Simple and fast, the application allows to know, thanks to a barcode, the environmental information of timber products. Launched last week at the Carrefour International du Bois in Nantes (June 1-3), this innovation developed by EKWATO met the success expected by the companies requesting a demonstration at the stand, and among them companies members of the ATIBT.
This is a real innovation for small and medium-sized companies distributing timber products to quickly have their application ready to use and offer their customers a clear and easy-to-use "CSR digital label".
The secure access to the platform allows the user company to register its timber products and information for its customers: general information on the product (its designation, reference, photo, etc.), and information for each of its components (the common and scientific name of the wood species used, the country of origin of the forest and its location, the level of protection of the species used, etc.). The method easily takes into account multi-component, multi-sourced and multi-species wood products. The unique identity of the product is known by its existing barcode linked to the product (physical label, attached or adhesive) or to be created.
The downloadable mobile application gives any user (consumers) the possibility to scan the barcode of the product to have at his disposal the available information "put online" by the user of the platform.
Depending on the voluntary or imposed approach (regulation), the increase of environmental requirements pushes the companies of the wood sector to inform more and more the consumers about the purchased wood product (for example the AGEC law [1] which came into force on January 1st 2022).
This transparency closer to consumers complements the regulations already in place for wood industry companies such as the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR [2], 2013) on the level of risk of a potentially illegal source of a timber product imported into the EU, generally unknown to consumers. Moreover, these requirements were later taken up in France in the National Strategy to Combat Imported Deforestation for Timber Products (SNDI [3]). Soon, the application of the EU bill [4] on imported deforestation (including timber products) at the end of 2023 will bring additional requirements, including the geolocation of the forests used for all products imported and marketed in Europe.
“Compliance [5] is no longer an option [6]” and the risk for a company to be non-compliant is increasing at the same time as the sanctions incurred and the transparency sought by consumers.
The solution proposed by EKWATO with its distinct and complementary modules (automated collection of documents from suppliers, real-time risk analysis, secure platform for sharing documents with customers) allows companies to control and manage their purchasing policy (internal, normative and regulatory requirements).
This "digital label" provides a solution for companies wishing to communicate more information about their wood products as close as possible to consumers, with information available instantly in the presence of the product. This format is ideal to quickly update information about a product (reactivity), to provide a lot of information (compared to a physical label) in a CSR approach oriented towards the consumer.
EKWATO offers this solution with the mobile application under EKWATO license or in own brand (customized mobile application of the user company with its ʺbrandingʺ). Customized information can also be developed on the platform and mobile application upon request.
In addition to the modules already available, EKWATO continues its commitment to innovation and now offers companies access to information for their customers in a dematerialized way.
Initial press release and source [1] to [6]: https://www.ekwato.com/ekwato-lance-son-application
Contact: Vincent Pelé (vincent.pele@ekwato.com).
EKWATO is a member of the ATIBT, Fair & Precious, La Wood Tech, La FrenchTech Méditerranée.
