Sustainable Automation Journey

The transformation triangle illustrates three parties that influence each other in terms of the automation process, society, the organization as well as the workforce. All of them follow certain interests, of which some are mutual, and some of them are contrary; this causes a situation, where compromises or a regulatory framework are needed.

Society is the term we use for collating the stakeholders of a company, like the employees, the customers, institutions, or business partners, and their expectations on both working conditions and the way of economical development. By using the term society, we are indicating the development of a new collective thought that is changing organizations’ environment and disrupting the industry.

Organization is the term we use for the sum of processes inside a company. Due to the upcoming transformation, some of these processes will outgrow and need to be modified to ensure that the company is able to sustainably compete in the market. In this handbook, you will find a proposition to a new reality and opportunities to actively participate and shape the change as well as the responsibility that comes with it.

Workforce is the term we use to describe the actual and potential employees of a company. It is your role as a company to provide an environment for personal development and learning in your organization so that the workforce is able to actively shape the transformation, too.

Transformation Triangle (source: WAKU Robotics GmbH)

For being competitive in the future, organizations need to comply with sustainability measures and offer their employees a pleasant working environment, for example by implementing responsible leadership, by working transparently, or by creating new roles within the company.

Society, on the other hand, needs functional and solid businesses creating wealth and ensuring supply. However, only if all three pillars of sustainability are addressed in the operational and strategic objectives of a company, the organization is able to fulfill the needs of the society around it, like resilient supply chains, finding strength in diversity, and acting upon environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies.

The workforce is a direct subset of society, depending on jobs and the wealth that is created through organizations, too. Regulatory frameworks coming from society (politics) will change the economic environment drastically and influence how organizations are operated. These changes will also impact the workforce of the organization directly, for example in regards to the operational environment (working with robots), new responsibilities as well as the purpose of work.

The number of dependencies and implications are countless. Therefore we mapped the most significant expectations in the expectation triangle. If all three parties are aware of the impact they make, it is possible to collaborate and change our way of working to create a sustainable future for all.