Hansgrohe Group Remains One of the Innovation Leaders Among German SMEs in 2024

Outstanding innovative strength: Hansgrohe SE receives TOP 100 seal for the seventh time in a row

Schiltach, July 2024. The Hansgrohe Group, based in Schiltach in the Black Forest, came out on top in the 31st edition of the TOP 100 scientific competition, and is one of the country’s outstanding innovators for the seventh time in a row. The seal recognizes particularly innovative medium-sized companies in Germany. The science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar, who has mentored the competition since 2012, honored the manufacturer of premium and design products for bathrooms and kitchens for its outstanding innovative strength at the 9th German SME Summit in Weimar on June 28.

"Are companies able to create new products, new services, new processes and new business models? And are these achievements just coincidences or the result of a structured and targeted approach? These are the questions we examine within our TOP 100," says Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke, scientific director of the competition, explaining his approach to the assessment. On behalf of compamedia, the organizer of the competition, the innovation researcher and his team examined the innovative strength of all participating companies based on more than 100 criteria from five categories: innovation-promoting top management, innovation climate, innovative processes and organization, external orientation/open innovation and innovation success.

Protecting Ecosystems with Innovations

Indeed, a passion for innovation is firmly anchored in the Hansgrohe Group's corporate culture. "We have always aspired to make life easier or more convenient with our innovations and to treat our environment responsibly," says Hans Jürgen Kalmbach, Chairman of the Executive Board of Hansgrohe SE. "Our water- and energy-saving products also help to reduce C02 emissions. However, our urgent concern is also to align our production with sustainability. As part of our sustainability strategy, we are therefore striving to become part of the circular economy. Recycling helps us to save energy, water and costs in production processes."

One example of successful recycling is the hansgrohe Planet Edition product line launched in 2023. This hand-held shower uses recycled material: the handle of the Pulsify Planet Edition is made from recycled plastic. This alternative to petroleum-based primary plastics significantly reduces the consumption of resources and energy.

The company is now taking a further step with the development of an individual process for recycling electroplated plastics. In cooperation with the manufacturer ImpulsTec GmbH, a facility has been created with which the production waste from chrome-plated components can be processed in such a way that the decoated ABS plastic is available again directly on site in the Hansgrohe plastics injection molding site to produce new parts. "It is important to use resources and space intelligently. Every resource that no longer needs to be extracted but can be reused protects ecosystems," explains Hans Jürgen Kalmbach. "We are proud to be making an important contribution here with the new plastics recycling machine, and we are delighted to have once again been awarded the TOP 100 seal for our innovative strength."

Machinery with Exemplary Character

The recycling of chrome-plated plastics was previously considered to be technically and economically extremely difficult to implement. "With this technical world’s first, we are closing the recycling loop at our production site in Offenburg. We now recover around 98 percent of the raw materials from chrome-plated production waste after the recycling process," says Thorsten Pohl, Vice President Technical Engineering & Technology Hansgrohe SE. The innovative system uses electro-hydraulic shredding technology. All chrome-plated ABS scrap components, such as hand-held shower housings, wall rosettes or knobs and buttons, are decoated using shock wave treatment in conjunction with pre-shredding and magnetic separation. David Zapf, Surface Technology Specialist and head of the project at Hansgrohe, explains: "The result is a highly concentrated metal fraction containing mainly copper and nickel. This is then sold for smelting. This means that 100 percent of the valuable metals are returned to the raw material cycle. On the other hand, we receive the decoated ABS plastic, which we use to manufacture new parts." The processing site was designed for an annual input of 100 tons of chrome-plated plastic. In purely mathematical terms, one million new hand-held showers can be produced with this quantity of recovered ABS.

About the TOP 100

Since 1993, compamedia has been awarding the TOP 100 seal for special innovative strength and above-average innovation success to medium-sized companies. The scientific management has been in the hands of Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke since 2002. Franke is the founder and director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. With 26 research awards and over 200 publications, he is one of the leading innovation researchers internationally. The mentor of TOP 100 is the science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar. Project partners are the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research and the BVMW association of small and medium-sized enterprises. The German magazines manager magazin and impulse are media partners, ZEIT für Unternehmer is a cooperation partner. More information: www.top100.de.

About the Hansgrohe Group – Setting the Beat of Water. Since 1901.

With its brands AXOR and hansgrohe, the Hansgrohe Group, based in Schiltach/Southern Germany, enjoys a reputation as a leader in innovation, design and quality within the bath and kitchen industry. Founded in 1901 in the Black Forest, the company gives water form and function with its faucets, showerheads and shower systems. In combination with sanitary ceramics and bathroom furniture, the company offers individual design options from a single source for holistic bathroom experiences. The 123-year history of the company is marked by innovations, such as the first hand-held shower with multiple spray types, the first pull-out kitchen faucet, and the first wall bar to hold a hand-held shower.The company holds more than 20,000 active property rights. The Hansgrohe Group stands for long-lasting quality products and for responsibility towards people and the environment. Sustainable production of resource-conserving products is central to the company’s business activities around the globe. By developing innovative technologies for faucets and showers, Hansgrohe achieves the greatest possible effect on protecting water as a resource and limiting and adapting to climate change during the usage phase of its products. As part of its consistent sustainability strategy, Hansgrohe is equipping all water-bearing products exclusively with water-saving technologies by 2030 within its "ECO 2030" initiative. With 35 subsidiaries and 21 sales offices supplying products in more than 150 countries, the globally active company in the sanitary industry is a reliable partner to its customers in all regions of the world. The Hansgrohe Group, its brands and products have won numerous awards, including more than 700 design prizes since 1974. The products of the Hansgrohe Group are found around the world: on renowned cruise ships, in luxurious 5-star and boutique hotels, in international metropolitan cities, in extraordinary spas, exclusive bathrooms of lodges and luxury villas, public facilities, as well as in countless private homes. The Hansgrohe Group’s high quality standards are ensured by eight wholly-owned production facilities: four in Germany, one each in France, in Serbia, the United States and China. In 2023, the Hansgrohe Group generated a turnover of EUR 1.406 billion. It employs around 5,400 people worldwide, about 60 percent of whom work in Germany.