A successful culture of innovation also includes valuing new ideas. Every year, Heraeus honors employees and teams whose ideas create products, improve processes, or solve critical issues for customers.
“Our employees are the engine of innovation and excellence. We want to recognize and celebrate the passion and achievements of our teams,” says André Kobelt, member of the Board of Managing Directors of the Heraeus Holding.
The internal award was launched in 2002 as an innovation award – in 2016, the categories were expanded. Heraeus is thus taking an expanded understanding of innovation into account. In addition to in-house research and development projects, open innovation approaches are also valued, as are projects that address market challenges.
Heraeus recognizes innovative products and projects at different stages of maturity in the value chain, with an additional focus on excellence in sustainability, as well as commercial and administrative excellence.
The five award categories at a glance
Early-Stage Award
Scale-Up Award
Impact Award
Sustainability Award
Focus Award
From the research lab to the real world: Heraeus’ Early-stage Award honors early life cycle research and development projects. The award recognizes projects that already show high commercial potential at an early stage.
Establishing a product on the market: With the Scale-up Award, Heraeus recognizes products and solutions that are relatively new to the market and are just entering a high-growth phase. Projects in this category have shown potential in the market – in initial “walking trials” or customer pilot programs.
Making a difference: With the Impact Award, Heraeus honors projects that have had a tangible impact for Heraeus, a Heraeus Global Business Unit, or its customers. The winning projects have demonstrated new approaches to existing processes or products and have proven to be financially successful and sustainable.
Creating value: With the Sustainability Award, Heraeus honors projects, business models, products, and strategic initiatives that make a significant difference in creating and maximizing social, environmental, and economic value for customers, but also for the company itself.
Promoting excellence: This category focuses on varying topics and initiatives. The Focus Award 2022 recognizes Heraeus projects from the areas of Commercial and Administration Excellence that have been able to continuously improve business processes through commercial strategies, processes and organization – from increasing customer satisfaction to optimizing administrative processes.
In 2022, 83 projects from 16 countries were submitted. Heraeus celebrates the presentation of the awards in a festive setting – since 2020 in a digital event. Last year, more than 1,000 Heraeus employees took part in the online event.
As a portfolio company, Heraeus consists of various Global Business Units that share the common goal of promoting the success and growth of its customers. This requires bold thinking, a commitment to excellence, and a relentless focus on innovation. These core values are also the pillars of the annual “Heraeus Awards”.
This text is reproduced with kind permission of Heraeus, you can read the original article first published here.