At the end of July 2007, the first EMASeasy cluster in Germany, a pilot project managed by the Modell Hohenlohe e.V. and financed by the Ministry of Environment and Transportation of the German Federal State of Baden-Wuerttemberg, was successfully completed, with the EMAS-verification and validation of the environmental declarations of the following companies:
- Kölle GmbH, Vaihingen/Enz,
- Drölle GmbH, Schwäbisch Hall-Sulzdorf
- Mayer Kältetechnik GmbH, Kupferzell
- Rogatti Bewegungstechnik KG, Auenwald-Däfern and
- Kraushaar Metallverarbeitung GmbH, Neuenstein.

The size of the registered SMEs varies between 12 and about 70 employees. Four participants belong to the metal-processing sector and one company provides air-conditioning services and refrigeration technology.

It took only nine months to achieve the EMAS registrations, from the first EMASeasy workshop (all the companies were registered within the space of 3 weeks) to the finish in July. With this success, the EMASeasy Cluster has surpassed all other cluster projects managed by Modell Hohenlohe e.V., despite the fact that the project was  employing new concepts.

One picture says  a thousand words – it was with this conviction that Heinz Werner Engel, developed the Eco-mapping and EMASeasy tool for the Brussels Region Development Company in the mid-1990’s.   The tool uses pictorial elements to compile the environmental management system in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The co-operation, between Heinz-Werner Engel of Eco-conseil Entreprise (Brussels) and Dr. Stefan Müssig of the consulting company W.U.Q.M. (Würzburg), has helped the EMASeasy Cluster companies to ‘picture’ their company and operations in the truest meaning of the word.

Modell Hohenlohe e.V. was given the task of testing the EMASEasy approach by the Ministry for the Environment of Baden-Württemberg in October 2006  as a company research project. The resources provided under the research project enabled the participating companies to minimise their external costs.

The external verifier who audited the environmental management systems of the cluster companies auditor was able to give his seal of approval and certify that environmental management is fully integrated in the companies’ operations and activities and that all EMAS requirements are met.

All participating companies expressed their happiness with the motivational and clearly-structured EMASeasy approach, which places special value on workers’ participation.