Innovation in waste management. Towards digitization together

The waste management industry is facing a great challenge. What until recently was seen as waste is today a new raw material. This requires an innovative approach to data processing, especially in our rapidly changing society where managing information flows is becoming increasingly crucial for business operations. However, many companies in the industry are still working with legacy systems, and this is hampering their innovation. To take on this challenge, Quatronic, Aspect ICT and OutSystems have joined forces. In this blog, Lucas Pijnacker Hordijk, Business Technology Consultant at Quatronic, explains how this collaboration has taken shape and what the added value is for the waste management sector.

Diverse challenges

Recently, together with van Aspect ICT and OutSystems, we organized a round table discussion with companies in the waste management industry. Our goal? Identify common IT challenges and investigate whether and how we can help these companies digitize their business operations. It quickly became clear that there are a range of diverse challenges in the sector. Some companies have a clear vision and ICT strategy, while others are still trying to get a grip on their application landscape. The latter, in particular, often proves to be a major challenge. Companies are bursting with innovative ideas, but the last thing they need is a proliferation of systems and applications. This makes it increasingly difficult to effectively manage information flows.

The ERP Dilemma

The conversation showed that many parties in the waste management industry work with outdated ERP systems. This means that they have to make a decision within a reasonably short time: should we switch to a new ERP system? This often leads to delay because they do not yet know how to design that transition. In addition, many companies lack capacity. You can decide to modernize, but this will be difficult if you don't have the necessary resources. After all, in this industry, IT is still often seen as a cost item instead of a means of making efficiency gains. Moreover, it can be difficult to quantify what digitization ultimately delivers.

Flexibility key

During our discussions, we came to the conclusion that the core processes in the waste management industry are very similar, but that the effect of the processes can vary considerably. This is further complicated because many companies offer additional services or have taken over services from other parties, which requires a unique approach per organization. When you start thinking about solutions, it is therefore important to build in sufficient flexibility. This enables companies to effectively manage and adapt their unique processes so that they can efficiently execute and integrate both their core activities and additional services.

The way to a generic IT landscape

The logical solution that came out of our conversation was to use OutSystems as a layer of innovation on top of a solid ERP system. This gives you a powerful basis for your core systems, while the innovation layer makes it possible to fine-tune your system to the specific needs of your organization. It is important that a platform such as OutSystems centralizes innovation. As a result, managing and bundling information flows is considerably easier. This offers companies the flexibility to respond quickly to changing market conditions, while maintaining an integrated overview of their activities.

Thinking along?

On March 6, we are organizing another session. If you want to participate in the discussion about a more generic IT landscape for the waste management sector, now is the time to join. Your insights and experiences are valuable for our shared goal: a more efficient and sustainable future for the waste management industry. There are only a limited number of places available. Register quickly and make your voice heard.

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