Table 1

Comparative overview of ERP and S-ERP

CriteriaConventional ERPS-ERP
ObjectiveOptimize operational and financial efficiencyIntegrate sustainability into all business operations, balancing economic performance with ecological objectives (e.g. ceramic plants targeting both cost reduction and 20–30% lower CO2 per m2 of tiles)
Sustainability capabilitiesLimited or absent; sustainability handled via separate/add-on toolsEmbedded sustainability management: CO2 tracking, energy consumption monitoring, waste management, Circular Economy principles (e.g. SAP S/4HANA Sustainability Control Tower)
Environmental managementNo active management of resources or emissions; retrospective focusProactive green practices: green supply chain, e-waste management, eco-design integration, alignment with ISO 14001 (e.g. real-time kiln emission control in ceramic firing lines)
Stakeholder integrationMinimal engagement on sustainability issues; limited transparencyEnhanced collaboration with employees, suppliers, customers; real-time sustainability reporting (e.g. shared supplier carbon dashboards in Bosch or Saint-Gobain ceramic supply chains)
Energy and resources efficiencyNot a primary concern; efficiency driven mainly by cost savingsDigitalized systems optimize energy use, reduce server load and waste, minimize resource consumption, and support renewable energy adoption (e.g. IoT sensors on tile drying and firing kilns automatically shifting to off-peak renewable tariffs)
Data handlingRetrospective and periodic (e.g. manual Excel uploads once per shift or day)Real-time and dynamic; automated streaming from shop-floor sensors (e.g. MES captures energy kWh every 10 s during tile pressing and feeds directly into ERP)
Integration with MES and LCABasic or manual data exchange; often siloed (e.g. CSV export/import between systems)Seamless automated bidirectional flow: MES → ERP → LCA via APIs and middleware (e.g. Siemens Opcenter MES + SAP S/4HANA + SimaPro/OpenLCA calculating live carbon footprint per batch of ceramic tiles)
Decision-making supportPrimarily economic/financial-driven (e.g. production scheduling based only on cost and delivery date)Balanced triple bottom line with predictive analytics (e.g. AI in ERP flags “high-emission batch” and suggests alternative raw materials or slower firing curve to cut CO2 by 12% without missing deadlines)
Technology enablersTraditional on-premise databases, limited IoT/AI connectivityFull Industry 4.0 stack: IoT sensors, edge computing, AI analytics, cloud platforms (e.g. Microsoft Azure IoT Hub + Power BI dashboards integrated with Dynamics 365 and LCA tools)
Advanced circularity supportAbsent; no lifecycle simulation or immutable traceabilityDigital Twins simulate EoL/remanufacturing scenarios; Blockchain ensures provenance, traceability, and trust in closed-loop chains (e.g. secured DT data for verifiable recycled content)
Regulatory compliance and reportingStatic annual reports (e.g. Excel-based CSR or basic carbon inventory)Automated, real-time ESG and CSRD-compliant reporting (e.g. live Scope 1–3 emissions dashboard in SAP that feeds directly into EU CSRD filings or ISO 14064 certification)

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