Take a look at some of our results
Action Plan
Step 2 of the pathway towards sustainability
The Action Plan was the second step to help companies achieve sustainability. Dive into our results and discover how we supported manufacturing companies in their journey towards a greener future.
On Open Call 1 and Open Call 2 the greenSME project delivered 167 projects Advanced Sustainability Action Plans and 86 of them were base for Open Calls proposals.
The Action Plan
The Action Plan Results
Understanding the Drivers of Sustainable Transformation in SMEs
Our review of the ASAP method’s results reveals a clear picture of what drives small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) towards sustainable transformation and the adoption of Advanced Technologies.
By analysing data from 178 companies that completed the Self-Assessment Tool (SAT), we identified key economic and environmental targets.
Key Findings:
Top Economic Driver: The most frequently cited economic target was improved employees’ productivity, highlighted by 118 SMEs.
Top Environmental Driver: The predominant environmental driver was enhancing resources efficiency, cited by 121 SMEs.
From the eleven pre-defined action fields, “Processes and production system” emerged as a critical area for improvement. This field was identified as a “critical hotspot” for 41% of organizations and a “crucial” area for 46% of organizations.
This highlights a significant need for increased efficiency in production processes across the board. Other crucial action fields identified by approximately 30% of SMEs included: energy, materials, workplace, skills & training
Finally, while stakeholder engagement was a key consideration for many, the “Value and supply chain” action field was considered crucial by only 12% and 17% of SMEs, respectively.
What SMEs are Adopting: From Recommendations to Implementation
Our analysis of 167 SMEs provides a clear look at their journey toward sustainability, from initial recommendations to the final implementation of new technologies and services.
Step 1: Initial Recommendations
Each SME received an Action Plan (ASAP) suggesting an average of three key actions. The most recommended services were:
Life Cycle Assessment
Resource Management
Workers’ Skills Development
Business Model Revision
Among advanced technologies, AI, Advanced Manufacturing, Advanced Materials, and IoT were most frequently suggested.
Step 2: The Project Proposals
Out of the 167 SMEs, a total of 147 submitted project proposals to seek funding. This step showed how priorities evolved, with companies focusing on services that offered the most direct impact.
The most frequently chosen service was Workers’ skills development and training, mentioned in 68% of proposals (46% explicitly, 22% implicitly). Resource Management was also highly popular, included in 42% of proposals.
Step 3: Measuring Real-World Implementation
To understand what was actually implemented, we calculated the Implementation Ratio (IR), which compares what companies proposed versus what they initially considered. The results show a clear focus on practical, high-impact solutions:
Workers’ Skills and Training had the highest IR at 105%, meaning more companies implemented this than initially planned. This highlights the strong focus on employee productivity and development.
Life Cycle Assessment was widely adopted with an IR of 85%, primarily for sustainability reporting.
Resource Management maintained its priority with a solid IR of 42%, aligning with goals for increased efficiency.
Among advanced technologies, IoT (39%) and Big Data (35%) had the highest IRs, while others like Robotics and Cybersecurity saw very little adoption (IR of 3-5%).
