Kirchheim – This is the 23rd time awards have been presented for the TOP 100, the most innovative German SMEs. Schneider Kunststofftechnik GmbH is among the innovation elite this year. The Kirchheim-based company first took part in a demanding scientific selection process which examined innovation management and innovation success. The mentor of the innovation competition, Ranga Yogeshwar, honours the top innovators at the German SME Summit on 24 June in Essen.

Schneider Kunststofftechnik GmbH manufactures technical plastic parts for customers in the automotive, mechanical engineering, packaging systems and sensor technology sectors. This family firm essentially owes its place in the TOP 100 to its directors: the management team invests more than 80 per cent of their working time in the development of innovative products. The result is the "UJETA water filter", developed by Schneider together with a long-standing customer and placed on the market this year. With a filter fineness of 1/10,000th mm, not only are germs and bacteria removed from the water, but so too are heavy metals and drug residues. A specially designed adapter allows the filter to be screwed directly onto the tap, in the same way as plug-and-play.

Managing Director Drita Schneider attributes the company's success to the commitment and team spirit of her staff: "Open discussion and a cooperative working relationship are particularly important in a small company such as ours." The appreciation shown by the company towards its staff is also reflected when dealing with suggestions for improvement. It normally takes the management just three days to address the ideas of their team. On average, more than three quarters of them are adopted and implemented. "The special thing about our innovation process is that our goal is to achieve success as a team," reveals Drita Schneider.

Over 4,000 enterprises were interested in taking part in TOP 100 this year, with 366 of them competing in the qualification round. Of these, 284 made it through to the final round. In the end, 238 managed to leap into the TOP 100 (maximum 100 in each of the three size categories). The companies were again assessed by Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke and his team from the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation of Vienna University of Economics. They tested over 100 parameters in five evaluation categories: "Top Management Promoting Innovation”, "Innovative Climate”, "Innovative Processes and Organisation”, "Innovative Marketing/Outward Orientation" and "Innovative Success".

The TOP 100 are seen as the pacesetters in their sectors. This is backed up by the statistics in the analysis: 97 of the enterprises are national market leaders and 32 global market leaders. On average, they last generated 40 per cent of their sales by bringing new launches and product improvements to market before their competitors. Their growth in sales was 28 per cent higher than the average in the respective sector. Altogether, SMEs have applied for 2,292 national and international patents. This innovative power also pays off in jobs: the TOP 100 plan to recruit around 9,500 new employees in the coming three years.

The mentor of TOP 100, the science journalist and TV presenter Ranga Yogeshwar, is impressed by the quality of the companies and is hoping for a signal effect: "The way in which the TOP 100 generate new ideas and develop pioneering products and services from them is remarkable in the truest sense of the word. That's why I'm pleased that the award makes these qualities visible. Hopefully, their success will encourage other companies to do the same, because this culture of innovation will become increasingly significant for all enterprises in the future."