Herma has become one of the first companies in the industry to certify the compliance of its energy management practices with the ISO 50001 global standard. The company’s management team has received the official document from the certifying body TÜV Süd. The purpose of ISO 50001 is further to enhance the efficiency of energy use typically in production operations and for heating companies’ premises. Alongside other commitments, the self-adhesive technology specialist has thus undertaken continuously to reduce specific energy consumption at its sites in Filderstadt and Deizisau (Germany). This indicator is a measure of greenhouse gas emissions, which include carbon dioxide (CO2), per unit of production.

“For us, ISO 50001 provides key practical advice on how to capture, record and control energy flows throughout the company,” says Herma managing director Sven Schneller. “Although we have taken such action in the past to a large extent, we are now adopting an extremely systematic and targeted approach that will satisfy critical independent auditors as well. We are sure to be able to exploit considerable additional potential for economies in the years ahead as well.”

Thomas Baumgärtner, likewise a managing director of Herma and also head of the Self-Adhesive Materials division, draws particular attention to the transparency and objectivity that now apply. He says, “Certifying our energy management practices kills two birds with one stone. On the one hand it helps us to optimize the consumption of resources and protect the climate, and on the other we naturally regard it as a means of improving our competitiveness. The information generated by observing the provisions of ISO 50001 gives us an even more valuable insight, for example, into the options for investing in existing production facilities in order to raise energy efficiency. We are therefore able to absorb at least a portion of the inevitable long-term increase in raw material costs.”