Sustainability strategy for 2025

Our path into a more sustainable future

Since end of 2021, we have been working on sustainability issues with a cross-divisional team. The team consists of employees from a wide range of areas and is actively supported by the shareholders and the management. 

Here we would like to introduce the team.

Our sustainability strategy for 2025 is a promise to ourselves, to our customers and to the public, to consequently behave in an ecological, economic and socially responsible manner. Therefore, our innovations are not only making our products and ways of working better and better, but also more and more sustainable.

Carolin von Rönne

Sustainability in drive technology

Find out more about our CSR strategy, our fields of action and our roadmap for the coming years in our new flyer.

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Our 5 main fields of action

Governance & processes

The NORD sustainability management was introduced in 2022. Important milestones were the successful introduction of a certified environmental management system in Germany and the publication of the first sustainability report for the Bargteheide site. The challenge of this field of action is the establishment of an international governance structure and reporting for the entire NORD Group in 48 subsidiaries. The success of other fields of action, in particular environment (energy/climate), depends on this governance structure.

Our focal points in this field of action:

  • From 2025 onwards, we want to be able to create an international sustainability report that integrates key figures from all our subsidiaries – by then, we will have defined sustainability officers worldwide with whom we will regularly exchange information.
  • Implementing the NORD environmental management standards at the 10 largest subsidiaries (sorted by number of employees)

The NORD DRIVESYSTEMS Group is internationally positioned, with almost 5,000 employees. Our own companies for production, development, assembly, sales and service are available to support our customers in 36 countries. Our sustainability strategy is planned for the entire NORD Group - because from our point of view, it should be possible to maintain a sustainability standard everywhere. Therefore, it is our goal to establish global processes and reporting structures (governance) in the NORD Group.

Carolin von Rönne , Jennifer Schütt and Jörg Niermann

People

Particularly in the current labour market, which is characterised by a shortage of specialists and the struggle for young talent, there is a need to develop comprehensive concepts and approaches to ensure NORD’s attractiveness as an employer worldwide.

Our focal points in this field of action:

  • We aim to ensure that by 2025 almost all employees in the NORD Group are fully informed about CSR activities and receive regular training.
  • We expect to introduce a digital learning management system by 2024 to offer all employees in the NORD Group the opportunity for individual further training.
  • Preparation of a diversity key figure that we will use to promote diversity in our workforce.

The NORD DRIVESYSTEMS Group has nearly 5,000 employees worldwide. In addition, there are many more people working along our supply chain. Inclusion, respect for human rights, strengthening our work culture, safety, and continuous knowledge transfer are just some of the topics we would like to advance.

Carolin von Rönne and Laura Sophie Haag

Environment

As a mechanical engineering company, NORD has a significant influence on global resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. To coordinate structured measures on the one hand and to document the commitment in a legally secure manner on the other, an international environmental management approach is essential. The topics energy and climate are included in the environmental field of action.

Our focal points in this field of action:

  • Reducing the energy consumption used for operations. This is associated with the reduction of greenhouse gases throughout the entire NORD Group.
  • Increasing the use of renewable energies
  • Increasing the share of self-produced electric power
  • Increasing the efficiency of our vehicle fleet
  • Reducing the amount of waste
  • Expanding biodiversity at our locations
  • Preventive protection of the environment against water-polluting substances
  • Developing an international climate strategy (so far there is the environmental programme for Bargteheide)
  • Preparing a group-wide carbon footprint for Scope 1-2

The focus of our work is on environmental issues. It is of particular concern to us to work together with our colleagues from the different areas on the improvement of our environmental program.

Faton Orani, Jan Philip Stender, Michael Holst and Erik Herzog

Products

As a manufacturing company, our products are always at the heart of our sustainability efforts with great strategic importance. The design, life cycle and application fields of our products have an impact on the issues of material efficiency, human rights and greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, there are overlaps with the following fields of action: humans, environment and supply chain.

Our focal points in this field of action:

  • Integrating sustainability in the product development process
  • Increasing the sales quota of energy-efficient solutions
  • Calculating a product carbon footprint for a product series by 2025
  • Implementing a pilot project on the product carbon footprint for a selected product in this year
  • The sales share of the particularly efficient products is to be increased significantly. In concrete terms, we want to achieve a share of >30% in the post & parcel industry by 2025.

At NORD, we are specialists in drive solutions for more than 100 industries. Drive solutions can be found in many areas of industry where they consume a significant proportion of the energy used. We aim to achieve a significant share in the reduction of energy consumption and carbon emissions with our highly efficient drive solutions (our products).

Jörg Niermann and Marcel Grunenberg

Supply chain

Today, a structured approach to transparent and low-risk supply chain management is a necessary basis for responding to the increasing pressure from legislators and customers on the one hand, and for reducing the complex social and ecological (and economic) risks in the supply chain on the other.

Our focal points in this field of action:

  • The Supply Chain Act (LKSG) will become mandatory for the NORD DRIVESYSTEMS Group from 01/01/2024. We have decided to already apply the law as early as 01/01/2023. This means that we will certainly be compliant with the law from 2024.
  • Determining the greenhouse gas emissions of 80% of the purchased parts by 2025
  • Advancing material compliance in the company with defined responsibilities
  • Constantly monitoring legal requirements, identifying risks and minimising them through efficient processes

My area of expertise is supply chain law and all related issues. I want to reassure our customers and all colleagues that our products are made with raw materials and components from sustainable production and that it goes without saying that our partners along the supply chain are also committed to human rights.

Nadine Kruse