Over the past five years, there has been a major shift among Fortune 1000 companies to publish sustainability reports in addition to traditional financial reports. In fact, 81% of the Global 500 are now participating in the CDP Climate Change Report. Managing the complete flow of energy through an organization, especially for these mammoth companies, requires a robust operational excellence model that optimizes people processes and technology.

The increasing importance and relevance of industrial energy management (IEM) is causing many executives to refine existing operational excellence models. Market leading organizations are realizing the benefits of strategically aligning people, processes, and technology with financial, operational, and environmental objectives. For the technology piece of this equation, LNS Research places considerable focus on IEM software.

To effectively manage the flow of energy through an organization, it takes a robust operational excellence program with the right combination of leadership, business process, and technology. Taken a step further, aligning these resources with operational, financial, and environmental objectives, executives can take a measured approach to realizing energy management improvements.

IT and Line of Business executives in manufacturing industries have always struggled in attempting to define software architecture strategies that balanced the needs of individual plants and the broader enterprise.

In a recent LNS Research article, we defined the Industrial Energy Management (IEM) Framework, explaining the need for companies to align leadership, business processes, and technology around a common model of Operational Excellence.

The industrial space is a dynamic one. 2012 brought memorable improvements and innovations to strategies, technologies, management systems, and so on. However, as the holiday season winds down and the calendar flips to a new year, it’s not only time to reflect on this past year, it’s also time to analyze trends and make some predictions for the direction of the space in 2013.

The significance of industrial energy management has never been greater. Organizations are working to lower energy costs, increase efficiency, and reduce impacts to the environment. Because of its positive effects on business performance, IEM is in many cases considered a mechanism for improving the bottom line. However, there’s also an external driving force by both the public and private sectors. This force demands (and in some respects mandates by law) that organizations integrate sustainability with operations.

In previous blog posts and research reports, we’ve analyzed and written about the emergence of Enterprise Sustainability Management (ESM) for industrial companies and the trend toward managing sustainability holistically across an organization. To improve business performance, top executives are leveraging a common set of leadership, processes, and technology capabilities.

Companies have always been focused on financial performance and achieving operational excellence. However, many companies are now striving to hold themselves to an even higher standard and it is all around sustainability.