The Situation 

Empowering Breakthroughs in Life Science Research

ZAGENO’s aggregated marketplace includes many different specialty, commodity, and industry-leading products for the researcher community. By equipping biotech labs with needed supplies and resources in less time, they support researchers who pursue breakthrough discoveries leading to an improved health. As environmental, social, and governance (ESG) requirements are also increasing for scientific practice, ensuring laboratory sustainability through their supplies is of highest relevance for ZAGENO.

To take a leading role in this regard and meet the growing sustainability requirements of their lab customers now and in the future, they decided to complete the EcoVadis rating, a globally recognized assessment framework for evaluating sustainability performance.

Many of their (potential) customers form part of the Responsible Health Initiative, powered by EcoVadis, that accelerates sustainable efforts in the collective supply chains of businesses from the field of health technology and pharma. ZAGENO recognized the value in establishing efficient processes to manage sustainability data with the aim of efficiently responding to the yearly EcoVadis questionnaire and effectively monitoring sustainability data and progress in the long-term.

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The Challenge

Building Up Effective Response Processes With Limited Time and Resources

As a forward-thinking company, ZAGENO recognized the need to develop a comprehensive strategy for addressing sustainability requirements from their lab customers. They desired a long-term approach to adapt to the evolving nature of sustainability regulations and maintain compliance without consuming excessive time or resources.

Like most companies, ZAGENO faced resource limitations and time pressure when tackling the EcoVadis questionnaire. The preparation of responses for the questionnaire can extend over several weeks or even months before initiating the actual completion process. Due to these resource constraints, they found it challenging to allocate sufficient time to address all questions while simultaneously developing reliable long-term processes for collecting and maintaining sustainability data for future use.

“Processing the lengthy EcoVadis questionnaire represents a larger project that is difficult to accomplish in a short period of time on top of our ongoing daily business.”

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The Solution

The Sunhat Moment

Working with Sunhat, ZAGENO established a robust framework for managing the yearly recurring EcoVadis questionnaire and the growing number of customer requirements. 

By setting up flexible data collections based on the EcoVadis requirements, they successfully integrated compliance management into their business operations with the available time and resources.

Through the implementation of Sunhat’s comprehensive software solution, ZAGENO is able to seamlessly advance its sustainability objectives while promoting a thriving, sustainable business environment. 

How ZAGENO Uses Sunhat

ZAGENO uses Sunhat’s EcoVadis module which maps the received questionnaire including the latest documentation guidelines and links it with their existing data. While systematically answering the required questions, evidence is generated at every point within the software and combined into reports via the consolidation functions.

Sunhat's flexible data collection options facilitate collaboration within the internal team as well as with their external producers, ensuring that the required data and related evidence are clearly defined and easy to provide. Moreover, ZAGENO assigns tasks and responsibilities within their team, providing team members with reminders and holding them accountable for delivering answers and evidence files on a regular basis.

The software solution of Sunhat empowers ZAGENO’s team to effectively organize and unify the broad mass of incoming customer requirements, including the EcoVadis rating, along with the necessary steps and actions to achieve continuous progress and long-term results in their ESG initiatives. 

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The Results

Reliable and Efficient Processes on Auto-Pilot

Ultimately, they successfully integrated long-term processes related to data collection to continuously create audit-proof documentation. 

By storing every question and answer pair in Sunhat’s answer library, they were not only able to optimize their EcoVadis responses but also minimize the effort and time spent on other sustainability requests of their life science customers.

Proactively addressing the current and future sustainability requirements of their hundreds of lab customers, ZAGENO understands the significance of establishing processes early and embracing a long-term perspective to maintain compliance and foster sustainable growth. 

Leveraging automation to streamline the processes and ensure consistency, they can maintain their focus on following their vision and dynamically growing their marketplace. This approach facilitates the growth of their business, enabling them to promote what they refer to as “eureka moments” of scientific breakthrough.