Schonach – Excellence in innovation: The tool manufacturer Wiha Werkzeuge GmbH from Schonach, Germany, has once again been recognized for its innovative power at the 29th round of the TOP 100 competition. As a result, Wiha received the TOP 100 seal 2022. This award is only granted to particularly innovative SMEs . On 24 June, the hand tool manufacturer will additionally personally be honoured for this accomplishment by the patron of the competition, science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar.
At the heart of the TOP 100 innovation competition is a scientific selection process that participants have to go through. Commissioned by compamedia, the organiser of the comparison, innovation researcher Prof. Nikolaus Franke and his team evaluated Wiha based on more than 100 innovation indicators in five categories: innovation-supportive top management, innovation climate, innovative processes and organisation, external orientation/open innovation and innovation success. In principle, the TOP 100 analysis focuses on the question of whether the innovations of a company are only a matter of chance or if they are systematically planned and therefore repeatable in the future. A special emphasis is on whether and how the innovations and product improvements are established on the market.
Wiha is among the top innovators for the third time already. Wiha is one of the world's leading manufacturers of hand tools for professional use in trade and industry. Wiha regularly presents innovative new products from screwdrivers via pliers, bits, wrenches or Multitools, up to electrical screwdrivers, electrician's cases and much more. Wilhelm Hahn, CEO of Wiha, said: “Creative thinking, searching for new ideas, the constant drive for progress and improvement are what moves Wiha in every company sector. From the highest management level down to each individual employee, we intensely apply a culture of innovation. We are very proud that our work, our innovative processes and structures were evaluated so positively within the scientific evaluation process that we are now able to celebrate the third star on the TOP 100 seal.”
“How focused is a company on innovation? How consistently do its structures pursue this aim? This is what we look at with TOP 100," explained Prof. Nikolaus Franke, the scientific supervisor of TOP 100. “The most innovative SMEs receive the seal. It shows that they are excellently prepared for future challenges.”
On 24 June, the top innovators of the year 2022 will gather in Frankfurt for the award ceremony at the German SME business summit to be congratulated by Ranga Yogeshwar. The science journalist has been involved in the innovation competition as a patron for eleven years.
About Wiha
Wiha is one of the world's leading manufacturers of hand tools for professional use in trade and industry. Founded as a small family firm in 1939, Wiha is today a globally active company, still owner-operated by the Hahn family. The comprehensive range of Wiha solutions´includes tool concepts, systems and sets, screwdrivers, torque tools, multitools, L-keys, bits, pliers, soft-faced hammers, electrical solutions and much more. In 2022, the company with headquarters in Schonach in the Black Forest received the honourable distinction of being one of the "TOP 100" most innovative companies in the German SME sector for the third time. In 2019, Wiha received the German Brand Award and the Red Dot Brand Award "Best of the Best” for its excellent brand work and development.
TOP 100: the competition
Compamedia has been awarding the TOP 100 seal for exceptional innovative strength and exceptional innovative success to small- and medium-sized companies since 1993. Since 2002, Prof. Nikolaus Franke has been in charge of the scientific coordination. Prof. Nikolaus Franke is the founder and CEO of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Vienna University of Business and Economics. Having received 25 research awards and with more than 200 publications, he is among the world's leading innovation researchers. Scientific journalist Ranga Yogeshwar is a patron of TOP 100. Project partners include the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research and the SME association BVMW. manager magazine and impulse are two magazines that assist the company comparison as media partners. More information and registration is available at www.top100.de.
For more information and general image material about the TOP 100 competition visit www.top100.de/presse or via e-mail to presse@compamedia.de.
