TOP 100 Award: Christian Wulff honors ETS Group for its innovation

Recognition for impressive innovation: Christian Wulff congratulates ETS Group GmbH from Amelinghausen on making it into the TOP 100. The awards ceremony, held a spart of the German SME Summit, took place on Friday, 26 June, in Heidelberg for all companies awarded the TOP 100 Seal 2026. The former German Federal President and Minister-President is acting as a mentor for the innovation competition. In the scientific selection process, ETS Group impressed the jury in size category B (51 to 200 employees in Germany), particularly in the category innovation climate.

The TOP 100 company profile published to mark the award states:

When the operational teams at ETS Group GmbH realized that their large degassing systems were oversized for some projects, the idea for a more compact and flexible system was born: the “Midi-Combuster” is now an integral part of the equipment fleet and avoids unnecessary logistical effort. ETS Group offers mobile units that extract gases from tanks and burn them in a controlled manner. ETS specifically refines its technology based on experience gained during the operation of the systems.

Typically, operations show the specialists where equipment or procedures reach their limits. These observations are incorporated into debriefings with operational teams, the technical department, and management. During these debriefings, they distinguish between isolated incidents and recurring patterns, which in turn trigger new product or process development projects. Following operations involving the degassing systems, it is part of everyday practice for teams to openly raise issues if a procedure was unnecessarily complicated or caused delays on site. In one instance, such a point was discussed amongst colleagues from the field and the technical team. It quickly became apparent that several teams had had similar experiences, thus the procedure was amended and permanently simplified.

Mistakes as a starting point for improvements

“Situations like these shape our culture of innovation”, says Managing Director David Wendel. “Ideas or mistakes are not seen as disruptions, but as a starting point for improvements.” Looking back, the management team regards the bringing together of specialists from two different companies under the platform of the ETS Group as a turning point: “Since then, innovation has emerged much more strongly from a shared understanding and a shared perspective.”

A shared identity

For David Wendel, bringing the specialists together was more than just a formality: “This was not merely a strategic decision on paper, but a genuine question of direction.” Underlying this was the aim of forging a shared identity from teams that had strong ties to their previous companies, one in which innovation would be driven forward more collectively. At the same time, senior management is looking ahead: it anticipates stricter environmental and safety regulations as well as more complex projects, and therefore intends to align innovation even more closely with these developments. The planned expansion of the company’s international presence is seen by the management as a necessary step to ensure it can continue to support customers reliably, even in a more complex environment.