SÜDPACK once again among the top 10 in WirtschaftsWoche innovation ranking

Following 2022, SÜDPACK is once again right at the top of WirtschaftsWoche’s annual innovation ranking in 2023. With an innovation score of 384.0, the manufacturer of high-performance films and packaging concepts took ninth place. And just weeks beforehand, the renowned business magazine once again placed SÜDPACK among the top 10 of the most sustainable SMEs in Germany.

“Despite the widespread sense of crisis, the most innovative SMEs in Germany are showing how technical innovations are turned into businesses and how markets can be conquered from a niche,” said the Munich-based consulting firm Munich Strategy, which was commissioned once again by WirtschaftsWoche to rate the products, services and developmental strength of 4,000 companies.

There’s a good reason SÜDPACK took top spots in both rankings. The globally active family business with its headquarters in Ochsenhausen in Swabia focuses systematically on two core areas – innovation and sustainability. “In recent years, we have been able to set new standards in the market, in particular with our innovative, material-efficient and recyclable mono-structures, such as the PP and PE-based Pure-Line, and also with a sustainable packaging concept for the pharmaceutical industry,” emphasized Carolin Grimbacher, Managing Partner of the company group. Moreover, SÜDPACK is investing in both mechanical and chemical recycling in order to close loops in the packaging industry and reduce the use of natural resources.

Innovations in 2023

The film manufacturer’s commitment to a circular economy also impressed the Munich-based consulting firm once again this year. For example, the company produces high-quality compounds within the framework of its own material management that contain recycled material from plastic waste and can be used, among other things, in injection-molded parts for a wide range of applications. For a customer project, for example, SÜDPACK produced granulates for injection-molded housing components for cordless vacuum cleaners with a recycled content of more than 40%.

Last but not least, SÜDPACK invested in an LCA tool in 2023 that allows the company to take account of the environmental impact of packaging over its entire life cycle and in all of its facets and to optimally advise customers based on sound, fact-based analysis. “The impact categories that we identified as relevant for our films include not only fossil-based resource consumption, but also soil acidification, the formation of particulate matter, photochemical ozone formation as a risk to human health and freshwater ecotoxicity,” added Carolin Grimbacher.

WirtschaftsWoche’s analysis

In order to analyze the innovative strength of a total of 4,000 SMEs, the Munich consultancy firm first evaluated the annual reports and presentations of each company. The 400 best companies were then carefully reviewed based on interviews with CEOs, customers and competitors to determine what is known as their ‘innovation score.’ One third of this is based on sales and profit growth and two thirds on the innovative strength of the respective company. This included product developments that had been launched as well as the amount spent annually on research and development. The innovation classification of each SME on the market was also an important factor in the selection process.

“Innovation is the key to success and an important strategic tool. That is why we see the repeated top placement in the WirtschaftsWoche ranking this year as a call to action. We can only consolidate and extend our position as market leader if we think about the future today – ecologically, economically and socially,” summarized Carolin Grimbacher.