Product strategy

Ecomaster NV has the ambition to become Europe’s leading supplier of software systems designed for Environmental Management. This also includes international companies with worldwide branches that have their headquarters in Europe.

We are convinced that a leading system has to satisfy both the demands of an operational department on site (for example waste logistics and production of transport documents) as well as those of an environmental manager on-site, as well as the demands of the overall management. Moreover, such a system should work for each target group within the organisation as if it was especially designed for that target group (no unnecessary information). For this reason we have created a system that:

• is both suitable for smaller companies with 1 site as well as for large multinationals;

• can be implemented easily, step by step, in order of chosen ambition levels, even in large companies.

• enhances the added value created at each level within the organisation: each level should use the system primarily for improvement of its own performance and not because it has been imposed or is useful for others.

This requires scalability and seamless expansion possibilities of Ecomaster^®. That is why Ecomaster^® is based on the following principles:

·   Fit for use: availability per environmental aspect and the choice between a basic module and an expert module per environmental aspect

·   Uniform support for all environmental aspects

·   Coherent international expansion

·   Supporting all levels within the organisation based upon the same system

·   Fit for integrated information systems (open system; platform independent)

a. Fit for use

Ecomaster^® is a system with a lot of functionality in many areas. One or more environmental aspects can be important for an organisation. Ecomaster^® is installed in such a way, that only the environmental aspect which is relevant for the customer at that time, is supported. The rest of the aspects are present, but not active. Moreover, most of the environmental aspects can be supported by Ecomaster^® on a basic level or on an expert level with even more functionality. Finally, there are also features that apply to all environmental aspects, such as graphic tools and the data import manager, enabling selection and editing of imported data before saving these data in Ecomaster^®. This topic will be discussed in more detail in the chapter Products.

b. Uniform support for all environmental aspects

All of the Ecomaster^® modules are based upon the same flexible and generally applicable principles. Therefore, we can give an energy balance the same layout as a balance of materials; we can calculate air emission based on processes and link safety information sheets to a waste– or fuel substance for example.

Moreover, this generic approach towards Environment enables us to apply the same principles to other areas, which are linked to it inextricably. In this way, we also include other areas than Environment, such as Safety and Quality, into the same system.

c. Coherent international expansion

Ecomaster^® enables industrial organisations to manage their SHE-Q policy in a standardised and integrated manner, despite differences in language and legislation. Wherever the customer has sites, each site uses the same technical heart of our system (the blue words and cubes in the image above) in its own language and receives documents, timings and addresses from its own region or country (the green words and cubes above). Moreover, it is possible to consolidate and/or benchmark technical information without problems across country borders.

This functionality is of such an importance for our customers, that we are expanding our working area systematically to other countries. Our home base is Belgium (source of inspiration for our product, considering the complicated legal situation). Furthermore, we are active in the Netherlands, France and Germany. Several European companies use our English region-independent version. Whenever a new 'green cube' is ready, these users will continue with their own data, but receive their local legislation, documents, timings and addresses on top of it.

d. Supporting all levels of the organisation based upon the same system

Vertically: From production department to management team, everybody uses the same system; every user or target group gets exactly what he/she needs for the execution of their tasks.

We have learned from experience, that, generally speaking, management information is only reliable when the data on which it is based are originating directly from the primary process. The data that are needed daily are actually automatically checked on-site: things go wrong in practice when data are inaccurate.

Horizontally: One and the same system supports the whole environmental management, the security management of dangerous substances and the quality management of related subjects. Therefore, you do no longer have to make compromises between your MSDS database and your waste management system; nor do you need to copy technical hand-written data from your environmental system to your quality management system.

e. Fit for integrated information systems (open system; platform independent)

Ecomaster^® is an open system because of its ODBC database, in which a strict separation has been made between data, editing of data and importing and exporting data. This makes Ecomaster® especially suitable for the exchange of data with other systems, whether this is via the Web or not, and to play a role in an integrated information system. Regarding technical infrastructure, there are also hardly any restrictions because of:

• Ecomaster^®’s SQL database, which can operate amongst others in MSDE (free of charge), in SQL and in SQL compatible Database Management Systems like Oracle and Sybase

• the user interface in MS Windows and the standard import- and export-possibilities via Excel

• the possibilities for gathering of data and for data-distribution through the Web.