Excellent inventor spirit at GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH

At the “Best Innovators 2010/11” awards on 10th June at the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology in Berlin, GEA Group was honored as the mechanical engineering company with the most successful and sustainable innovation management in Germany. But there was still more to come. GEA Westfalia Separator Group was awarded the quality seal "Top 100" by Lothar Späth in the Baltic spa Warnemünde yesterday evening.

Only creative companies with vision and an innovative spirit have been able to join the ranks of the 100 most innovative SMEs. GEA Westfalia Separator Group is the world market leader for mechanical separating technology, around 3,000 employees worldwide are constantly developing new ideas for efficiency processing liquids and liquid mixtures. For instance, with regard to the production of beverages, dairy products or processing of sustainable raw materials. "We operate systematic innovation marketing before we even start with innovation", says head of Construction Wilfried Mackel in response to the question as to what extent the Marketing department is involved in the innovation process. "The innovation process starts by analysing the wishes of our customers." This is the reason why a committee consisting of representatives from a wide range of departments and management meets every six weeks. It observes the market and customers, and works together with high schools and experts from other sectors. "In our search for new ideas, we operate specific technology scouting. Only in this way are we able to permanently maintain our technology leadership", says Mr. Mackel.

The Economics University of Vienna assessed the innovation behaviour of a total of 272 SMEs in Germany over a period of several months. The 100 best companies, including the GEA Westfalia Separator Group, hold the quality seal for one year. "For us, creative ideas and consistent orientation on customer benefit are not only a means for boosting sales. We also passionately believe in the subject and wish to achieve something. We are proud of the award, which demonstrates that it makes sense for all to pull together in one direction", says Markus Hüllmann, CEO of the GEA Mechanical Equipment segment.

Last year, the 100 SMEs who hold the quality seal 2011 generated total sales of € 11.2 billion. 769 new national patents and 1,865 new international patents were registered in 2010 alone. 48 of the 100 companies are the Number One in their national sector, and 19 are world market leaders. 88 of the 100 companies who have received this award have reported stronger growth than the average for the sector during the past three years - on average by around 16%.

Further information on the GEA Westfalia Separator Group, the other 99 holders of the award and the project "Top 100" can be found at www.top100.de.

Lothar Späth is the mentor of the project.

Dr. Nikolaus Franke is responsible for scientific management. He is Professor for Entrepreneurship und Innovation at the Economics University of Vienna. His research activities focus on entrepreneurship, innovation management and market. He is one of the leading experts in the world for user innovation,

The organiser is compamedia GmbH, the mentor of the best SMEs. compamedia GmbH organises benchmarking projects for SMEs. With its nationwide corporate comparisons TOP 100, TOP JOB, TOP CONSULTANT and ETHICS IN BUSINESS, it makes awards to and supports companies with excellent achievements in the field of innovation, personnel management, consultancy and value management.

The following are project partners:  BVMW Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V., RKW – Rationalisierungs- und Innovationszentrum der Deutschen Wirtschaft e. V., SchmidtColleg, Verband der Elektrotechnik Elektronik Informationstechnik (VDE) and the consultancy company Weissman & Cie. The media partner is Süddeutsche Zeitung.