IN FOCUS

As part of the international comparative study “AI-driven Product Development”, the Wilo Group has been recognised as an outstanding practical example of the successful use of artificial intelligence in product development. The study, conducted by the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) at RWTH Aachen University and the Complexity Management Academy, examined the use of AI in product development in over 150 companies.

Wilo’s Smart Factory at the Group headquarters in Dortmund has won the most prestigious manufacturing award in the German-speaking world: Factory of the Year 2024. The cutting-edge plant at the Wilopark is setting standards in industrial manufacturing.

British Water’s annual UK Water Company Performance Survey asks contractors, consultants and suppliers to rate their clients’ performance in 12 areas, including professionalism, contractual approach and communication. For the third year running, innovation continues to be the lowest scoring area – at a time when there are widespread calls for water companies to find new ways of working to address key challenges. The average score for innovation was 6.3, which has dropped from last year’s average score of 6.4 out of ten.

In an impressive confirmation of the company’s commitment to sustainability, KHS has again been awarded the coveted gold status by rating agency EcoVadis. The Dortmund systems supplier has further improved over last year’s assessment – now earning 73 points out of 100 in the completely revised evaluation method.

Christopher Whitfeld and Wenqi (Jonathan) Zhao from the United Kingdom receive the prestigious Stockholm Junior Water Prize 2024 for their work on PFAS pollution in the Thames Basin. HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden presented the winners with their award during a ceremony at World Water Week in Stockholm.

Pfeiffer Vacuum, a member of the global Busch Group, has once again been awarded the prestigious EcoVadis Gold Medal for its site in Asslar. This places the company among the top 2% of organizations evaluated over the past twelve months by the world’s largest sustainability rating provider.

Pentair plc is pleased to announce the 2024 recipients of the Pentair Foundation’s Water Grants Program. The Pentair Foundation is awarding $1.15 million in grant funding to nine water-focused programs in support its mission to support and advance inclusive and sustainable communities.

The Wilo Group has been named “Europe’s Climate Leader 2024”. For this accolade, the Financial Times and the statistics portal Statista evaluated hundreds of European companies based on their progress in reducing their carbon emissions.

Xylem (XYL) announced that teams from the Philippines and Algeria were the grand prize winners of its 2024 Xylem Global Student Innovation Challenge. The annual program invites high school and university students worldwide to develop solutions to the world’s biggest water challenges.

There was great joy when Mona Neubaur, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, presented the NRW.Global Business AWARD 2024 to Flender CEO Andreas Evertz on June 24th. Flender was one of four winners honored at the 20th anniversary of the AWARD at the K21 Ständehaus in Düsseldorf.