Corporate policy

Since our foundation in 1983, we have been working as an owner-managed company according to the philosophy of "partner instead of supplier". We are a competent partner when it comes to fittings for the production of beverages, foodstuffs or for the pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetics industries.

M&S is one of the top companies among European valve manufacturers - our activities are the manufacture and sale of valves for the beverage and food industry, the chemical industry and the pharmaceutical and cosmetic products sector. The M&S Group employs over 300 people at its sites and delivers to over 80 countries. In the 2023 financial year, the group achieved a turnover of 49 million euros.

As a family business, now in its second generation, we want to remain independent. The third generation is already working in the company. The transition from one generation to the next is certainly one of the secrets of our success: We are still characterised by our traditions. In East Frisia, this includes a very open and tolerant attitude and, of course, the unmistakable East Frisian sense of humour.

"Partner instead of supplier" - The best way to have a good partner is to be one yourself. This includes a strong brand policy, a forward-looking product strategy, customer proximity, a clear quality maxim, visionary thinking and, last but not least, a strong corporate culture.

With our market and customer proximity, we offer a first-class customer experience based on trust and transparency. Our core competences make us a reliable partner for our customers. This includes our deep and broad product portfolio, a distinctive "Special Valves" division and our services. "Partner instead of supplier": our strategy, which we have been living every day for years.

The aim of our corporate policy (consisting of quality, environmental and SGA policy) is to provide safe and healthy working conditions, customer satisfaction, continuous improvement and development, optimised use of environmental resources and to ensure the long-term growth of the company.

Many years of experience, committed, trained and qualified employees, a safe and healthy working environment, selected and tested suppliers, a conscientious approach to environmental resources and the internal and external issues defined within the context (requirements) as well as the interested parties identified form the basis for our business success. We maintain a partnership-based and personal relationship with our customers and present ourselves as a competent consultant. We place our customers' expectations at the centre of our actions. The benchmark for success is customer satisfaction, which we achieve with the quality standard of our products and services.

In addition, the following principles have been defined in order to remain successful on the market in the future and to be able to hold our own against the competition:

► Consultation and participation
For the development, planning, target definition and achievement, identification and assessment of hazards, their realisation and performance evaluation as well as the necessary improvement measures (especially those relating to safety and health at work) defined processes and measures, we are committed to the consultation and participation of employees (and, if applicable, their representatives) at all levels of our company.

► Compliance with legal regulations and other requirements
We undertake to comply with all applicable legal obligations (laws and regulations) and other requirements to the best of our knowledge and belief.

► Creation of safe and healthy working conditions
We are committed to providing safe and healthy working conditions and preventing work-related injuries, accidents and/or illnesses based on our production and service provision and the resulting and defined occupational safety and health risks and opportunities in relation to the context and objectives of our organisation. In addition, we are committed to eliminating hazards and minimising SGA risks by creating and providing safe and ergonomic work equipment, workplaces and work processes, taking organisational and technical measures (including the substitution of processes, procedures or equipment, if necessary) and providing free and appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).

► Environmental protection
We undertake to comply with the binding obligations based on our production and service provision and the context of our company, to protect the environment, to reduce unnecessary environmental pollution and impacts, to strengthen or train the environmental awareness of employees (including staff), to use resources prudently, to promote sustainability and to constantly review and improve measures to protect the environment and our environmental aspects.

► Expanding and maintaining knowledge
Targeted training and further education (internal and external) of our employees should ensure that existing knowledge is consolidated, additional knowledge is acquired and knowledge is retained within the company.

► Provision of required resources
We are committed to identifying the resources required for health and safety at work, for production and service provision and for sustainability (environmental awareness) and making these available to a sufficient extent.

► Error prevention I Utilising experience from errors
Error prevention is fundamentally more important than error elimination. Errors from previous work processes represent a gain in experience and help us to optimise our work processes in the future. By continuously developing our processes, we are working hard to generate workflows in such a way that errors are avoided as far as possible.

► Risk and opportunity management
Risks and opportunities and the resulting measures to minimise or eliminate risks and increase opportunities are constantly defined, identified, analysed and evaluated within the company by the management (also with the involvement of employees).

► Compliance with our ethical principles ("Code of ethics and conduct")
We and our employees are committed to complying with our ethical principles, in particular respect for people of all origins, compliance with human rights, combating corruption (anti-corruption) and compliance with data protection guidelines. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind (e.g. in relation to age, religion, origin, gender, skin colour, race, nationality), child labour in any form, harassment and abuse in the workplace. Our business partners are also required to comply with our ethical principles accordingly. Potential violations (internal or external) must be reported to us immediately.

► Continuous improvement
To this end, our operating procedures, processes, procedures and hazards are constantly evaluated, optimised and continuously improved in order to reduce the risk of operational disruptions within the service and production processes as well as hazardous situations and accidents at work and to increase environmental awareness.

These principles (guidelines) form the framework for our operational and strategic quality, environmental and SGA objectives, which are defined, implemented and evaluated by the management in order to ensure high-quality production and service provision in line with customer requirements while complying with the necessary environmental aspects and SGA requirements.

The management is responsible for the implementation, realisation, maintenance, further development (continuous improvement) and effectiveness of the IMS and is accountable to the system.

This IMS is mandatory for all employees of our company and applies to the entire company of M&S Armaturen GmbH, Friedeburg, as only through the unrestricted commitment of each individual employee can a customer-orientated production and service provision of high quality be guaranteed while maintaining the necessary environmental aspects and SGA requirements.

This company policy has been communicated within the company, is fully accessible to all employees and is made available to relevant interested parties as required.