Greening the Manufacturing Chain: Navigating the Shift Towards Sustainability in 2024

NZI Sustainability Q&A Series

Discussion with change-makers, leaders and experts making
a positive impact on society and planet

Catherine Kniker is EVP and Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at PTC, responsible for positioning the company for success by driving where PTC plays, who PTC serves, and how PTC wins. In this role, Catherine oversees key strategic functions including corporate strategy, corporate development, marketing, and sustainability. Outside of PTC she’s a member of the Executive Committee of The Massachusetts High Tech Council (MHTC) Board of Directors,  Treasurer of the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance, and a member of the Net Zero Institute Advisory Board.

What major trend do you anticipate shaping your industry in 2024?

For discrete manufacturers, the impact of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is top of mind. This legislation affects over 50,000 companies that operate in and export to the EU. Starting this year, companies will need to begin reporting on their emissions and setting reduction targets. As manufactures start scoring their emissions, they are going to realize that most of their emissions are coming from suppliers in their Scope 3 Category 1. This is going to put a lot of pressure on suppliers to reduce their footprints, and thus starts a chain reaction of more and more companies being pressured to reduce their emissions. I anticipate that we’ll see more emphasis on reducing emissions, and fast, in 2024 and beyond.
 

How will the sustainability and decarbonization landscape evolve over the next couple of years?

To date, we’ve seen many companies set ambitious decarbonization commitments. More than 6,000 have signed up through the Science Based Targets initiative, which is great, but analysis has shown that these commitments haven’t turned into action. I expect that this is going to change over the next few years thanks to the combination of CSRD and the rapid advancement in digital technology that we’ve seen over the past few years. We are now in a place where legislation is mandating changes, and technology is providing the tools necessary for companies to become more sustainable in ways that make sense financially. 

How do you personally plan to positively impact the environment?

The biggest impact that I can make is through my work at PTC. Most of our customers are discrete manufacturers. When I meet with the leaders of these companies, our conversations often focus on their sustainability strategies. Fortunately, PTC offers software to help these manufacturing companies take action to be more sustainable, whether that’s at the design stage of a product, when the product is being manufactured, or retiring a product in the field with circularity in mind. Doing my part to keep sustainability on these manufacturers’ agendas is one of my top priorities. In addition, I’m thrilled to be leading our internal sustainability initiatives which are both impactful to our environment and energizing for our employees. You can see full details in our FY23 Impact Report.