Building a Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) often requires input from multiple departments, making cross-functional collaboration essential. To streamline the process and ensure efficient data collection, it's crucial to set clear expectations, establish deadlines, and communicate the significance of the PCF effort.

Follow these three steps to effectively engage your internal teams:

1. Identify key stakeholders

Before requesting data, determine which teams are responsible for the necessary information. Key stakeholders typically include:

• Procurement - Responsible for supplier and material sourcing data.

• Production/Operations/Technical - Owns data on energy use, manufacturing processes, and product lines.

• Logistics/Supply Chain - Manages transportation and distribution details.

• Sustainability/Compliance - Ensures alignment with reporting frameworks, regulatory standards, and customer requirements.

• Finance - May track carbon-related costs or environmental impact in financial reporting.

2. Set clear deadlines

Provide teams with well-defined deadlines that allow enough time for your review before submission. Consider these best practices:

• Align deadlines with existing reporting cycles to reduce additional workload
• Send reminders a few days before the due date to encourage timely responses
• Clarify the impact of delays, such as potential disruptions in customer reporting or incomplete assessments

3. Explain why

Teams are more likely to engage when they understand the significance of their contributions. Clearly highlight how:

• The PCF is being created for [specific customer] to meet sustainability requirements
• Using M2030 simplifies data collection, reducing workload and ensuring consistency across teams#
• A complete and accurate PCF enhances customer trust, regulatory compliance and any internal sustainability initiatives.

Email templates

To make the data request process easier, we’ve prepared a data request email template that you can customize and share with your internal teams.

You can copy and paste the following template, filling in the gaps.

Subject: Data Request for M2030 PCF Project – [Project Name]

Hi [Recipient’s Name],

I’m currently working on a Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) assessment for [Project Name] using M2030, and I need your support in gathering key data.

What’s Needed?

I need [specific data, e.g., energy usage, material sourcing, transportation details] from your team. This information is essential for ensuring an accurate and complete PCF submission.

Why It Matters

This PCF is being developed for [Customer Name] to meet sustainability and regulatory requirements. M2030 streamlines the process, reducing time and effort required from our teams.

A well-documented PCF reinforces our commitment to sustainability and strengthens relationships with key customers.

Next Steps & Deadline

Please provide the requested data by [Internal Deadline Date]. I’ve attached a data template to help organize and submit the required information. If you have any questions or need clarification, please let me know. Thank you for your support!