Herrenberg – Success built upon entrepreneurial vision: BPA GmbH is honoured as one of Germany's most innovative SMEs at the German SME Summit in Essen on 26 June. The Herrenberg-based company joins an exclusive group of prizewinners stretching back over more than 20 years as Top 100 mentor Ranga Yogeshwar awards it the Top 100 seal of ap-proval. The award to BPA is the outcome of a two-stage analytical procedure by a team of research scientists.

1. Contact at
BPA GmbH
Adrian Pflieger
Behringstrasse 12
71083 Herrenberg, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)7032 893 990
adrian.pflieger@
dichte-bauwerke.de
www.dichte-bauwerke.de
Contact at
compamedia GmbH
Sven Kamerar
Nussdorfer Strasse 4
88662 Überlingen, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)7551 949 8633
Fax: +49 (0)7551 949 8649
Email:
presse@compamedia.de
Website: www.top100.de
Contact at
BPA GmbH
Adrian Pflieger
Behringstrasse 12
71083 Herrenberg, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)7032 893 990
adrian.pflieger@
dichte-bauwerke.de
www.dichte-bauwerke.de
Contact at
compamedia GmbH
Sven Kamerar
Nussdorfer Strasse 4
88662 Überlingen, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)7551 949 8633
Fax: +49 (0)7551 949 8649
Email:
presse@compamedia.de
Website: www.top100.de
Press release 26 June 2015
Outstandingly innovative: BPA
BPA is one of Germany's most innovative SMEs/Presentation of
award by Ranga Yogeshwar
Herrenberg – Success built upon entrepreneurial vision: BPA GmbH is
honoured as one of Germany's most innovative SMEs at the German
SME Summit in Essen on 26 June. The Herrenberg-based company
joins an exclusive group of prizewinners stretching back over more
than 20 years as Top 100 mentor Ranga Yogeshwar awards it the Top
100 seal of approval. The award to BPA is the outcome of a two-stage
analytical procedure by a team of research scientists.
BPA GmbH scored particularly highly in the Top 100 competition's Climate of
Innovation category. "The most costly option is to do nothing. I'm more than
happy to let my employees try things out," commented executive director
Adrian Pflieger, who makes it a priority to impart specialist knowledge to his
team through training courses and workshops. Pflieger rewards his employ-
ees' commitment to new ideas with both trust and financial bonuses. Com-
munication channels between the company's 17 employees are very short.
A lot of ideas are generated on the ground during everyday work at the con-
struction sites, when BPA employees ponder waterproof concrete linings for
tunnels and concrete structures. The innovations are paying off: in the past
year, 80 per cent of the revenues generated by this 17 year-old family busi-
ness came from new products and innovative improvements, which it brought
to the market before its competitors. BPA is the market leader in Germany. At
an international level, it is one of the frontrunners.
"Generating good ideas and implementing them quickly is an important com-
petitive factor for us," explained executive director Isabella Huthmacher-
Pflieger. "This is why we invest a lot of time and money into managing inno-
vation. In doing so, we are relying on the creativity and inventiveness of all of
our employees. I should like to extend my heartfelt thanks to them for helping
us win this Top 100 award."
The Top 100 accolade is awarded on the basis of a two-stage analysis de-
veloped by Nikolaus Franke, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at
the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, and his
team. The research scientists use more than 100 parameters in five separate
categories to investigate how SMEs manage and generate successful inno-
vations. The decision as to which companies ultimately receive the Top 100
award lies exclusively with the academic coordinators of the project.

2. Contact at
BPA GmbH
Adrian Pflieger
Behringstrasse 12
71083 Herrenberg, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)7032 893 990
adrian.pflieger@
dichte-bauwerke.de
www.dichte-bauwerke.de
Contact at
compamedia GmbH
Sven Kamerar
Nussdorfer Strasse 4
88662 Überlingen, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)7551 949 8633
Fax: +49 (0)7551 949 8649
Email:
presse@compamedia.de
Website: www.top100.de
Contact at
BPA GmbH
Adrian Pflieger
Behringstrasse 12
71083 Herrenberg, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)7032 893 990
adrian.pflieger@
dichte-bauwerke.de
www.dichte-bauwerke.de
Contact at
compamedia GmbH
Sven Kamerar
Nussdorfer Strasse 4
88662 Überlingen, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)7551 949 8633
Fax: +49 (0)7551 949 8649
Email:
presse@compamedia.de
Website: www.top100.de
This year, Professor Franke and his team reviewed more applicants than ev-
er before, with 234 out of a total of 302 qualifying companies making it into
the final. After the finalists had been split into three size categories (maxi-
mum of 100 companies in each size category), 178 were awarded the acco-
lade. The German SME summit in Essen provided the setting for the awards
ceremony.
The Top 100 are outstanding in every respect: this year's crop includes 71
domestic market leaders and as many as 31 global market leaders. In the
last three years, the top innovators have together applied for a total of 3,405
German and international patents. Nearly 41 per cent of their recent reve-
nues came from new products and innovations, which they brought to the
market before their competitors (average of all SMEs in Germany: 6.6 per
cent). This success is no accident: the top innovators invest an average of
10.5 per cent of revenues in research and development (average of all SMEs
in Germany: 1.5 per cent). Two thirds of the Top 100 are family businesses.
The Top 100 competition
Since 1993, compamedia has been awarding the Top 100 seal of approval to SMEs
with particular innovative capacity and above-average success rates for innovations.
This project has been coordinated by Professor Nikolaus Franke from the Institute of
Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business
Administration since 2002. Professor Franke is one of the world's leading experts in
the field of user innovation. The Top 100 is mentored by journalist and television pre-
senter Ranga Yogeshwar, and organised in partnership with the Fraunhofer Society
for the Promotion of Applied Research. manager magazin provides media support for
the company benchmarking competition. Further information is available at
www.top100.de.
compamedia – mentor to Germany's top SMEs
compamedia GmbH, which was founded in 1993 and employs 15 people, organises
the nationwide company benchmarking competitions Top 100 (since 1993) and Top
Consultant (since 2010). The company collaborates with prestigious universities on
these projects.
Kerstin Pflieger Adrian Pflieger Ranga Yogeshwar Isabella Pflieger