The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals are an ambitious plan for a better world agreed by 193 countries. The aim is to better protect the natural foundations of life and our planet and to safeguard the opportunities of all people to live in dignity and prosperity.
These sustainability goals, which are to be achieved by 2030, are aimed at everyone: politics, civil society, business, science and each and every individual.
What does this mean for us as a company?
The private sector and every company can also make a valuable contribution and work towards sustainable development and a better world. We therefore want to take the goals seriously and review our corporate objectives. We already fulfill many points because we take them for granted, others we try to implement in this sense. Such an ambitious goal can only be achieved together and if everyone takes responsibility.
Of course, not all 17 goals are equally important for SMEs. Nor can a contribution be made to all sustainability goals. Nevertheless, we have tried to briefly address all 17 goals below:
Goal 1: No poverty
By creating jobs, paying fair wages and sourcing goods from global suppliers, we contribute to growth and employment.
Goal 2: No hunger
As a regional, medium-sized company, we can only play a small part in reducing hunger globally by contributing to growth and employment through innovation and sustainable economic activity. With the “Healthy Breakfast” project, we support regular breakfasts with milk and muesli in the local kindergarten. This teaches children about healthy eating, which in some cases can no longer be provided by their parents.
On a smaller scale, we would like to make a contribution against food waste with our own canteen. We offer a large selection of single-serving lunches every day. In our Thursday menus, we cook fresh meals for our employees by prior arrangement. If there is anything left over, it is frozen and reused.
Our trainees receive lunch free of charge.
Goal 3: Good health and well-being
We design the working environment of our employees according to health-promoting aspects. Height-adjustable desks, ergonomic chairs, good tools, aids, protective equipment, safe work clothing and much more ensure the well-being of our employees in the office, production and assembly.
Our company doctor accompanies the measures and is directly involved in maintaining the health of our employees with regular examinations and annual flu vaccinations. Since November 2022, all Schilling Engineering employees have received employer-funded supplementary company health insurance.
With regular first aid courses, which we offer to all employees, and donations to the DRK local association and the Tannheim aftercare clinic, we are committed to providing help in emergencies.
In a broader sense, the development of our products contributes Cleanroomproducts contributes to the safe production of medicines and medical technology products that are used throughout the world and improve the health and well-being of the population.
Goal 4: High-quality education
Promoting education in our region is very important to us. That is why we have entered into an educational partnership with nine schools from neighboring communities. We are available to the schools as a partner company in areas such as company exploration, internships, career presentations and job application training.
We are also linked to the community school in the municipality through the Gold Partnership as “Heroes of Education”. The financial donations help to create the conditions for better education by investing in learning materials and learning infrastructure.
Schilling Engineering was honored as an “Exemplary Company 2021” as part of the “LEA SME Award for Social Responsibility” for its commitment to regional schools.
Schilling Engineering has been training apprentices itself for many years. We regularly take on our trainees in the fields of mechatronics and commerce, thus counteracting the shortage of skilled workers.
Goal 5: Gender equality
We do not differentiate between genders in our offers and requirements. We pay the same salary for the same position if qualifications and experience match. Many so-called “men’s jobs” in engineering and production are filled by women. Conversely, we naturally also employ men in part-time positions on request and allow them to take parental leave.
Finally, our management is also female, which is an exception in our technical field.
We live a culture of mutual respect without discrimination.
Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation
We save water by using water-saving buttons and automatic water-saving taps in our toilet facilities. In our modern office building, employees have access to clean and functional sanitary facilities including showers.
Our employees can draw chilled drinking water from dispensers free of charge.
Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy
Thanks to our large photovoltaic systems, which are installed on the roofs of our buildings, and the use of a heat pump, we are able to cover 100% of our energy requirements for buildings and production from our own electricity production in most months. In the winter months, we also purchase green electricity from regional hydropower.
The heating and cooling capacity of our buildings is finely controlled and energy-optimized via programmable thermostats. Lighting in the corridors and sanitary areas is controlled by motion detectors.
We operate 4 e-charging stations for the electric cars of our fleet, our visitors and our employees with the electricity we generate ourselves for the most part.
Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth
Our company has enjoyed healthy economic growth since it was founded, which is reflected in new investments and profit-sharing schemes for our employees.
By investing heavily in digitalized processes, we have enabled our employees to work in a more structured way, thereby reducing unsatisfactory workflows.
Flexible working hours, working from home, flexitime models, overtime reduction and fair, constructive cooperation adapt the working conditions in our company to the needs of our employees.
Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Technological progress and innovation are the basis of industrial development. Our high level of investment is reflected in the number of patents we have been granted.
A modern building, digitalized processes, self-produced energy and efficient use of resources provide the basis for sustainable industrial processes.
Goal 10: Less inequality
With the new Supply Chain Act, the EU is making a major contribution to Goal 10. As a company, we are committed to our social responsibility and only source our goods from suppliers who can reduce global inequality without child labor and with fair pay. We have already been living the conditions of fair cooperation for several years with our Code of Conduct.
We employ people from many different countries in our company. For example, we took on a new apprentice from Kosovo in 2022. It goes without saying that we offer equal pay and treatment regardless of gender, nationality and religion.
We counteract unequal treatment with company health insurance, which we finance for all employees, and salary increases based on collective agreements.
Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
We support our community and our region in sustainable development with donations and sponsorship of many different associations and projects in sport, culture, education and health. The various associations contribute to social cohesion through exchange and cooperation. This is reinforced by joint activities, performances and celebrations that would otherwise not be possible without donations.
Goal 12: Sustainable consumption and production
We source a large proportion of our materials for production from local companies with short delivery routes. Our employees in the immediate vicinity also make use of the well-developed cycle paths, which means that the bicycle parking area is well occupied from spring onwards.
The raw materials we use in the production of our cleanrooms (aluminum, glass, cables) can be fully recycled. In addition, our cleanroom systems can be modified non-destructively at a later date, for machine installation, room expansion or more complex conversions. Our Cleanroom furniture is made from sustainable materials and is certified with the Blue Angel environmental label.
Thanks to our large photovoltaic systems and the use of a heat pump, we are able to cover 100% of our energy requirements for buildings, production and electric vehicles with electricity generated in-house in most months. We have been able to make our production processes significantly more energy-efficient by using modern machinery. We save water by using water-saving buttons and automatic water-saving taps in our toilet facilities.
When designing our products, we pay attention to good energy efficiency – cleanroom tents and fixed cleanrooms can be set to sleep mode if this is permitted by the customer. Our self-developed control system regulates the room conditions according to customer specifications with the lowest possible energy consumption.
Goal 13: Climate protection measures
For appointments that can be held online or by telephone, we are increasingly dispensing with travel and staying on site. Our employees have the option of working from home.
In our production, offices and canteen, waste is strictly separated and recycled. Digitization and the introduction of a document management system have enabled us to drastically reduce paper consumption.
Goal 14: Life under water
With our products and influencing factors, we as a company can only make a small contribution to Goal 14.
As plastic bottles are one of the biggest sources of plastic pollution in our oceans, our drinking water taps at laminar flow cabinet help to reduce this problem a little. We do not use disposable plastic at company events. In our canteen, we mainly serve fish from sustainable fish farming.
Goal 15: Life on land
Objective 15 is primarily aimed at companies in the agricultural sector.
We have drastically reduced our paper consumption through digitization and the introduction of a document management system, enabling us to conserve resources on land.
Goal 16: Peace, justice, strong institutions
SMEs and the skilled trades are the backbone of German prosperity and drive growth and prosperity. As a medium-sized, family-run company, we are responsible for creating numerous jobs and apprenticeships. In the last 25 years since the company was founded, more than 70 jobs have been created and maintained. Numerous trainees have a long-term future in the world of work after completing their training. By continuously reinvesting profits, it is possible to keep the company attractive for customers, suppliers and employees in the long term and to survive on the market. A large portfolio of additional benefits offers employees a strong environment on which they can build. The large sums of taxpayers’ money flow into various structures in order to be used for the benefit of the community in accordance with a key. Politicians are called upon to invest in forward-looking issues and to use taxpayers’ money efficiently and effectively. On a small scale, one of our managing directors, Ute Schilling, provides support here as a member of the local council.
Goal 17: Partnerships to achieve the goals
We have not yet entered into any partnerships to achieve the 17 goals. With this publication of our thoughts and measures, we want to take a closer look at the goals and incorporate some of them more strongly into our business strategies.
We are happy to discuss this with partners, customers and communities so that we can implement even more ideas and live up to our responsibility for a better life by 2030.
