IST Metz GmbH from Nürtingen has made the leap to the top at the 26th edition of the TOP 100 innovation competition. The company was there-fore honoured on 28 June by the mentor of the competition, Ranga Yoge-shwar, as well as the scientific director at the comparison, Prof. Dr. Niko-laus Franke, and compamedia in Frankfurt. Using a scientific system, TOP 100 evaluates the innovation management of medium-sized companies. In the independent selection process, the medium-sized company with 350 employees particularly impressed with its innovation climate and innova-tion success.
For 40 years, the family-owned company has been producing systems that cure printed products and coatings by means of UV irradiation. One of its most im-portant customer groups is the printing industry. In recent years, this industry in particular has had to face up to digital change.
IST Metz has not only adapted to this change, but has also changed itself: Con-sequently, the top innovator has expanded its business field to include the coat-ing of displays. The medium-sized company also uses the UV technology de-veloped for the displays to refine wood surfaces.
Christian-Marius Metz, Managing Director, explains that a good climate of inno-vation and plenty of room for manoeuvre for the employees are important when working at the cutting edge. Here, the Nürtingen-based company relies on em-ployees with inventive talent when it comes to personnel selection. Such self-runners benefit from the 350-man company's large scope for project implemen-tation. The families of the employees are also taken into consideration: In the "parent-child office", employees can work during care bottlenecks, while their children play in the same room at the painting table or in the craft corner.
TOP 100: the competition
Since 1993, compamedia has been awarding the TOP 100 seal for special innova-tive strength and above-average innovation success to medium-sized companies. Since 2002, the scientific management has been in the hands of Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Fran-ke. Franke is the founder and chairman of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administra-tion. Mentor of TOP 100 is the science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar. Project part-ners are the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft for the Promotion of Applied Research and the BVMW. As media partners, manager magazin, impulse and W&V accompany the company comparison.
