FROM OUR CEO

At Lincoln Electric, our purpose is to “Operate By a Higher Standard to Build a Better World.” Since 1895, we have measured our success by consistently innovating solutions that deliver value to customers, supporting an engaged workforce, nurturing a culture rooted in integrity and ethics, and advancing operational excellence in our operations. These are the long-term drivers of our success, which align with our stakeholders' environmental, social, and governance priorities, and generate superior value through the cycle.

We have purposefully integrated sustainability into our Higher Standard 2025 Strategy across its four strategic peaks. In addition to Higher Standard financial targets, we established a series of key ESG-related goals that we identified as critical to operating responsibly. These include improved safety performance and addressing climate change through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, energy, water and waste.

We are also focused on engineering innovative solutions to support the end markets we serve as they transition to a low carbon economy. Our patented solutions that optimize EV battery tray and wind tower fabrication are helping customers accelerate productivity responsibly. In 2022, we:

• Broadened the accessibility of automation to small fabricators with our proprietary Cooper™ cobot solution with its unique easy user interface designed for non-welders.
• Extended our automation engineering capabilities and international presence to support the growth of EV production platforms through the acquisition of Fori Automation, a leading designer and manufacturer of complex, multi-armed automated welding systems, with an extensive range of automated assembly systems, automated material handling solutions, automated large-scale, industrial automated guidance vehicles (AGVs), and end-of-line testing systems. These new capabilities, combined with our existing skill set, allows us to provide more solutions to our customers for safe, efficient, and sustainable manufacturing.
• Announced our 150kW DC fast charger initiative to provide best-in-class level 3 charging for electric vehicles. This growth initiative targets production of our new Velion™ EV charger in the fourth quarter of 2023 to provide both public and private fleet charging, serving the electrification needs of our customers and communities.
• We continue to focus on improving the energy efficiency of our equipment, increasing recycled content in our products and packaging, and working with partners and suppliers to identify additional areas to introduce greater sustainability into our solutions and operations to lower our overall carbon footprint.