Grenzebach achieves silver rating in EcoVadis for the first time
Customer: Grenzebach Maschinenbau GmbH
Category: Mechanical Engineering
The Grenzebach Group serves the global markets of the glass and building materials industries with industrial automation solutions. The company is also active in the fields of castings, energy infrastructure, intralogistics, recycling processes, friction stir welding, automation of additive manufacturing, and digital networking. With around 1,600 employees and production and development sites in Germany, Romania, the USA, India, and China, as well as worldwide representatives, the group of companies has an international presence and is a technology leader in its core markets. The Grenzebach Group has been family-owned since its foundation in 1960.
Sustainability and innovation have a decisive influence on the company’s actions – both in forward-looking solutions and in corporate management. In 2024, the Grenzebach Group was the first organization ever to be awarded the Ludwig Erhard Prize in the category “Recognized for Sustainability” with “Gold” as special recognition of its sustainable and holistic corporate development.
However, the EcoVadis rating did not adequately reflect this commitment. The previous score was 47 points, which did not qualify for a medal. The goal was therefore to make the company’s existing sustainability performance more visible in the future and to achieve an award. In order to achieve this goal by 2025, Grenzebach decided to collaborate with DFGE – Institute for Energy, Ecology and Economy. The decisive factors were the comprehensive methodological expertise, many years of experience with EcoVadis, and the depth of the consulting services.
Dominik Schwarz
Manager Sustainability, Grenzebach Gruppe
“With their extensive expertise, experience, and clear, structured approach, DFGE quickly won us over—the decision to work together was an obvious one.”
Challenges
Making sustainability performance more visible and creating a good database
Grenzebach had already implemented numerous sustainability initiatives. The challenge was to present these diverse activities in a consistent and appropriate manner in the EcoVadis assessment and to back them up with meaningful evidence.
In addition, certain processes, guidelines, and management systems had not yet been fully formalized. There was no overarching sustainability strategy, nor were there any clear, quantitative targets that would provide a binding framework for further development.
The database also posed a hurdle: relevant sustainability indicators were sometimes recorded differently or only on a location-specific basis, and some values were not available at all. There was no centrally organized data management system in place. This meant that there was no reliable basis for sound decisions and for the EcoVadis rating assessment.
Solution
Strategic and operational support for the EcoVadis assessment
DFGE provided comprehensive support to the Grenzebach Group – strategically, operationally, and across multiple departments. From June to October 2025, numerous building blocks were jointly developed and implemented.
A key project success was the development of a company-wide sustainability strategy. It was developed in collaboration with the specialist departments and is now a binding framework for all sustainability activities. Existing measures, guidelines, and specifications are bundled and clearly structured within it.
Building on this, Grenzebach worked with DFGE to define quantitative, prioritized goals for key sustainability issues. This made the strategy both more concrete and more binding, creating a clear framework of objectives for all areas of the company.
Another important milestone was the development of a standardized KPI dashboard. This will create a consistent data basis for the future, support the EcoVadis assessment, and form a reliable basis for ESG reporting and internal monitoring.
The project was concluded with a capacity-building workshop, which strengthened internal expertise in the long term and laid the foundation for future developments.
Result
Silver for Grenzebach – and a clear strategy for greater sustainability impact
By working with DFGE, the Grenzebach Group increased its EcoVadis score by 28 points and received the silver medal for the first time. This places the group among the top 15 percent of all organizations assessed worldwide. Particularly significant progress was made in the categories of environment, labor, and human rights.
In addition to the award, Grenzebach has established a clearer, more structured sustainability management system. The new sustainability strategy, binding quantitative targets, and a consolidated ESG database enable targeted management and support the further development of sustainability performance.
Dominik Schwarz
Manager Sustainability, Grenzebach Gruppe
“Working with DFGE was a very pleasant experience, solution-oriented and collaborative – and has helped us make lasting progress. I look forward to building on this and further strengthening our sustainability performance.”
