GO FOR 30 VoicesSustain­ability as a strategic success factor

What makes an effective sustainability strategy? And why is it so important to strategically anchor sustainability? Answers to these questions and exciting insights into the implementation of the sustainability strategy at the Uhlmann Group as part of GO FOR 30 can be found here.

24.11.2025

Author: Antonella Mangold
Photos: Uhlmann

Sustain­ability is no longer a “nice-to-have,” but a deci­sive success factor for compa­nies that want to remain viable in the future. The topic is also deeply rooted in the Uhlmann Group—in our purpose, our vision, and our mission—and forms a central compo­nent of our new corpo­rate strategy, GO FOR 30. The goal is to actively shape tomorrow’s success today: through sustain­able action, the devel­op­ment of new busi­ness areas and tech­nolo­gies, and through part­ner­ship-based coop­er­a­tion.

A successful sustain­ability strategy is char­ac­ter­ized by the fact that it is not viewed in isola­tion, but is derived from the corpo­rate strategy and is in line with the company’s values. Clear, measur­able objec­tives backed by concrete measures are crucial in this regard. Sustain­ability goals take into account ecolog­ical, social, and economic aspects and actively involve internal and external stake­holders. The aim is to leverage the company’s indi­vidual strengths and thereby create trans­parency and commit­ment. This is precisely the holistic approach we are pursuing with our new strategy—for us, sustain­ability is not an isolated project, but a key success factor for long-term growth and inno­v­a­tive strength.

By 2030, we at Uhlmann want to use only elec­tricity from renew­able energy sources.

What topics do we consider to be part of sustain­ability?

Sustain­ability encom­passes much more than just climate protec­tion – today, it is viewed holis­ti­cally under the term ESG. ESG stands for Envi­ron­mental, Social, and Gover­nance. Many ESG activ­i­ties are already being imple­mented indi­vid­u­ally in the group compa­nies. The group-wide sustain­ability strategy will leverage syner­gies across the group and anchor common goals.

These three dimen­sions form the foun­da­tion for sustain­able busi­ness prac­tices:

E

Envi­ron­mental

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E – Envi­ron­mental

This involves the respon­sible use of natural resources and the protec­tion of our planet. The focus is on issues such as energy and water consump­tion, emis­sion reduc­tion, and the devel­op­ment of sustain­able prod­ucts and solu­tions.

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S

Social

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S – Social

The social aspect encom­passes commit­ment to employees and society. This includes occu­pa­tional health and safety, diver­sity and equal oppor­tu­ni­ties, and fair condi­tions throughout the entire supply chain.

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G

Gover­nance

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G – Gover­nance

Gover­nance stands for trans­parent, compliant, and ethi­cally respon­sible corpo­rate manage­ment. This includes compli­ance with legal require­ments, effec­tive manage­ment and control mech­a­nisms, and measures for corrup­tion preven­tion and busi­ness ethics.

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The need to strate­gi­cally embed sustain­ability stems not only from our own drive, but also from the increasing demands placed on us – by customers, by legal require­ments, by competi­tors and, last but not least, by society and our colleagues. If you want to remain compet­i­tive in the long term, you have to take sustain­ability seri­ously and imple­ment it consis­tently.

Overview of the Action Fields and Ambi­tion

These goals natu­rally apply not only to indi­vidual compa­nies, but to the entire Uhlmann Group. We there­fore sat down with colleagues from Uhlmann, KOCH, Cremer, and Wonder to find out what the new sustain­ability strategy means for these Group compa­nies.

Why is it impor­tant for you to embed sustain­ability in your strategy?

  • Uhlmann: Embed­ding sustain­ability strate­gi­cally is essen­tial for us, as our customers’ require­ments are constantly increasing—and in some cases are even laid down in contracts. Issues such as climate protec­tion, trans­parency, goal setting, and reporting, as well as social aspects such as diver­sity and human rights along the supply chain, play a central role, espe­cially in the phar­ma­ceu­tical industry. A clear strategy helps us to meet these require­ments in a struc­tured, proac­tive, and cred­ible manner.
  • KOCH: Sustain­ability is a central compo­nent of KOCH’s corpo­rate strategy. We bear respon­si­bility for our planet and its population—and we actively fulfill this respon­si­bility. With our port­folio of solu­tions, which includes sustain­able pack­aging, we make a signif­i­cant contri­bu­tion to the sustain­able trans­for­ma­tion of our customers. The focus is always on customer benefit: our solu­tions are not only sustain­able, but also econom­i­cally viable and future-proof. Initia­tives to develop sustain­able pack­aging solu­tions (e.g., pack­aging regu­la­tions) show how we proac­tively trans­late regu­la­tory require­ments into inno­va­tions and strate­gi­cally anchor sustain­ability.
  • Cremer: Legal require­ments in the EU, partic­u­larly within the frame­work of the Green Deal and the climate targets for 2050, make a sustain­able approach essen­tial. In the Nether­lands, sustain­ability has long been part of social consciousness—our society expects us to take respon­si­bility. A clear strategy makes us more attrac­tive as an employer and strengthens our posi­tion in the market.
  • Wonder: In China, sustain­ability is partic­u­larly impor­tant in view of the close coop­er­a­tion with our global part­ners, who expect high stan­dards. At the same time, we are seeing a steady growth in envi­ron­mental aware­ness in China, both among author­i­ties and in society. Strate­gi­cally anchoring sustain­ability helps us to respond to these devel­op­ments and secure our inter­na­tional compet­i­tive­ness.

Are there any planned projects with a focus on sustain­ability?

  • Uhlmann: Uhlmann is focusing specif­i­cally on sustain­able projects in various areas. The focus is on construc­tion measures such as roof reno­va­tion and conver­sion to LED lighting in building C1, as well as the intro­duc­tion of an energy manage­ment system in accor­dance with DIN ISO 50.001. The purchasing depart­ment is working on greater trans­parency in the supply chain and is aiming for BME certi­fi­ca­tion as a “Sustain­able Procure­ment Orga­ni­za­tion” in silver. HR is also contributing to sustain­ability – with paper­less travel expense reports, fully digital contract signing, and the exclu­sive use of hybrid and elec­tric vehi­cles in accor­dance with the company car policy.
  • KOCH: In addi­tion to devel­oping sustain­able machine solu­tions and pack­aging concepts for our customers, we are also pursuing the goal of making our own produc­tion more sustain­able and reducing emis­sions. We will be imple­menting several projects to this end. We are currently converting all building lighting to LED tech­nology and will complete this project by the end of the year. In combi­na­tion with the planned photo­voltaic system in the coming years, we are making an impor­tant contri­bu­tion to reducing emis­sions. The further devel­op­ment of sustain­able pack­aging concepts for internal and external goods trans­port also contributes to this goal. Another aspect of our sustain­ability strategy is health and well-being in the work­place. Our employees are actively involved in the further devel­op­ment and imple­men­ta­tion of appro­priate measures.
  • Cremer: We already use 100% renew­able elec­tricity for our oper­a­tions. In addi­tion, we are investing in local, on-site energy systems to reduce our depen­dence on the public power grid. At the same time, we are grad­u­ally converting our vehicle fleet to fully elec­tric vehi­cles – including our own charging stations. These measures help us to become more energy-inde­pen­dent and resilient and to better achieve our long-term sustain­ability goals.
  • Wonder: Across the group, we have launched a supplier and customer program to system­at­i­cally reduce CO₂ emis­sions along the entire value chain, both upstream and down­stream. At the same time, Wonder has begun to purchase green elec­tricity certifi­cates, starting in the 2024/25 fiscal year. In addi­tion, Wonder is actively promoting its sustain­ability strategy and deep­ening it within its supplier and customer networks. This includes accel­er­ating recy­cling initia­tives – such as the reuse of machine wooden boxes and other mate­rials – as well as internal improve­ments in manu­fac­turing and assembly effi­ciency. These measures are supported by our own KINGSOFT soft­ware and are based on the first-time-right philos­ophy, which increases product quality, mini­mizes scrap and rework, and ulti­mately contributes to a signif­i­cant reduc­tion in CO₂ emis­sions.

What oppor­tu­ni­ties or chal­lenges do you see in imple­menting the strategy?

  • Uhlmann: In the Customers field of action, we see a great oppor­tu­nity in equip­ping all of our active machines with Product Carbon Foot­print (PCF) data. This means that we record how many emis­sions are gener­ated during the manu­fac­ture, use, and disposal of a product—in other words, throughout its entire life cycle. This enables us to record the emis­sions of our prod­ucts much more accu­rately – and, based on this, to develop more targeted reduc­tion measures. We see the main chal­lenge here in the system­atic collec­tion and avail­ability of the neces­sary data throughout the entire product life cycle.
  • KOCH: Imple­menting this strategy requires invest­ment, a will­ing­ness to change, and clear priorities—but at the same time, it offers us the oppor­tu­nity to cred­ibly fulfill our respon­si­bility and ensure long-term success. With our port­folio of solu­tions, we enable the sustain­able trans­for­ma­tion of our customers. In doing so, we create real customer value, posi­tion ourselves as a future-oriented partner, and strengthen our market posi­tion.
  • Cremer: The strategy gives us the oppor­tu­nity to develop inno­v­a­tive solu­tions and tap into new busi­ness areas – espe­cially in the field of sustain­able pack­aging tech­nolo­gies. Sustain­ability thus becomes a driver of inno­va­tion. The chal­lenge lies in recon­ciling these devel­op­ments with existing processes and struc­tures.
  • Wonder: We are delighted to be further expanding our collab­o­ra­tion with our suppliers. Only by working together can we achieve our ambi­tious emis­sion reduc­tion targets. The sustain­ability strategy provides the right basis for this by enabling us to include more suppliers in our supplier program and thus initiate part­ner­ship-based solu­tions.

What unites all Group compa­nies is the convic­tion that anchoring sustain­ability in our GO FOR 30 corpo­rate strategy is of great impor­tance. The sustain­ability strate­gies comple­ment our previous sustain­ability efforts in a mean­ingful way and create a clear frame­work for achieving our goals in a struc­tured and effec­tive manner. Goldfuß is also supporting us in our sustain­ability goals and has success­fully completed its first EcoVadis assess­ment this year.

With commit­ment, coop­er­a­tion, and our goals in mind, we will achieve this together in the Uhlmann Group.

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