Sustainability at Dematic
Sustainability is not a destination, it’s a journey.
It’s a relentless commitment to meaningful change, supported by a business strategy that prioritizes thoughtful stewardship of people, planet, and products and services.
Dematic’s holistic and industry-leading approach to sustainability reflects a continuous pursuit of being an employer of choice, limiting impact on climate change, and enhancing the safety of customers.
We focus on ambitious goals, with achievable plans to get there. Incremental changes lead to dramatic impacts when we build sustainability into every effort. We apply an engineering approach across our organization — from decreased utility consumption and greenhouse gas emissions across our supply chain to increased engagement with our employees, customers, and communities.
We look forward to a more sustainable future by helping our suppliers, partners, and customers reach their goals. We’re grateful that they are on this journey with us.
Download
2024 Sustainability Report
At Dematic, we try to make sustainability a part of every aspect of our business by focusing on people, planet, and products and services. This report presents highlights of our achievements in 2024 as well as our strategies for continued improvements.
Mike Larsson — President, Dematic, KION Group Executive Board Member“Dematic furthered its dedication to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when our parent company, KION Group, committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Environmental stewardship is no longer a preferable trait — it is now an expectation of our customers when selecting business partners.”
Our sustainability methodology
Sustainability is an underlying principle and a driver of Dematic’s business strategy.
KION Group’s core values — integrity, collaboration, courage, and excellence — compel sustainable action and are shared across the entire organization, including Dematic. These principles are embedded in the KION Group Code of Compliance (KGCC), guiding each employee toward responsible and ethical behavior.
KION Group continues to sharpen its sustainability strategy, focusing on innovative, customer-centric material handling solutions that also promote long-term environmental and social value.
KION’s climate commitment is validated by SBTi with goals to achieve net-zero emissions across the entire value chain by 2050. KION’s sustainability commitment and annual progress is recognized by investors, financial institutions, and rating agencies. Through these efforts, Dematic not only supports but actively contributes to KION’s overall sustainability performance and external recognition.
Our sustainability methodology is defined as:
People
We strive to be an employer of choice where occupational health and safety is foundational to our culture. We are also committed to making the communities in which we operate better places.
Planet
We limit our effect on climate change through comprehensive footprint stewardship and diligent supplier engagement.
Products and Services
We deliver high-performance products, solutions, and services that are efficient to use and enhance the operations and safety of our customers.
Our sustainability achievements
Our holistic, transparent approach to sustainability places value on people, planet, and products and services. We identify corresponding targets within these key areas and hold ourselves accountable with measurable results.
100%
ISO 45001 certification rate
CLOUD NATIVE
further moved to cloud-based software capabilities with two portfolio products available through Google Cloud Marketplace
100%
ISO 14001 certification rate
Up to 25%
reduction in kilowatt usage through High-Efficiency Motor Drives to upgrade and retrofit installed conveyors
INJURY FREE
14 YEARS
Salt Lake City, United States
10 YEARS
Monterrey, Mexico
7 YEARS
Belrose, Australia
7 YEARS
Cernusco, Italy
with many other locations approaching 3+ years
18.1%
reduction in total waste since 2021
~13,000
hours of LinkedIn Learning®
~1,500
hours of Blinkist
137,000+
hours of Workday Learning
QUIETER
launched Dual Diameter Rollers, reducing noise between 3–5 dBA depending on application and completed noise declarations on most of our global conveyors according to EN 619-2022 Continuous Handling Equipment and Systems standard
ZERO
net zero by 2050 target validated by SBTi
SAFETY
Ready, Safe + Sound anchored by nearly 50,000 behavior-based safety observations
14.8%
reduction in market-based Scope 1 & 2 CO2e since 2021 baseline year
6
active Employee Resource Groups with
900+
participants
ERGONOMIC
workstations designed and tested to achieve low-risk category scoring with Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) tool
Our sustainability goals
As a proud member of KION Group, our sustainability actions around people, planet, products, and software are aligned with the eight strategic action fields reviewed and approved by the KION Group Executive Board.
Occupational health and safety
- Reduction of accident frequency rate per year (based on total hours worked)
- Maintain 100% ISO 45001 Health & Safety Certification across all Dematic locations
Employer attractiveness
- Increase employee satisfaction, measured by an annual global employee survey
- Increase the percentage of women in leadership roles to more than 20%*
* Does not apply to the United States
Climate and energy
- Absolute reduction in GHG emissions in metric tons of CO2e compared with 2021
- Near-term targets (2030)
- Reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42%, compared to 2021 baseline
- Reduce Scope 3 by 25%
- Engage suppliers representing 5% of emissions from the goods and services purchased to also set the own SBTi targets
- Long-term (2050): net-zero greenhouse gas emissions
- Reduce Scopes 1, 2, and 3 by at least 90%, compared to 2021 baseline
- Commit to permanently neutralize the residual unavoidable emissions (no more than 10% of the total)
- Near-term targets (2030)
- Maintain a 100% ISO 14001 Environment Management certification rate (all sites)
- Decrease annually the energy intensity of our operations
Circularity
- Increase annually the amount of recovered waste
Environmentally and socially responsible supply chain
- Increase Dematic direct suppliers (based on Tier 1 spend) engaged into our ESG Risk Assessment Program
Product and solution safety
- New developments in Dematic system portfolio are targeted to operate under 85 dBA
Product and solution sustainability
- Progress on the road map for lifecycle assessments across our product portfolio
- Implementation of Cradle to Cradle® assessment for strategic products
- Dematic will continue to evaluate the completeness of our sustainability programs using the EcoVadis assessment
People
Sustainability starts here
Sustainability starts with our employees and continues with our customers, our business partners, and our communities. From hiring diverse, sustainably minded people and supporting their professional development and community involvement to collaborating with customers in developing new products and services, we are breaking down barriers and building bridges.
How we achieve our goals
Everything we do is human-centered. Our people improve the lives of our customers, make our communities more vibrant, and create more rewarding workplaces. Providing our people with the support they need allows them to make those good things happen.
- We consistently look for ways to improve safety and prevent accidents. We commit to maintaining 100% for ISO 45001 certification on health and safety throughout our organization. Our behavior-based safety process starts with a foundation of the Dematic Life Saving Rules — eight rules to focus every employee on situational awareness, respect for potential hazards, and risk avoidance. We connect with every employee through Ready, Safe + Sound engagement and feedback, training and mentoring, and rewards.
- We conduct behavior-based safety observations to ensure critical tasks are observed while being performed, reinforcing best practices.
- Our efforts extend to the mental health aspects of safety culture. Our Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAs), accredited Dematic employees, provide support, consultation, and guidance for fellow employees seeking help. MFHAs are an initial touch points for psychological safety and mental health issues and can suggest further help from therapists or physicians when appropriate.
DeAnn Hargis — Director, Dematic Sustainability“Sustainability at Dematic is an essential part of our business strategy. Our focus is on employee success, our planet’s future, and innovative products, software, solutions, and services that create value for our customers.”
Planet
Ensuring a Better Tomorrow
Dematic remains committed to protecting our planet by mitigating our environmental impact — as well as the impact of our partners and customers. In every aspect of business, we are striving to make measurable differences through personal accountability, innovative processes, sustainable materials, and more environmentally friendly products and solutions. Through these actions, Dematic aims to deliver on our promise of positive environmental stewardship.
How we achieve our goals
We strive to make measurable differences through emphasizing personal accountability, developing innovative processes, sourcing sustainable materials, and developing environmentally friendly products, solutions, and services. Together with our suppliers and customers, we’re delivering on our promise to be responsible stewards of the environment.
We align our goals with the sustainability strategy of our parent company, KION Group, to decrease the environmental impact of our operations. As part of our climate and energy action field, we are committed to decrease carbon emissions in Scope 1, 2, and 3 to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 through climate change mitigation.
Will Weatherford — Vice President, Environmental, Health, and Safety“Ready, Safe + Sound is intended to foster an even stronger and sustainable safety culture at Dematic — one where we feel a personal ownership for safety and belief that attaining zero injuries is achievable.”
Products and Services
Sustainably driven customer solutions
Dematic products and solutions are recognized worldwide for their safety, reliability, and efficiency. And we continue to look for opportunities to make improvements. By collaborating with our customers on lower embodied carbon opportunities and improved energy efficiency, we are developing products and solutions with sustainability in mind — for the good of our customers and the planet.
Dematic Lifecycle Solutions & Services ensure a positive customer experience throughout the life of their operations. By ensuring uptime, extending the life of assets, reducing energy use, and minimizing resource waste, we help our customers meet their sustainability targets. Operations avoid disruptions that could reduce hours or income for hourly workers. Safety-enhancing tools like drones minimize risks for workers. Tactical training extends the life of customer systems and maximizes the return on their investments.
How we achieve our goals
We develop and deliver sustainable solutions that power the future of commerce. As a global leader in intelligent automation, our focus is squarely set on helping our customers achieve their performance and sustainability goals through collaboration — their goals are the foundation of our goals.
- We are developing a fully sustainability-focused portfolio, one that supports 100% of new developments evaluated by uniform global standards that measure sustainability performance.
- We are analyzing the environmental performance through the full lifecycle of strategic products. This cradle-to-cradle approach ensures products are intentionally designed and produced for recycling (upcycling) at the end of their life. It also leads to data-based improvements we can apply to existing products and solutions.
- Dematic is proud to collaborate with the VDMA’s international working group, establishing rules for the creation of a Lifecycle Assessment methodology to determine the carbon footprint of intralogistics products, systems, and solutions. Product Carbon Footprints are for a complete intralogistics system — a solution rather than a single product or component — for more accurate comparisons across similar solutions within the same category.
Download our Sustainability Reports and related policies below
Report
Sustainability Report 2024
Report
Sustainability Report 2023
Report
Sustainability Report 2022
Report
Sustainability Report 2021
Policy