For the fifth consecutive year, Rittal GmbH & Co. KG, part of the Friedhelm Loh Group, ranks among Germany’s most innovative medium-sized companies. According to the organizers, the prestigious “Top 100” award demonstrates that sustainable innovation capability is one of the key factors in successful entrepreneurship.

In its 33rd edition, the Top 100 competition once again examined how strongly innovation-oriented medium-sized companies are positioned and how they act accordingly. Rittal impressed in the largest category once again and was able to demonstrate its strength particularly in the “Innovation Processes and Organization” category.

How much working time does management set aside for innovation? How many innovative ideas do employees bring to the table? The scientific selection process of the TOP 100 revolves around such questions. In detail, innovation researcher Professor Nikolaus Franke and his team examine the five categories “Innovation-Promoting Top Management,” “Innovation Climate,” “Innovation Processes,” “Organization, External Orientation/Open Innovation,” and “Innovation Success.” This is based on an online questionnaire that participating companies complete in advance. The five categories are reflected in more than 100 evaluation criteria. “At TOP 100, we conduct a thorough and comprehensive analysis of how innovation-oriented the applicants are. And those with an outstanding position are recognized with the TOP 100 seal,” says Professor Nikolaus Franke.

“Rittal has long aspired to be an innovation leader for a sustainable industry. Together with our sister companies Eplan and Rittal Automation Systems (RAS), we are accelerating industrial automation, driving digitalization forward, and increasing both our own efficiency and that of our customers,” says Uwe Scharf, Managing Director of Sales for Germany and Europe at Rittal.

Since its founding in 1961, Rittal has, in its own words, stood for the courage to embrace change. What began with the standardization of control cabinets is now a global systems business with strong software expertise. The early investment in Eplan over 40 years ago was a milestone in this journey: it laid the foundation for end-to-end, data-driven processes in industry. Today, this data—supplemented by AI—is the key to the next level of industrial automation.

In control and switchgear engineering, Rittal, Eplan, and RAS are accelerating the entire process chain with end-to-end data—from engineering through manufacturing with machines and systems technology all the way to operation. With industrial know-how and advanced technology, the companies are thus boosting their customers’ competitiveness. “Accelerated work processes, reduced resource consumption, greater competitiveness: Customers around the world benefit from our innovative strength and our solutions,” says Mario De Marco, CSO at Rittal. “It’s great that Top 100 confirms this.”

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