Today is World Creativity and Innovation Day, which aims to raise awareness of the role of creativity and innovation in human development. We at Christof Industries breathe innovation, especially when it comes to technologies that can help fight climate change. Our company also strongly believes that through education, we can turn ideas into innovations, which can then make the world a better place.
Christof Industries is committed to quality, inclusive and equitable education. We are contributing to SDG 4 of achieving quality education for all through close partnerships with universities and other educational institutions, offering students the possibility to work with us and learn about the industrial sector. In Austria, we work very closely with the University of Leoben and support students in scientific research.
Today we are going to share with you three of the many students that decided to do their Master’s thesis with Christof Industries, and we are to glad to have supported them with their projects.
Project Completion LCA for SinTion
Christof Industries has a number of technologies and product offerings, all of which have varied environmental footprints.
A life cycle assessment (LCA) serves the purpose of systematically recording the entire life cycle of a product or service and analysing its impact on the environment. Conducting LCAs helps us to understand the environmental impacts of our products, and enables optimisation of processes.
Together with Master’s student Theresa Fritz, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for our SinTion solution was conducted according to ISO standard 14.040 in order to evaluate the environmental impacts along its life cycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life.
Our Corporate Sustainability Manager, Milan Topic supervised this thesis with the ongoing support and active participation of Wolfgang Nestler and Michael Tiesch. The final presentation took place in our Graz office in March. The final results of the thesis will be used for further product development and optimisation, increasing sustainability performance, improving communication with customers and relevant documentation for specific tenders.
Ongoing Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) Analysis
Sustainable Supply Chain Management aims to integrate environmental and financial practices into the supply chain lifecycle. SSCM is crucial to help companies simultaneously reduce their carbon footprint and optimize their operations to increase profitability.
Master’s student Jakob Kompatscher, joined our team in September 2021 to conduct an in-depth analysis of Christof Industries’ supply chain management with the support of Dr. Milan Topic. Jakob’s goal is to define the concept of sustainability within the context of supply chain management and determine how the company’s supply chain can achieve long-lasting success even when operating in a hostile environment. His final thesis will help Christof Industries to develop sustainable procurement practices and achieve more efficiency within procurement processes.
Customer Support within the Energy Management Field
Rising energy costs, new environmental regulations, and energy security concerns are increasing pressure on companies to improve their energy efficiency. Energy-intensive industries are confronted with the task of implementing and improving energy efficiency in their processes through organisational and technical measures. Energy flow analysis is the way to go in order to achieve production optimization.
We supported one of our clients from the pharmaceutical industry by organizing, planning, developing and co-supervising the Master thesis of Marcel Thaler. He analysed the current energy consumption and external and internal energy suppliers in order to improve energy flows technically, environmentally, and financially. The final results helped our client implement and execute successful energy management as well as identify how they can potentially save energy to decrease CO2 emissions on future projects.