How NxGN Built the Sustainability Data Platform
Anglo American collected and calculated sustainability metrics across 160+ operations worldwide. Specifically, these included injury frequency rates, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon computations, energy intensity, water usage, and biodiversity indicators. All of this ran through Enablon’s “Metrics” module. However, with Enablon being decommissioned as part of the migration to IsoMetrix, this capability needed a replacement.
The Legacy Problem
The process it replaced was entirely manual. In essence, operations submitted data as Excel extracts. Those extracts then went through central collation and aggregation in spreadsheets. As a result, the labour-intensive process had fragile formulas, unreliable versioning, and never enough time for proper validation. Furthermore, the team only reviewed the final consolidated sheet. By the time anyone could check the numbers, the reporting deadline had already arrived. Consequently, the validation cycle took approximately two months. Even then, the team could not be confident that the source data was accurate.
The Trigger
In 2020, NxGN collaborated with IsoMetrix to determine whether the KPI module could fit inside their platform. However, the answer was no. IsoMetrix required KPIs to be hardcoded, which meant every formula change needed developer intervention. For an organisation managing over 5,000 metrics across different business units, geographies, and reporting requirements, hardcoded KPIs were therefore unworkable. Moreover, combined with performance issues and poor usability, IsoMetrix could not serve as a replacement. As a result, Anglo American needed a sustainability data platform that did not yet exist.
Why This Was Hard to Solve
This was not a dashboard project. Instead, Anglo American needed a data collection, calculation, and consolidation engine with several specific capabilities. First, it had to define complex KPIs using a configurable formula language. Second, it had to integrate data from IsoMetrix for safety, environmental, and water metrics. Third, it needed to capture waste and energy data and compute carbon directly within the platform. Fourth, it had to allow manual capture with validation and change tracking where automated feeds were not available. Fifth, it needed to lock validated data monthly before use in official reporting. Finally, the numbers had to withstand external audit scrutiny. In short, all of this needed to work reliably across every Anglo American operation.
Why NxGN
NxGN was already embedded in Anglo American’s safety and data ecosystem. For instance, the Leading Indicators project (2017–2018) and the Enablon-to-IsoMetrix migration had established deep familiarity with Anglo American’s data landscape and source systems. Therefore, when IsoMetrix could not deliver, NxGN had both the context and the capability to build what the vendor could not.
What Did NxGN Build?
NxGN began with a detailed analysis of Anglo American’s sustainability reporting landscape. Specifically, the analysis mapped every KPI to its source system. It also documented data journeys across operations and identified the core problems: manual capture where no system existed, inconsistent collection between sites, duplicate capture for different reports, and no visibility into data collection progress.
Three New Capabilities
The sustainability data platform NxGN built (Objectives & Targets) consequently introduced three capabilities that the previous approach lacked entirely.
A configurable formula language. As a result, business users define and modify KPI calculations without developer involvement. An Excel-like formula engine handles complex interdependencies across 1,650 calculations. Additionally, it maintains full auditability and change tracking on every formula and data point.
Validation at source. Instead of validating only the final consolidated output, the platform enables validation at the point of data entry. In practice, each of the 3,500 data inputs can be validated, locked, and supported with evidence at the operation level before aggregation. Furthermore, monthly validation locks prevent changes to data already used in official reporting.
Multi-source data integration. Azure Data Factory pipelines pull safety, environmental, and water data from the IsoMetrix data warehouse. In addition, the platform captures waste and energy data directly, and its formula engine calculates carbon computations. Where automated feeds are not available, users consequently capture data through a structured interface with change tracking and evidence uploads.
Go-Live and Expansion
The platform went live in January 2022 with 27 SHE measures configured for the 2021 reporting year. Specifically, these covered safety (TRCFR, loss of life, HPIs, critical controls), occupational health (exposure, surveillance), environment (emissions, rehabilitation, biodiversity, tailings), and sustainability compliance. Before go-live, the team ran four months of parallel testing against the legacy Enablon Metrics module to validate calculation accuracy.
Since launch, the platform has expanded significantly. For example, new modules include waste and water tracking, a definitions library, and a configurable data extraction wizard for annual and mid-year reporting. It also supports De Beers’ GRI reporting requirements.
Technical detail: Integration architecture and calculation engine
The platform runs on Azure with SSO integration to Anglo American’s Active Directory. Azure Data Factory pipelines connect to the IsoMetrix data warehouse and pull safety, environmental, and water data on a scheduled basis. Additionally, the platform captures and computes waste, energy, and carbon data directly within its formula engine. A reporting data warehouse consequently supports Power BI dashboards for executive consumption. The formula engine evaluates interdependent calculations in dependency order. Moreover, change tracking ensures that only modified data points trigger recalculation. The data extraction wizard enables users to create report templates that filter by organisational structure metadata. Specifically, users select specific nodes and metrics, and a queuing service handles large extracts.
What Were the Results?
| Metric | Before | After | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data validation cycle | ~2 months (final spreadsheet only) | ~2 weeks (validated at source) | 75% reduction in validation time |
| KPI configuration | Hardcoded (developer changes required) | Configurable formula language (business users) | Zero developer dependency for KPI changes |
| Data inputs managed | Scattered across Excel extracts from 160+ operations | 3,500 structured inputs with change tracking | Single source of truth |
| Calculations | Manual Excel aggregation | 1,650 automated calculations | Eliminated manual formula risk |
| Metrics managed | Fragmented across Excel extracts from 160+ operations | 3,500 inputs + 1,650 calculations in one platform | 5,150 metrics consolidated with full traceability |
| Data validation approach | Final consolidated sheet only | Validation at source with lock and evidence | Audit-ready at every level |
| Report outputs | Ad-hoc manual compilation | Monthly safety report, CEO scorecard, annual sustainability report, quarterly performance review | Four official reporting streams automated |
The Backbone of ESG Reporting
As a result, the sustainability data platform became the backbone of Anglo American’s reporting. In fact, every official metric flows through the system — from injury frequency rates through to carbon computations and Scope 3 emissions.
IsoMetrix Integration
The integration with IsoMetrix proved particularly valuable. Rather than forcing Anglo American to choose between their operational platform and their reporting needs, Objectives & Targets sits alongside IsoMetrix. Consequently, it consumes safety, environmental, and water data while handling waste, energy, and carbon computations directly. In other words, this adds the configurable calculation layer that IsoMetrix was not designed to provide.
Commercial Validation
The platform’s value also received external validation. For instance, African Rainbow Minerals adopted it for ESG data collection across their mining operations. Subsequently, NxGN redeveloped the core into the commercial Capstone product. In essence, the problem Objectives & Targets solved for Anglo American — consolidating sustainability metrics across a complex, multi-site organisation — is the same problem Capstone now solves as a product.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does NxGN Capstone handle sustainability KPI calculations across multiple operations? Capstone uses a configurable formula language that allows business users to define and modify KPI calculations without developer involvement. Specifically, the engine processes 1,650+ interdependent calculations across 3,500 data inputs with full auditability and change tracking. Furthermore, data goes through validation at the source operation level, not just on the final consolidated output. As a result, monthly validation locks ensure numbers used in official reporting are defensible.
Can Capstone integrate with existing EHS platforms like IsoMetrix? Yes. The sustainability data platform sits alongside existing systems rather than replacing them. For example, at Anglo American, Azure Data Factory pipelines pull safety, environmental, and water data from the IsoMetrix data warehouse. Additionally, the platform captures waste, energy, and carbon data directly. Where automated feeds are not available, users consequently capture data through structured manual interfaces with validation, change tracking, and evidence uploads.
What types of sustainability reporting does Capstone support? The Anglo American deployment supports four official reporting streams: the monthly safety report, CEO scorecard, annual sustainability report, and quarterly performance reviews. Specifically, it covers safety (TRCFR, loss of life, critical controls), occupational health (exposure, surveillance), environment (emissions, rehabilitation, biodiversity, water, tailings), and sustainability compliance. In addition, the platform also supports GRI reporting.