With ISO 14001 for the environment

3 minutes

Alfred Kärcher, a family enterprise from Winnenden in southwest Germany, is among the pioneers of environmental protection. With a diversified eco-controlling department, the manufacturer of high-pressure cleaners and scrubber dryers is continuously working toward optimizing their environmental performance. Since 2010, Kärcher has been using the Quentic software to gather and analyze various kinds of waste and consumption data, environmental aspects, and environmental indicators to conveniently use for strategic decisions.

About Alfred Kärcher

Although established in the early years in heating technology, in 1950 Kärcher’s breakthrough came about in cleaning technology. Ever since, products such as high- pressure cleaners and scrubber dryers ensure the cleanliness of residential and commercial sites. Since its foundation in 1935, Alfred Kärcher GmbH has evolved into the world market leader of cleaning technology, employing around 11,300 people and turning over 2.2 billion euros.

Environmental protection from day one

Kärcher was among one of the first enterprises to be certified when the environment management norm ISO 14001 was introduced in 1996. Since the implementation of the environment management system, all eco-balances, environmental indicators, and, most crucially, the environmental performance of the enterprise has become visible and therefore helps to ensure continuous optimization.

Managing data more conveniently via software

‘In order to compile our eco-balances and to record and analyze consumption figures and waste data, we were looking for software that would entirely fulfill these requirements. After all, the accumulated amount of data is quite considerable’, explains Andreas Mayer. The global leader in cleaning technology has been successfully using the software since 2010, in particular for their environmental management. The advantage is that the Quentic Environmental Management module enables the HSE manager at each site to enter their consumption data, such as energy, gas or water, as well as waste. Messy and time-consuming tables are replaced by a central and well-structured database that is updated on a daily basis and can be accessed, according to each user’s authorization, from every company site. Most conveniently, all consumption data is gathered area-wide and locally from production and administrative sites. Because Quentic works via a standard web browser, this is achieved flexibly and regardless of location. This also enables analysis by individually definable indicators. A database created in this way provides a wide basis for all environmentally relevant decisions.

Programs, aims and environmental aspects

In order to continuously monitor and implement their environmental programs, aims and aspects, Kärcher uses the functions of the additional Quentic Risks & Audits module. Andreas Mayer describes the use of Quentic in practice: ‘The HSE managers at each site are responsible for condensing the company-wide programs into site-specific, smaller task packages, and identifying local environmental aspects and entering them into the software.’

Focus on statuary duties

Ensuring legal compliance is of the utmost importance to Kärcher. Thanks to Quentic’s integrated interface with an environmental law database, the law experts can determine the company-specific statutory duties. It is now down to the HSE managers at each site to locally implement the statutory duties in time-phased arrangements.