A glimpse of our Initiatives
January 2024, Globally
As a token of appreciation all of our 2023 sustainability ambassadors they were gifted a Bonsai tree sourced locally near their locations. Our sustainability ambassadors program consist of 31 volunteers across all of our locations who works together with the local time to drive relevant change and implementations. They have for example driven the implementations of reusable water bottles and filters, electrical charging points and conversion into electronic pay slips and so much more!
February 2023, China
The celebration of Chinese New year. Delivering lucky red packet is a tradition in Norican China at the first working day. Every year, Mr. Wei will deliver them to our employees in Norican Changzhou Plant. It means a good and prosperous new year’s coming. This year is the year of Dragon which symbolizes the energy, intelligence and power in China.
November 2023, India, Bengaluru
On November 25th, 2023, the embassies of Switzerland, Denmark, and Italy came together to organize the much-anticipated "Tour de Tech Cycling Event" in Bengaluru. The cycling enthusiasts gathered at the break of dawn, with the kick-off taking place at 6:30 am right from the Swiss Embassy. Fifteen dedicated volunteers from DISA India took up the cycling challenge, passionately pedaling through the scenic routes of Bengaluru. Their enthusiastic participation not only showcased their commitment to a healthier lifestyle but also underlined the shared responsibility for environmental conservation. The participants actively engaged in promoting eco-conscious living, echoing the urgent need to address environmental challenges.
December 2023, Globally
During the month of December we celebrated Christmas, just like we celebrated Diwali in November, Chinese New year in February and many other holidays during 2023. We celebrate all of our colleagues and share our cultures across the globe, which only helps strengthen the team spirit across our locations.
September 2023, Holstebro, Denmark
Our customer and good friends at BIRN invited us to participate at their sustain week at their foundry in Holstebro! And what a great experience that was. We participated as a sustainability expert for a panel workshop on how we can recycle/reuse sand used in the green sand foundry. It was a good discussion where multiple possible solutions were reviewed.
October 2023, Globally
We implemented electronic business cards world wide. As part of our sustainability journey we are limiting the need for printing paper business cards proposing to use an electronic business card which updates your personal data automatically.
July 2023, Globally
We have our targets validated by Science Based Targets! π This means the SBTi’s Target Validation Team has classified our scope 1 and 2 target ambition and determined that it is in line with a 1.5°C trajectory.
August 2023, India
Through the FFE-DISA Scholarship Program, the company is contributing significantly to sustainable education by empowering financially disadvantaged yet academically exceptional students. These efforts, coupled with the heartfelt testimonials from scholarship recipients, exemplify how such initiatives can truly transform lives and communities, ultimately leading to a more equitable and prosperous society. This year, 50 scholarships were awarded.
May 2023, Changzhou China
There is always a group of people loving trudging and there is always a group of people loving public good. This year is the 10th anniversary of a bag of milk. Norican Changzhou has been donating them for 10 years. The association aims to provide milk for the children whose families cannot afford milk. We chose the growth route this time, almost 10 KM. Today the whole city was surrounded by the walking people. Through this activity, we not only do the physic exercise but also help those who needed.
June 2023, Germany
For the first time at GIFA, we created a dedicated 'Sustainability Zone' which featured a selfie area - and as a thank you, we committed to match selfies with a donation to the wonderful water.org charity.
We’re pleased to say $3,000 is heading to this fantastic nonprofit to help them bring clean water and sanitation to more parts of the world. Here are a few photos of our staff. If you have one, please post it here!
April 2023, Wiehl, Germany
Numerous colleagues from TC Wiehl met for the spring festival. In dry weather we had fun having outdoor activities like air hockey, table football and bungee run. π Tasty food from the grill and a bar π» made us feel good. πIt was nice to talk to many colleagues.
April 2023, Globally
All employees had the opportunity to share feedback about working at Norican via our global employee engagement survey. This was the first time we completed a global engagement survey and the main objective was to identify what is important to employees in order to improve the satisfaction & motivation at Norican.
February 2023, Tumkur, India
In recognition of the best employees of the year, Norican India held a day's celebrations for employees with their families, to honor the most 'Exceptional Team', as well as the best 'Individual Contributors' from 2022.
60 awards were presented in a variety of categories, with highlight the 'Business Unit of the year' which was awarded to DISA business.
March 2023, Altrincham, UK
In March 2023, to coincide with World Recycling Day, the IT team in Altrincham, UK worked with a local company to responsibly dispose of and recycle electronic equipment. Monitors, keyboards, laptops, printers and PC's: altogether, more than 100 electronic items were recycled or responsibly disposed of.
January 2023, India
India started off 2023 on the right foot by committing to sustainable action. They signed a contract with a partner company to plant 1,000 trees in an especially developed green zone near Bengaluru, thus underlining how important environmental action is for Norican.
February 2023, Wiehl, Germany
As part of the implementation of our sustainability goals, last September StrikoWestofen's HQ in Wiehl, installed a water dispenser with easy access for all employees.
In February 2023, the management provided bespoke water bottles to all colleagues so that the water dispenser can be used diligently.
November 2022, Changzhou
Educational initiatives are top of Norican's agenda and that's why in November 2022, our Changzhou team organised a student delegation and welcomed 39 students from Hohai University to visit our plant. The students are in 3rd grade and will graduate next year. They were given a tour of the plant, a workshop and an introduction to our Group.
The students were rightfully impressed by the fact that our Changzhou Plant was awarded as the training base in Changzhou for technicians in foundry and diecasting industry.
November 2022, U.S.
Simpson Technology's President Bruce Dienst was one of 16 companies to be honored with a plaque celebrating their record of giving to Foundry Educational Foundation. Since 1947, Simpson has donated nearly $1,000,000, making them a Platinum Level supporter and one of the top 6 donor corporations in the US. FEF was established in 1947 to promote metalcasting educational programs at colleges and universities across the country.
October 2022, Altrincham, UK
In the Altrincham office we are working towards being plastic-waste-free and switched to glass milk bottle deliveries from a local dairy supplier. Once a bottle is empty it's rinsed out and it's ready to collected and reused.
Also, as we have been working towards producing less waste for landfill, we reduced the frequency of our waste collections, to reduce our contributions to carbon emissions and creating an incentive to produce less waste.
October 2022, Altrincham & Slough, UK
Our IT team managed to reduce printing in our Altrincham, UK office in order to reduce energy usage and waste. In addition to this, and recycling our paper waste, we are now using recycled paper for our printers. Paper can be recycled numerous times using less energy, water and producing lower carbon emission compared to production from new materials.
In Slough, UK we have now switched to LED lighting in the production areas improving our energy efficiency.
May & June 2022, Denmark
Reduce, reuse, recycle: in 2022, the purchasing department of our HQ in Denmark, made two furniture donations.
Office furniture and equipment of good quality that hadn't been used for some time was picked up for free – and, as we later found out, several of the items donated, such as white boards, found a second home at a local football club, a horse stable and at a retired people's club.
October 2022, Changzhou
More than 400 Norican China employees and families joined Norican APAC Family Open Day at Changzhou Hanjiang Workshop.
Parents and their children got to participate in playful workshops that combined knowledge with games. The concept? How to introduce technology, innovation and craftsmanship to the next generation!
The cheerful day ended on the best note: a BBQ accompanied by Live Music.
June 2022, India
DISA India Manufacturing team celebrated 'Family Fun Day' on 19th June 2022.
The event took place at the amusement park "WonderLa" located 75 km away from DISA India Tumkur facility.
Over 450 people (160 families) shared this unique experience and enjoyed a wide range of games, rides and activities.
This was a great opportunity to spend some time with their colleagues and create lasting memories for their families and the company.
July 2022, UK
Our Altrincham office was able to provide older, but in perfect working condition, laptops to a local school, St Margaret Ward Catholic Primary School.
This donation was made in the hopes to enable young children to learn vital digital skills to thrive in an increasingly digital world.
It also works towards our sustainability within IT, reusing our old equipment, instead of just disposing of it.
April 2022, Denmark
In April 2022, at our headquarters in Denmark, we had a videoshoot with the union DI - Dansk Industriabout the Danish labour market. The purpose was to discuss with management and employees about the Danish labour market model corporation*, with a focus on how we work together to improve working skills.
This was another step in further securing worker's rights at DISA.
*A unique feature of the Danish labour market model is that employer and employee negotiate collective agreements on issues such as wages, benefits, working conditions or pension, for example. This gives security to employees and also allows flexibility to businesses.
April 2022, Shanghai
During the March-April 2022 lockdown in Shanghai, the local HR & Admin teams worked together to deliver a 15kg food package to support 40 Shanghai employees and their families.
The sourcing of food was a challenge in itself, as there were noted food shortages.
Not only that, but #TeamNorican also managed to secure courier service for the delivery of the goods - another scarce resource during lockdown.
Massive congrats to our Shanghai HR/Admin team.
USA
In December 2021, our Americas HQ in Georgia, US, sponsored a 'hole' at a charity golf event near our US facility in Georgia, raising money for The Lady Bamford Center.
The centre provides education and social skills development to children up to five years of age and offers priority admission to children from homeless and low-income families, as well as children with physical, mental or emotional challenges.
India
Every year, the DISA India team provides financial assistance to less privileged students under the NORICAN scholarship programme.
In 2021, it supported 410 students in eight educational institutions near our plants in Tumkur and Hosakote.
The team also invested in infrastructure for local schools, providing drinking water, teaching aids and school sanitation.
China
In May 2021, our team in Changzhou, China, took part in the 'Walk for Milk' organised by the Changzhou Charity Association, raising money to support a range of local welfare initiatives for children.
Germany (Gummersbach)
The StrikoWestofen team installed an electric vehicle charging hub that employees can use to charge their cars for free.
Germany (Metelen)
In October 2021, we broke ground for our new Wheelabrator offices and innovation centre in Metelen, Germany – providing a modern working environment for our people, as well as reducing the energy
footprint of our facility.
Denmark
The IT team in Taastrup started a project to make our IT provision more sustainable, including closely monitoring the temperature in our server rooms and raising them to save energy for cooling, wherever the specifications for our server equipment allow it.
The team is also reviewing equipment and server use to optimise for energy performance.
UK
Following the initial pandemic lockdowns, our UK teams extended home office working to significantly reduce commuting by car, a major contributor to the transport-related carbon footprint in the Greater Manchester, Birmingham and Greater London areas.
It also improves our people's work/life balance and wellbeing.
Spain
In 2021, the Wheelabrator Spain team donated old computers, screens and keyboards to non-governmental aid organisation NASCO, whose 'Feed the Mind' project supports digital literacy in Africa, by supplying computers to classrooms.