NORD DRIVESYSTEMS has unveiled its comprehensive sustainability strategy for 2025, aimed at advancing environmental responsibility, social accountability, and ethical governance. This strategy is driven by a cross-functional team that includes management and ownership, ensuring a unified approach to sustainable operations across the company.
Carolin von Rönne, from NORD’s Process and Organisational Development & Corporate Sustainability Management, emphasizes, “Our strategy for 2025 represents a commitment to our customers, the public, and ourselves to act in a sustainable and responsible manner across ecological, economic, and social dimensions.”
NORD DRIVESYSTEMS’ sustainability strategy centers on five key areas aimed at achieving long-term ecological and social responsibility. First and foremost is the focus on products. Sustainability at NORD starts during the product design phase, where the environmental impact of products throughout their life cycle is carefully considered. The company is committed to reducing CO₂ emissions by offering energy-efficient solutions like the IE5+ synchronous motor. Additionally, the NORD ECO service helps businesses identify and implement the most efficient drive solutions to minimize environmental impact.
In the area of governance and processes, NORD DRIVESYSTEMS has established robust sustainability management practices. Since its introduction in 2022, the company has achieved significant milestones such as publishing an annual sustainability report in compliance with GRI standards and acquiring environmental certifications. With a global presence, NORD is focused on creating a unified governance structure and implementing CSRD-compliant reporting across its 48 subsidiaries in 36 countries. This foundation supports all other sustainability efforts within the organization.
The environmental aspect of NORD’s strategy is centered on structured management systems. The company has adopted ISO 14001 for its largest subsidiaries to ensure comprehensive environmental management practices. Additionally, NORD is calculating its climate balance (Scope 1-3) across its operations and is focused on reducing energy consumption and waste. The company aims to increase its use of renewable energy sources and self-produced electricity, alongside expanding biodiversity areas to further its environmental stewardship.
NORD is also focusing on its people to foster a diverse, inclusive, and skilled workforce. To combat the growing skills shortage, the company is enhancing its employer appeal through a global digital learning management system, offering employees customized development opportunities. Initiatives are also in place to promote diversity within the workforce, strengthen inclusion efforts, and build a strong, supportive company culture that nurtures continuous knowledge transfer and safety.
NORD is committed to maintaining sustainable production practices throughout its supply chain. The company ensures that its manufacturing processes adhere to sustainability standards by conducting risk assessments and following the German Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains Act (LKSG). This focus ensures that sustainability is maintained not just at NORD’s facilities but throughout its entire production network, helping to drive responsible production practices across all stages of the supply chain.
With a workforce of approximately 4,700 employees, NORD DRIVESYSTEMS has been a leading global provider of drive technology since 1965. The company specializes in developing, producing, and selling standard and application-specific drive solutions, including energy-saving drives and explosion-protected systems. In 2021, NORD achieved annual sales of 870 million euros, reinforcing its strong market presence.
NORD operates 48 subsidiaries across 36 countries and collaborates with sales partners in over 50 countries, ensuring technical support, local stock availability, assembly centers, and customer service worldwide. The company develops and manufactures drive solutions for over 100 industries, offering gear units with torque ranging from 10 Nm to over 282 kNm, electric motors from 0.12 kW to 1,000 kW, and power electronics with frequency inverters up to 160 kW. Its inverter solutions cater to both traditional control cabinet installations and decentralized, fully integrated drive units, making NORD a key player in advanced drive technology.
