September 10, 2022

Ner’s way of being a “Sustainable Company”

“Satisfied, Profitable, Sustainable” is a concise 3-word definition of marketing in the view of Assoc. Dr. Wilert Purivat, Dean / Lecturer of Marketing Department Chulalongkorn University. When applying this concept to the North East Rubber Public Company Limited's way to becoming a “Sustainable Company”, we can see a significant consensus, and it certainly affects the operations including the long-term stock prices.
Expanding the definition of “satisfied, profitable, sustainable” in the view of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wilert Phuriwat,

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wilert Phuriwat said that satisfaction always comes before profit and when these two things happen repeatedly, sustainability will follow. It is understood in a general context that in order to sell a product to make a profit, the customer must first be satisfied with the purchase. Satisfaction, like the middle part of the pyramid, is based on getting to know the brand and its target audience and developing a relationship from strangers to friends, from friends to prospective customers, making prospective customers happy to buy, finally friends will change their status to customers. Then, when customers are satisfied with the product purchased, the purchase will continue repeating until a bond is formed. After a long commitment, the relationship will eventually turn into love.

Satisfied, Profitable, Sustainable and Responsible in NER's Way to Become a “Sustainable Company.”

From the above concept, it can be interpreted that the whole process requires genuine interaction with the variable of duration. If you look at it in the context of NER, it is clear that we are in line with being a “Sustainable Company” in our way.

This is because in the context of NER, profits from business operations shown in the financial statements can be sustained not only from the satisfaction of the customers but from the satisfaction of the surrounding society, employees and the environment as well.

If we aim to satisfy our customers in just one dimension regardless of the society around us, employees and the environment, Today, we may actually be able to sell products for a profit. But, in the future, there may be strikes, protests from the surrounding community due to the impact of the production of goods in the factory, whether it is noise, smell, pollution, the impact on the environment that affects the existence of living things and ecosystems until it eventually becomes an obstacle in the production of goods. When we are unable to produce, unable to sell products, there will be no income, which would affect profits and next the share prices, which then becomes a domino effect.

In our perspective, our responsibility is not only to produce and sell products but also to care for the society, our employees, and the environment with an intention to achieve a Win-Win situation where all stakeholders reach the finish line together.

Responsibility towards the surrounding communities through the “NER Promotes a Sustainable Community Agriculture” project that is not just about growing vegetables.

One project that is practical and tangible according to NER’s way of becoming a “Sustainable Company” is the “NER Promotes Sustainable Community Agriculture” project. It is a cooperation between the communities in the area around the factory and NER. The vegetable plot as shown in the picture is the land belonging the village headman of the Ban Bat Community, Moo 10, Buriram Province, that has been shared with NER to be used as an experimental plot for growing vegetables by taking “sludge” from our Biogas power plant to replace the use of chemicals and chemical fertilizers. What we get in return is the happiness of the villagers and the employees of NER, most of whom are people in the neighborhood.

This is an experimental period to prove that the “sludge” from our Biogas power plant is really useful and after this we will expand by educating the local people and distributing the “sludge” for use in the next opportunity. If you take a closer look, you will see that this project encapsulates one of NER's core policies, Zero-Waste Management.

Reusing waste repeatedly: the Zero-Waste Method is NER's Way to become a “Sustainable Company”

The “sludge” used to grow vegetables in the experimental plot is sourced from our Biogas power plant with a capacity of 4 MW. Electricity produced from waste in the production and agricultural processes is fermented by the proper process, temperature and time until it is released as a gas to be used as fuel for power generators used in factories.

When the generator works from such gas until electricity is produced, the hot water from the cooling process for cooling in the generator is brought into the Heat Exchanger to exchange heat from the cooling water to the fermentation water and add it back to the Biogas fermenter to adjust the temperature inside the fermentation tank to the optimum level.

And finally, after completing the process, there will be “sludge” left from the Biogas production process for us to scoop out for further use in this project. This process can be called a recycling of “waste” repeatedly until the whole process is completed.

Conclusion of the project and what do we achieve from it?

The conclusion of the project can be viewed from the concept of marketing definition of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wilert Puriwat as follows:

  • Satisfaction perspective – assessed by observing the “happiness” of the participating sectors, both the community and factory employees are considered to have passed.
  • Profit Perspective – estimated from the yield from the vegetable plots in this project, which is a good indicator of the biogas sludge usage. The invisible profit is the positive impact on the environment and the good relationship between employees and the surrounding community. The profit generated from internal cost savings is a by-product of NER.
  • Sustainability Perspective – it becomes possible when all of the above is repeated: Zero-Waste Policy, satisfaction of all sectors, visible and invisible profits, until sustainability is achieved and we finally become a “Sustainable Company” in NER’s way.