Poppe + Potthoff Receives TOP 100 Award for the Second Time
11.2.2025
Family Business Once Again Excels in the Innovation Competition
The Poppe + Potthoff GmbH (P+P) from Werther (Westphalia) has successfully asserted itself in the TOP 100 innovation competition for the second time, earning the prestigious TOP 100 seal for 2025. This award honors particularly innovative medium-sized companies in Germany. Science journalist and competition mentor Ranga Yogeshwar will personally congratulate Poppe + Potthoff on this achievement at the award ceremony on June 27 in Mainz. The competition’s jury recognized, among other aspects, the family business’s well-defined innovation process.
Innovation as the Foundation for Future Success
As part of the competition, a team led by innovation researcher Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke analyzed the innovation strength of participants based on more than 100 evaluation criteria, categorized into five areas: innovation-promoting top management, innovation climate, innovative processes and organization, external orientation/open innovation, and innovation success. The core of the TOP 100 analysis is to determine whether innovations result from a structured innovation management system or arise more by chance. “Innovation means acting instead of reacting,” says Franke. “It signifies actively shaping the future rather than hoping that nothing changes.”
Renewed Recognition of Innovation Achievements
Following its first participation in 2023, Poppe + Potthoff has now been recognized as a TOP Innovator for the second time. By utilizing agile methods, the internationally operating corporate group brings together a broad spectrum of expertise in manufacturing diverse metal components. Thanks to a clearly defined internal innovation process, Poppe + Potthoff has successfully transferred its know-how from its traditional strengths in fluid management to innovative “TOPAQ” hydrogen supply systems in recent years. Combined with a customer-centric development approach, this process enables the creation of innovative solutions for emission-free mobility and industry. A successful example of this is P+P’s involvement in the NeMo.bil project, initiated by the Neue Mobilität Paderborn (NeMo) initiative, which was awarded the German Mobility Prize 2024 in the category of “New Mobility Solutions.”
Beyond its product solutions, Poppe + Potthoff also leverages the evaluation of collected usage data to shorten development cycles and create new digital business models. Markus Kerkhoff, CEO of Poppe + Potthoff GmbH, explains: “By integrating product development, manufacturing, and digital expertise, we are creating an ecosystem that successfully combines sustainability and digitalization. We are very pleased that our approach has once again been recognized and validated by an independent jury.”