Our responsibility

Responsibility is the foundation of schülke and has characterized our company for over 135 years. Our responsibility is as diverse as the people who work for us. It is the central nervous system of our organization and guides us in all areas and at every location. At schülke, every employee acts with a clear sense of responsibility - for our customers, the environment and society.

Whether in our teams, departments or global business processes - our commitment to quality and sustainability can be felt at every level. We take responsibility by developing innovative and sustainable solutions that not only meet the needs of our customers, but also protect the environment. Our high total quality standards guarantee that we always meet the highest quality standards in all areas.

Responsibility at schülke means more than just acting ethically. It means actively contributing to the promotion of sustainable corporate management that has a positive impact on society. Our responsibility extends far beyond the area of product quality and is an essential part of our corporate philosophy.

With a clear culture of responsibility, we create trust and transparency - both within the company and in cooperation with our partners. We are convinced that our commitment to sustainability and responsible action will continue to contribute to positive change in the future.

Community and cooperation as a success factor

As a global company, schülke actively assumes social responsibility. We focus on mutual appreciation, respect and motivation, because real success is always team success. Constructive cooperation - both internally and with our social environment - is essential for sustainable progress.

Occupational health and safety

The health and safety of our employees is our top priority. schülke goes beyond the minimum legal requirements and sets its own standards in prevention. Fire protection measures, fire extinguisher training and comprehensive health advice are integral parts of our commitment. With a strong focus on safety and well-being, we create a working environment that promotes motivation and performance in the long term.

Commitment to science and research

Innovation is what drives us. With the development of an outbreak database, which is now used worldwide for research and studies, we are making an important contribution to the health sector. In addition, the Rudolf Schülke Foundation has been specifically supporting research in hygiene, microbiology and preventive medicine since 1972 - and honors outstanding scientists.

Value-oriented and compliant action is fundamental to schülke. Our corporate culture is characterized by trust, honesty and fair dealings with all our stakeholders. If the protection of human health is the central corporate goal, there must be no gray areas. We therefore expect all our employees to always act in accordance with our value system, internal guidelines and legal requirements.

We manufacture our products economically and in compliance with high quality standards using advanced, safe and environmentally friendly processes, while also fulfilling our social and societal responsibilities. We comply with all laws and regulations, in particular the rules of free competition, and reject any form of corruption.

We understand quality holistically and comprehensively within the framework of Total Quality Management (TQM). For us, quality means first and foremost ensuring patient safety at all times. In addition, our high quality standards meet the expectations and requirements of our internal and external stakeholders with regard to cost awareness, security of supply, reliability, occupational safety, sustainability and an open and appreciative corporate culture. We strive for continuous improvement in all areas.

Based on our principles, we want to live up to our social responsibility as a company that acts sustainably and contributes to the protection of human health. Both internally and externally, we want to respond to the needs and concerns of our stakeholders in a dialog characterized by respect, even when it seems difficult or uncomfortable

Common goal: zero defects

schülke's self-image is based on a holistic concept of quality, which not only refers to the quality of a product or service in the narrower sense. It encompasses all aspects that influence the specific solution for the customer - in every single step. We do everything we can to continuously improve our products and services, always keeping our goal of "zero defects" in mind. In addition to the expectations and requirements of our customers, we also take costs and time expenditure into account, for example. Furthermore, the aspects of occupational safety, environmental management, leadership and cooperation are also incorporated into our understanding of quality. This holistic quality awareness at schülke creates sustainable value for the environment and society.

Our integrated management system

If you want to be among the best, you have to set your own standards. More and more standards, laws and guidelines define the framework for our economy or our industry - but the higher standards are a claim that we have set ourselves.
As one of the first companies with our orientation, schülke established an integrated management system as early as 1996. It ensures that the structural and procedural organization of our company is in line with our corporate principles and our trend-setting self-image. As an overarching instrument, the integrated management system helps us to achieve our goals in line with the concept of total quality.
In addition to internal processes, it also regulates a number of other influencing factors: from meeting customer expectations and requirements to maintaining occupational safety, conserving resources, recognizing errors and their causes and providing personnel and resources. It therefore combines regulations from the following five areas:

• Personnel management
• environmental management
• occupational safety management
• quality management
• risk management

The integrated management system encompasses all departments at our headquarters as well as all subsidiaries. One company - one unifying claim: our customers worldwide can rely on this.

Audits - quality needs testing

We set ourselves the highest standards in our work and therefore subject ourselves to regular self-critical audits. For these audits, we have developed a sophisticated process of internal and external audit systems. This not only meets all legal requirements, but above all the high quality standards we have defined ourselves. The entire company and our suppliers are included in the audit system. The results prove the high effectiveness of our management system on the one hand, and on the other hand also show us weaknesses and potential for improvement. Both are valuable insights from which we can immediately draw new optimization measures. Because: after the audit is before the audit.