"We are making a contribution to a more sustainable future"

Sustainability is on everyone's lips. Burckhardt Compression, the global market leader for reciprocating compressor systems from Winterthur, also has several sustainability goals anchored in its business strategy. But what exactly does this mean and how exactly are these goals being implemented? CEO Fabrice Billard answers this question in an interview.

Contrary to the trend at many companies, things are going extremely well at Burckhardt Compression. What are you doing to continue this development in the coming months?
FabriceBillard: Essentially, we need to remain innovative and close to the market. In view of the global transition to more sustainable and safer energy sources, we will undoubtedly continue to benefit from our strong positioning in the relevant applications. We are making significant progress in existing applications for solar panels, liquefied natural gas and the development of new growth opportunities in hydrogen mobility and energy.

Fabrice Billard has been CEO of Burckhardt Compression since April 2022.

What approach is Burckhardt Compression taking to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the United Nations?
Our goal is to create leading compressor solutions for a sustainable energy future. We achieve this by making sustainability a central element of our strategy. Our efforts are aimed at developing solutions that meet the needs of today's generation without compromising the needs of future generations. In everything we do in this area, we remain pragmatic and impact-oriented.

You have selected five of the 17 defined UN Sustainable Development Goals for your strategic framework. Why exactly these five?
These five sustainability intentions are directly linked to our material topics and reflect our conviction that we can make the biggest difference through our commitment in these areas. We firmly believe that these goals will enable us to make lasting and impactful change and contribute to a better future.

Where can Burckhardt Compression make a concrete contribution to the individual goals?
For example, in tackling climate change: Our goal is for 40 percent of our order intake to come from applications that support the global energy transition. We also want to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 50 percent for Scope 1 and Scope 2 by 2027. Burckhardt Compression Spain, for example, has installed solar panels on its roof that cover around 40 percent of its energy consumption. We are also pursuing similar initiatives at other sites in Switzerland, China and South Korea. We are also continuing to invest in digitalization and are one of the pioneers in our industry. Solutions such as UP! Solutions Remote Support help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the travel activities of service technicians.

How and where does this strategic focus influence your business decisions?
All members of the Executive Board are also members of the Sustainability Executive Team, which is responsible for the strategic approach at Group level and compliance with our sustainability roadmap. The strategic focus on sustainability has an impact on R&D projects, CAPEX investments, operational KPIs and the long-term bonus plans of senior management, among other things. Our Winterthur site in Switzerland, for example, is involved in the implementation of a multi-year project to save energy in production operations and offices.

Does this strategic focus have a positive impact on recruitment?
We can count ourselves among the top 9 percent of the most attractive Swiss employers in mechanical and plant engineering in 2023.

Burckhardt Compression aims to achieve net zero operational emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions) by 2035.

The ranking is based on an independent survey of employees conducted by the data analyst Statista and among the readers of the Handelszeitung and Le Temps. We were also able to further improve the results of our internal employee survey. These good results can certainly also be attributed to our strategy and our commitment to sustainability. We are convinced that these measures contribute to our low staff turnover and that satisfied colleagues are the best advertisement for recruiting new employees. Loyalty and identification with our company are further confirmed by the average length of service of 8 years.

Your neighbor WinGD states very specifically how much leverage it has in reducing global_CO2 emissions. What is the situation at Burckhardt Compression, can you also quantify this in concrete terms?
It is very difficult for us to make general statements, as all our customers use compressors in different ways. However, we can use examples to show how big an impact our solutions can have: A customer of Burckhardt Compression India, for example, was forced to operate a compressor with reduced output due to low demand. The bypass system resulted in a high power loss of around 50 kW. Burckhardt Compression India offered a solution to reduce the volume flow to the customer's requirements with minimal modifications. With this solution, we achieved an energy saving of 80 percent. Based on the standard annual running time of a compressor, this corresponds to 320 MWh per year, i.e. around one third of Burckhardt Compression India's total electricity consumption, including the plant.

In your opinion, to what extent is Winterthur a pioneering Swiss location?
I believe that Winterthur is very well positioned in terms of sustainability. We are in the neighborhood of many globally active companies that see sustainability not only as a responsibility, but also as a business model. The University of Applied Sciences also offers a wide range of courses that are necessary for a sustainable energy future. This helps us to train or find employees. With our headquarters and production facilities here in Winterthur, we rely on young talent and a talent pool from the region.

Interview: Linda Stratacò, August 2023