KTH Architecture and the Built Environment SustainicleTM How to Manage Sustainability within Product Development at Saab Automobile AB Henrik Johansson Degree Project SoM EX 2011-21 Stockholm 2011 _____________________________________________________ KTH, Royal Institute of Technology Department of Urban Planning and Environment Division of Environmental Strategies Research - fms ABSTRACT Keywords: Sustainability, Indicators, Saab Automobile, Product Development Saab vehicles are recognised for being innovative, technically advanced, safe, with superior driving performance and with a characteristic design. Today the company has the broadest product portfolio ever. Saab has come to a point where there is a need for a strategic assessment of how to manage the environmental impacts and social concerns as well as to start earn profit to become a long term sustainable company. The Vehicle Development Process is the vital nerve when developing a new car and the Product Profile is the specification of requirements, it has today seven areas and sustainability could become the eight. The aim of this thesis is to identify and establish the most relevant sustainability areas and indicators within the Vehicle Development Process at Saab Automobile AB. These sustainability areas and indicators will be put into context to develop the overall sustainability within Saab Automobile. The research approach in this study is qualitative due to the fact that the information needed is difficult to quantify. To be able to obtain the needed information for this thesis a benchmarking study was made as well as interviews with experts besides the interviews within Saab Automobile. A disadvantage with the chosen method could be that the comparability with other studies decreases. It would probably be possible to use some of the findings within other companies. Today Saab Automobile has no published Sustainability Report, even though a small chapter is included in the Spyker Cars Annual Report. The main findings in this study are the sustainability areas and indicators. The five identified and established sustainability areas are; Design for Sustainability, Sustainable Supply Chain, CSR, Sustainable Innovation and Sustainable Value Chain. Also are 23 potential sustainability indicators proposed for Saab. The ambition to include these areas in the Product Profile is one step towards sustainability. This is still a limited approach that seems to be doing things right (efficiency) more than doing the right things (effectiveness). Based on the sustainability areas, indicators and the benchmarking study is a new sustainability strategy proposed for Saab. II SAMMANFATTNING Nyckelord: Hållbarhet, Indikatorer, Saab Automobile, Produktutveckling Saabs bilar är igenkända för att vara innovativa, tekniskt avancerade, säkra, med överlägsna köregenskaper och ha en karismatisk design. Idag har företaget det bredaste produktsortimentet någonsin. Saab har nu nått en punkt då det krävs ett strategiskt ställningstagande för hur företaget skall hantera miljöpåverkan, sociala konsekvenser och samtidigt vara lönsamt för att bli ett långsiktigt hållbart företag. Produktutvecklingsprocessen är livsnerven då en ny bil skall tas fram och produktprofilen är en kravspecifikation, vilken idag består av sju olika områden och där hållbarhet skulle kunna bli det åttonde. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att identifiera och etablera de mest relevanta hållbarhetsområdena och indikatorerna inom produktutvecklingsprocessen vid Saab Automobile. Dessa hållbarhetsområden och indikatorer skall sättas in i sin kontext för att utveckla den övergripande hållbarheten inom Saab Automobile. Forskningsansatsen i detta examensarbete är kvalitativ baserat på det faktum att den nödvändiga informationen är svår att kvantifiera. För att kunna inhämta relevant information till denna undersökning har en benchmarkingstudie genomförts likväl som intervjuer med experter och anställda vid Saab Automobile. En nackdel med den valda metoden kan vara att jämförbarheten med andra undersökningar minskar. Det är troligt att det är möjligt att använda resultaten inom andra organisationer. Idag har Saab Automobile ingen publiserad hållbarhetsrapport, även om ett mindre kapitel är inkluderat i årsredovisningen för Spyker Cars. Huvudresultatet i denna undersökning är hållbarhetsområdena och indikatorerna. De fem identifierade och etablerade hållbarhetsområdena är; Design for Sustainability, Sustainable Supply Chain, CSR, Sustainable Innovation och Sustainable Value Chain. Samtidigt är 23 potentiella hållbarhetsindikatorer föreslagna till Saab. Ambitionen att inkludera hållbarhetsområdena i produktprofilen är ett steg mot hållbarhet, även om det är en begränsad ansats som verkar vara att göra saker rätt (eng. efficiency) mer än att göra rätt saker (eng. effectiveness). Baserat på hållbarhetsområdena, indikatorerna och benchmarkingresultaten är en ny hållbarhetsstrategi presenterad för Saab. III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To write this thesis in cooperation with Saab Automobile AB has been motivating and inspiring. I would like to thank Fredrik Svensson, my supervisor, within the vehicle development organisation at Saab for giving me the opportunity to work with Saab and understand more about the Vehicle Development Process and Saab in general. Sara Tyskeng, my supervisor at KTH in Stockholm, has been a great support and taught me how to write a master thesis with a true scientific approach in a creative way. During this spring I met a number of experienced persons in different areas related to the study; Thomas Svahn at Advectas, Beata Ferenc at Emisoft, Lars Almefelt at Chalmers, Fredrik Ljungdahl at PwC, Camilla Sand at GE and finally the skilled and engaged Else-Marie Malmek and Malin Roux at Malmeken. I am also thankful towards all the employees that I met during the work with this thesis at Saab Automobile in Trollhättan as well as Olle Blidholm from IKEA, Thomas Frey in GE and Ulf Andersson from SKF. Rest in peace my dear friend, Fredrik Larsson. Thanks for all laughs, memories and interesting discussions since we meet in first class 1982 to the last meeting in April 2011. I am also grateful towards Lotta and my family that has been a great support during the process of writing the master thesis. This thesis is the final moment that concludes the master programme at KTH. The studies have increased my knowledge and understanding for sustainability, ecology and it has changed my approach against the Planet Earth. Henrik Johansson Ryssby, May 31st 2011 IV TABLE OF CONTENT 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Problem Discussion ........................................................................................... 2 1.2 Aims and Objectives ......................................................................................... 4 1.3 The Scope of the Thesis .................................................................................... 4 2. SAAB AUTOMOBILE AB.................................................................................................................. 5 2.1 The History of Saab Automobile AB.................................................................. 5 2.2 Organisation and Stakeholders ......................................................................... 6 2.3 Sustainability in Saab Automobile Today .......................................................... 8 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ..................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Sustainability ..................................................................................................... 9 3.1.1 Sustainability in Organisations .............................................................. 9 3.1.2 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ................................................. 11 3.1.3 Industrial Ecology ................................................................................ 12 3.2 Life Cycle Thinking .......................................................................................... 13 3.2.1 Environmental Aspects ........................................................................ 13 3.2.2 Economical Aspects ............................................................................. 14 3.2.3 Social Aspects ...................................................................................... 14 3.2.4 Design for Environment (DfE) .............................................................. 15 3.2.5 Lean Production .................................................................................. 15 3.2.6 Waste Management ............................................................................ 16 3.3 Performance Measurements .......................................................................... 17 3.3.1 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) ......................................................... 18 4. METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................................. 19 4.1 The Research Approach .................................................................................. 19 4.2 The Research Process ..................................................................................... 20 4.3 Data Collection ................................................................................................ 22 5. RESULTS FROM THE BENCHMARKING STUDY .................................................................