they must be carefully considered by SMEs importing components and exporting finished goods.
There is really a need for individual SMEs across the Asean to do their part, whether big or small, in decreasing the region’s carbon footprint.
Clearly, environmental commitment must be far more than just an altruistic gesture. Epson’s study showed that Asean SMEs can build on their awareness of the ecological concerns that matter most to consumers by choosing digital technologies that have negligible effects on the environment.
