Designing an ESG Reporting Roadmap for an Indirectly Affected Manufacturing Automation Supplier : A Single Case Study of Vention Inc.

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines how a manufacturing automation supplier that is not directly subject to mandatory sustainability regulation can establish an effective process for reporting on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters, using Vention Inc. as a single case study. As the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) cascades disclosure requirements upstream through European value chains, suppliers outside its direct scope increasingly face client demands for ESG information. Drawing on Total Quality Management, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and the Sustainability Reporting Maturity Grid, the study assesses Vention’s current maturity and identifies the steps toward an effective reporting process. Interviews, documentation review and benchmarking indicate a uniformly low maturity, approximately 0.5 on a 0 to 5 scale, with no defined process, indicators or ownership, despite existing practices of clear ESG relevance. A three-year roadmap of iterative Plan, Do, Study, Act cycles is proposed, progressing toward ESRS-aligned disclosure at Level 3 maturity. The pace of response emerges as the most critical variable, since converging client, internal and regulatory pressures are shortening the preparation window.