Our Strategy

STRATEGY – KEY IMPACTS, RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES
GRI 102-15

Sustainability was and is an inherent part of Oerlikon’s strategy. The publication of Oerlikon’s first Sustainability Report in 2021 marked not an announcement, but rather an affirmation of our sustainable business strategy. 

We continue to uphold that strategy as key to preserving our planet and our prospects for long-term growth. As expressed in our Sustainability and Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) Policy that was published in January 2022, Oerlikon believes that profits and purpose can work together to deliver long-term sustainable value for all its stakeholders, customers, investors, employees and society. 

Transforming that mission from an ideal to a practical reality requires a strategy that we envision as having three overlapping areas of impact: governance, people and society and our environment. This perspective strengthens our capacity to manage our business in a manner that thoroughly integrates sustainability principles and standards.

To bring our commitment to fruition, we implement a range of programs, stretching from our R&D and solutions for customers to excellence in our operations and diversity programs, and ensuring at the same time that we exert responsible oversight of compliance and governance.

Linking the operational part of the business with a full commitment from management, Oerlikon’s sustainability organizational framework encompasses members of the strategic, operative and business level. Further, each employee is responsible, on an individual level, for upholding the principles of sustainability & HSE, and line management is responsible for ensuring alignment in business activities and processes within their area of responsibility.

Our strategy further commits us to:

• Minimizing the environmental impact of our own products and operations across the entire life cycle and value chain;
• Providing customers with ecologically designed and industry-standard safe products to help them attain their emissions, consumption and waste reduction targets;
• Achieving operational excellence on emission reduction and optimizing consumption of scarce resources;
• Embrace a circular economy approach and responsible procurement and manufacturing in Oerlikon’s product lifecycle management and operations through conscious sourcing, more recycling and less waste generation;
• Ensuring Zero Harm to People, i.e., employees, contractors, suppliers, visitors and the community; and
• Partnering, listening to and working hand in hand with Oerlikon’s stakeholders to engage in informed, intelligent ongoing process improvement to uphold optimal governance, social, environmental and sustainability standards. 

There is no doubt that in today’s business landscape, this strategy has market value as well as social value. As we look to the future, we will remain an engine for environmental and social action, a responsibility that complements our obligations to our customers and that is compatible with – and supportive of – our targets for market growth and financial performance. This is Oerlikon’s blueprint for maintaining technological leadership and our strategy for delivering sustainable value to all stakeholders.