dmStrategists Introduces Sustainability 360°

Oct. 27, 2010 - PRLog -- GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A new suite of business tools is revolutionizing the way companies tackle sustainability initiatives, helping organizations to identify current gaps and opportunities while delivering immediate and tangible results.

Working with leading industry and higher education partners, dmStrategists LLC of Grand Rapids, Mich., (http://www.sustainability.dmstrategists.com) has developed Sustainability 360°, a scalable system that allows companies of all sizes move toward sustainability by planning, measuring, monitoring, and improving internal and external sustainable business practices across all operations, all in real-time.

The platform, a combination of proprietary web tools and strategic support services, is designed to improve operations for companies at any level of a sustainability initiative
including leading-edge companies at the forefront of sustainable business practices as well as those just getting started,  

“For organizations beginning to work toward sustainability goals, the biggest challenge is how to start,” says Tom Melcher, president, dmStrategists. “There is a large data collection requirement that can pose a challenge with just one facility, not to mention multiple facilities and an entire supply chain. Our platform removes that burden to give organizations a running start toward sustainability. On the other hand, organizations that have already made sustainability a core business strategy will find Sustainability 360° helps them manage and improve their triple bottom line more effectively and with far greater efficiency. Industry leading companies are also demanding accountability of their supply chain as well.”

The software solutions are modular; however, can be easily started with the five module Sustainable Assessment Series establishing current performance of environmental, social or economic practices or with the Metrics Series to quickly measure key performance metrics related to targeted needs including: LEED point management, Life Cycle data collection, Supply Chain metrics, Material and Natural Resource efficiency, as well as Energy and Climate data. In addition, a full series of Green Products applications and tools includes smart metering of energy spend, water consumption, carbon emissions, waste, and assistance with green product development. All results are measured and validated in real-time at all points of the organization with sustainable business reporting aligned to global reporting standards. The solution also gives companies a next step action plan with customized recommendations that are based on the feedback and assessments, allowing organizations to set, share and exceed performance targets.

“It enables a real-time, 360-degree view of their organization at every point of contact within the organization,” says Melcher. “We are able to reach across all business operations and global supply chains with consistent practices to accelerate performance gains.”

Melcher began dmStrategists in 1998 to provide online tools, on-site training and consulting services with a focus on introducing, improving and growing initiatives for workforce and supplier diversity. The firm has since naturally expanded into helping businesses manage their sustainability efforts.

dmStrategists’ Sustainability 360° allows organizations to align their environmental, social, diversity and economic practices with their business strategy by identifying opportunities and facilitating quick responses at every level of the organization from internal employees to the supply chain.

Instead of separate, costly solutions to meet comprehensive measurement, monitoring and reporting needs, the dmStrategists solution enables businesses and their suppliers to measure, deploy, manage, report in real-time, allowing the organization to immediately begin improving their environmental, social, diversity and economic practices. It brings key organizational stakeholders together—C-suite leadership, business operations, research & development, purchasing and supply chain management, human resources, marketing & communications, and others—on a single platform for managing triple bottom line sustainability strategies.

This single, comprehensive solution not only reduces costs, but also unleashes the full potential of an organization’s workforce by accelerating performance. It is simple to deploy, with no need to change internal systems. Everything is set up in templates and available via the Management Dashboard, a single-point management tool designed to help organizations simplify the range of data collection and reporting needs

What’s more, the product license is much more cost-effective than one might imagine, especially when compared to the costs associated with hiring a consultant or adding staff to collect, analyze and distribute the data manually.

Melcher says that not only does the dmStrategist solution cost a fraction of the price of a productivity consultant, but it can also reduce the time to get a solution up and running by 90 percent.

“We’re working to simplify and automate the process even more so we won’t need to collect as much of the data,” Melcher says of future enhancements. “Data will be collected in real-time from IP addresses, allowing organizations to produce real-time reports at anytime, even from an airport with an iPhone.”

By combining all of these highly sought-after capabilities into a single solution, Melcher says companies will see a higher return on investment while maximizing their market potential.

“We help companies that may be behind get caught up to speed very quickly, so they can surpass those who are still trying to figure out how to properly collect and analyze meaningful information,” says Melcher. “We provide the competitive advantage to help companies blow their competition away.”

While dmStrategists markets Sustainability 360° direct to businesses, they have also established a Partner Alliance Program. The program offers channel partner reseller opportunities to membership-based business organizations such as trade associations, professional societies, chambers of commerce and other business, industry, and civic organizations.


About dmStrategists
http://www.sustainability.dmstrategists.com
dmStrategists is a professional services firm established in 1998, specializing in technology solutions for leading edge companies and organizations whose core business strategies are guided by the principles of corporate social responsibility. Our solutions help companies quickly and easily assess their triple bottom line—a measure of profitability that includes economic performance as well as environmental, social, cultural, and diversity sustainability.