This description is divided into following sections:
Businesses use the Sustainability Management process to track, manage, and report on sustainability metrics. This process ensures compliance with regulatory requirements and meets stakeholder expectations. The core process has three main stages:
The process also supported by Defining goals, managing users access and Managing snapshots.
Define Sustainability KPIs in the IFS/KPI Catalog. Use active KPIs within the Sustainability Management process. For more information, refer to "About KPI Catalog." The process within the sustainability plan varies based on the type of KPI and whether the KPI is automated. This KPI automation process utilizes Workload Jobs as detailed in the technical documentation here.
Define the entity structure when an organization manages sustainability data collection and reporting for more than one entity. Create this structure using companies defined in IFS/Company or by defining custom entities. If an IFS/Company structure is available, set up the entity structure by copying an active company structure. This approach reduces manual input and facilitates adjustments suitable for the Sustainability Management process.
Sustainability goals set an organization's long-term sustainability objectives, which align with broader business goals. The sustainability KPIs in the sustainability plan track performance against these overarching sustainability goals.
The Sustainability Plan is created for a defined reporting period (such as an accounting year or custom date period) and for a specific reporting entity (either a single company or an entity structure). Multiple sustainability plans may exist for a given entity or time period to cater to different purposes. The Sustainability Plan assigns data collection of KPIs across the organization to different users, tracks workflow, manages user access to plan information, and oversees KPI results and supporting documentation throughout the lifecycle of the plan.
Sustainability Plan KPIs refer to individual records created under the sustainability plan when adding active main KPIs, including automatically added linked KPIs and created KPI to represent different entities if the plan is established for an entity structure. Each Sustainability Plan KPI can be assigned to a data provider and authorizer, with its own status handling capabilities that enable the tracking of the process for each KPI individually.
A snapshot is created to capture the data in the Sustainability plan and plan KPIs at a specific time, as well as to calculate and obtain the values of automated KPIs which utilizes Workload Jobs as detailed in the technical documentation here. A snapshot can be created as Preview Only or not. A Preview Only snapshot allows for the retrieval of calculated values only for KPIs that are accessible for the user. User with full access for the plan can create snapshots of the entire plan, including all sustainability KPIs can be set to Active once all automated calculations are successfully completed. The Measurement values of Sustainability Plan KPIs are visualized based on the latest active snapshot.
Each level of the plan has its own status rules, with some controls between them. The available statuses for each entity are described below.
Sustainability Plan Status
| Status | Indication |
| Preliminary | This status indicates that the plan is still under preparation and not yet open for data collection. It is set when the plan is created or reverted from the completed status. |
| Active | This status Indicates that the plan is ready for data providers and authorizers to process and provide data. |
| Completed | This status indicates that the plan is complete, with all KPIs provided with data and authorized. |
| Closed | This status indicates that the plan is closed, with no ongoing actions associated with it. |
| Cancelled | This status indicates that the plan has been canceled and is no longer in use. |
Sustainability Plan KPI Status
| Status | Indication |
| Data Pending | This status indicates that data is pending for the KPI. |
| Data Provided | This status indicates that nessesary measurement data has been provided for the KPI. |
| Data Authorized | This status indicates that the data has been verified and authorized. |
| Rejected | This status indicates that the data is not acceptable and needs to be provided again. |
| Cancelled | This status indicates that the Sustainability Plan KPI is no longer valid. |
Sustainability Plan Snapshot
| Status | Indication |
| Preliminary | This status indicates that the snapshot is created but not actively used. |
| Active | This status indicates that the snapshot is finalized, with up-to-date values for the given date. |
| Inactive | This status indicates that the snapshot is no longer in use. |
The sustainability management solution allows for the assignment and management of user permissions, ensuring that users can only access and perform actions relevant to their assigned roles. Below are the different access levels and controls based on user roles.
Additionally, it is essential to ensure that the required permission sets are granted to define and manage Workload Jobs related to KPI automation, as specified in the accompanying technical documentation here.
| Access Level | Access Control |
| Full Access User | A Full Access user can view and manage all information and actions related to the sustainability plan, its KPIs, and snapshots. They can also manage other users connected to the plan. By default, the user who creates the plan is assigned Full Access. |
| View Access User | A View Access user can see all data within the sustainability plan, including KPIs and snapshots, but cannot make any changes or edits. |
| Data Provider | A Data Provider has access only to the KPIs assigned to them and can perform specific actions related to data providing |
| Data Authorizer | A Data Authorizer has access only to the KPIs assigned to them and can perform specific actions related to authorization. |