Carbmee

ZF transforms compliance challenges into strategic advantages by meeting CBAM reporting requirements and unlocking reduction potential

Discover how this global tech company rapidly turned CBAM regulations into a decarbonization opportunity, leveraging comprehensive carbon data insights beyond reporting with carbmee EIS™.

CBAM supply chain EMISSIONS

REGION: EUROPE

INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY

Zero emissions and zero accidents is what ZF Group is ambitiously aiming for. The global technology company for advanced mobility products and automotive systems is enhancing safe mobility and protecting the climate by electrifying vehicles and proactively driving decarbonization efforts. As CBAM regulations began to phase in, they quickly realized the need for a comprehensive solution to calculate supply chain emissions, a solution that would not only ensure compliance but also empower them to go beyond mere reporting and drive targeted mitigation initiatives.

With carbmee they were able to meet all CBAM deadlines, set up robust reporting processes, uncover reduction potential and develop decarbonization roadmaps.

"As a global technology company supplying systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology, we sought a software-driven solution for modeling, supply chain collaboration, and CBAM compliance. carbmee EIS™ provided an all-in-one solution, coupled with a dynamic, results-driven team committed to our success. The expertise and support of the carbmee team has been instrumental in our journey and is a must for companies seeking to decarbonize."

— Ralf Hässig, Senior Expert, Materials Management Sustainability

GOAL: Achieve CBAM Compliance and Drive Supply Chain Decarbonization

Challenge:

CBAM regulations are complex and deadlines for compliance are short. As ZF operates in more than 50 countries globally and has more than 35 EU legal entities, the company needed an external partner to achieve compliance efficiently and reliably. The company needed to quickly raise awareness among all stakeholders about the importance of CBAM Compliance and the risk of significant financial penalties. New processes had to be established to aggregate data and compile compliant reports. Unreported or incorrectly reported emissions will result in a penalty between €10 and €50 per ton of carbon — potentially resulting in millions of euros of fees for non-compliance.

Achieving CBAM Compliance with carbmee

carbmee enabled ZF to get their CBAM report uploaded on time and achieve compliance despite the intricacies of these new regulations, with 4 steps:

1.Training all relevant CBAM stakeholders

Customs, Purchasing, Sustainable, and more departments in ZF's various legal entities were onboarded and educated about CBAM requirements in a series of workshops and regular communication.

2.Collect, process & check customer data via carbmee EIS™

Through seamless integration of customs and procurement data via interfaces, CBAM-relevant goods were identified and data aggregated.

3.Onboard & train suppliers for primary data collection

With an additional functionality in carbmee EIS™, supplier collaboration could be streamlined, allowing for supplier communication on scale and safeguarding CBAM-compliant data input across the various suppliers.

4.Generate quarterly XML authority reports

carbmee compiles the aggregated data to generate CBAM- compliant reports that ZF then could directly upload to the EU portal. More than 40 CBAM reports were submitted to the respective EU registers.

Going Beyond Compliance to Drive Effective Decarbonization

Beyond reporting and compliance pressure in the short run, ZF will be heavily impacted by CBAM in the long-run as their main import goods will be subject to carbon pricing. ZF imports approximately 600.000 tons CO2e to the EU in aluminum and steel commodities alone. Under the current scope of CBAM (incl. aluminum, steel, fertilizers, hydrogen, etc.), ZF would be looking at almost €8M in expected carbon costs by 2034. Effective decarbonization of ZFs supply chain is therefore crucial for its profitability.

carbmee CBAM module enables ZF to gain a comprehensive understanding of their supply chain emissions and leverage the collected data to drive decarbonization.

Strategic wins:

Effective decarbonization

ZF now has the knowledge and technology to use CBAM insights to identify emission drivers, uncover potential for carbon reduction & draw up roadmaps for decarbonization.

Data- driven Sustainability Strategy

ZF can now easily integrate carbon data into their sustainability strategy to drive supply chain decarbonization, sustainable product development & lower their overall footprint.