KION Group

Last updated
Kion Group AG
Company type Aktiengesellschaft
FWB:  KGX
ISIN DE000KGX8881  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Founded2006;19 years ago (2006)
Headquarters
Frankfurt
,
Germany
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Productsintralogistics, industrial trucks and warehouse solutions
Revenue €11.5 billion (2024) [1]
€917 million (2024) [1]
€314.4 million (2023) [2]
Total assets €17.388 billion (2023) [2]
Total equity €5.772 billion (2023) [2]
Number of employees
42,325 (full-time equivalents at 31 December 2024) [1]
Website www.kiongroup.com

Kion Group AG (styled as KION Group) is a German multinational manufacturer of materials handling equipment, with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. [3] Its principal products are intralogistics, warehouse automation equipment, and industrial (forklift) trucks. [4] Kion Group was founded in 2006 by the demerger of Linde's materials handling equipment operations. [5] It is the world's second-largest manufacturer of forklifts measured by revenues (after Toyota Industries). [6]

Contents

Name

"Kion" is an invented name derived from the Swahili word "Kiongozi", which means "leader". [7]

History

Foundation and beginnings

On 6 September 2006, Linde AG announced a new structure following the completion of its acquisition of BOC, with the gas and engineering businesses of the combined entity operating as The Linde Group and the materials handling businesses (Linde Material Handling, Still, and OM Carrelli Elevatori S.p.A.) operating as Kion Group from then on. [8] [9] Linde AG sold Kion Group to a partnership of KKR and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners for approximately €4 billion. [10]

Acquisitions and expansion abroad

In January 2009, Kion Group formed a China-based forklift manufacturing joint venture, Kion Baoli (Jiangsu) Forklift, with Jiangsu Shangqi Group and Jingjiang Baoli Forklift. In May 2010, Kion Group acquired full management control of Kion Baoli. [11]

In March 2011, Kion Group and the Indian engineering company Voltas agreed to form a new joint venture, Voltas Materials Handling, consisting of the two companies' material handling equipment operations in India. [12] [13] Kion Group acquired Voltas' 34% shareholding in the venture in November 2012. [14]

In August 2012, the China-based Shandong Heavy Industry's Weichai Power subsidiary agreed to acquire a 25% stake in Kion Group for €467 million, and a 70% majority stake in Kion's hydraulics business for €271 million. [15]

In February 2013, Kion Group sold product rights for Linde brand's reach stacker, empty, and laden container handlers to Finnish crane manufacturer Konecranes for an undisclosed sum. [16]

Initial public offering and further expansion

The company was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on 28 June 2013, [17] and in September 2014, the company was admitted to the MDAX of the Frankfurt stock exchange. [18]

Also in September 2014, Voltas Material Handling was renamed Kion India. Since then, the company has been selling forklift trucks with electric drives, combustion engines and warehouse technology products under the Voltas and Baoli brands in India. [19] [20]

The Belgian company Egemin was acquired in 2015, followed by the US-based company Retrotech in 2016. [21]

In June 2016, Kion Group acquired Dematic for €1.9 billion. [22] In 2017, the Group headquarters with around 200 employees was relocated from Wiesbaden to a new development area at Frankfurt Airport. [23] One year later, Kion opened the Kion Digital Campus in Frankfurt, where digital projects are developed and implemented. [24]

In 2018, Kion Group expanded its presence in China and agreed a strategic partnership with EP Equipment Co. Ltd in the light-duty or "entry-level" warehouse equipment segmente. KION has acquired a minority stake in the Chinese truck manufacturer, which in the previous year, 2017, achieved record shipments of 50,000 units. [25]

In July 2019, Kion Group and BMZ Holdings announced a 50/50 joint venture to manufacture lithium-ion batteries (80V, 48V) for the Kion Group's trucks at BMZ's manufacturing facility. [26] In November, Kion India opened a production facility for diesel and electric forklift trucks as well as battery-powered pallet trucks and reach trucks on an area of around 25 hectares in Pune, India. [27]

In March 2020, Kion acquired the UK-based company Digital Applications International Limited (DAI) for around €123 million. [28]

Recent developments

In July 2021, Kion opened an industrial truck plant in Kołbaskowo near Szczecin, Poland, where counterbalance trucks for all brands in the Kion Industrial Trucks & Services segment are produced. In order to speed up delivery times, production of other product series, which had previously been manufactured exclusively in Xiamen, China, was also relocated to Kołbaskowo one year later. [29]

In December 2021, Kion opened a counterbalance truck plant for the Kion companies Linde Material Handling and Baoli in Jinan, China on an area of around 223,000 square metres, which includes a research and development centre, a training centre and office space. [30]

Corporate structure

In the 2024 financial year, KION Group AG operated around 2,000 sales and service locations in over 100 countries, with an average workforce of 42,325 employees. The company reported consolidated revenue of €11.5 billion (2023: €11.4 billion), adjusted EBIT of €917 million (2023: €791 million), and an adjusted EBIT margin of 8.0% (2023: 6.9%). Free cash flow stood at €702 million (2023: €715 million). [31]

The company operates manufacturing plants and research and development centers in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Australia. [32] It has 25 subsidiaries in Germany and 107 subsidiaries abroad. [33]

In February 2025, KION Group announced an efficiency program targeting annual cost savings of approximately €140 million to €160 million, to be fully implemented by 2026. The program is expected to result in one-time expenses of approximately €240 million to €260 million in 2025. [34]

Products and brands

The Kion Group is a provider of industrial trucks and supply chain services. Its range of products and services includes industrial trucks such as forklift trucks and warehouse trucks, as well as integrated automation technologies. [35]

The Kion Group markets its products under six brands: Dematic offers products for automated material flow for supply chain and automation processes. [36] Linde and Still serve the market for industrial trucks in a higher price category, while Baoli focuses on the economy segment. [37] Fenwick is the largest supplier of industrial trucks in France, OM Still is the market leader in Italy, while OM Voltas serves the Indian market as the leading supplier of industrial trucks. [38]

Research & development

In August 2020, Kion entered into a strategic partnership with the Chinese manufacturer of autonomous mobile robots, Quicktron Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd, which, in addition to the global distribution of Quicktron products by Kion, provides for the joint development of automated vehicles. [39]

In October 2021, Kion licensed an AI-equipped autonomous vehicle fleet for sorting and distribution, developed by Fraunhofer IML in Dortmund and has collaborated on its further development since. [40]

In December 2023, Kion and Aschaffenburg Technical University presented the results of a research project in which scenarios for the use of autonomous counterbalance trucks equipped with electro-hydraulic steering were developed. [41]

In January 2025, Kion partnered with NVIDIA and Accenture to integrate "Physical AI" into warehouse operations. This initiative involves using NVIDIA Omniverse to create digital twins of warehouses, allowing advanced simulations and real-time optimizations. The collaboration is expected to enhance warehouse automation, efficiency, and flexibility in supply chain operations. [42]

Sustainability

Since the beginning of 2023, the company has been developing and producing fuel cell systems for the company's own industrial trucks in the field of hydrogen drives. In the same year, Kion began production of a 24-volt fuel cell system for warehouse trucks and the construction of a state-funded hydrogen refuelling station with an electrolyser. [43] [44]

As part of the "Kion 2027 Strategy", Kion committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in July 2023. In line with the principles of the SBTi, the company is pursuing the net zero target of being emission-free by 2050 at the latest. [45]

Kion Group, through its subsidiary Kion Battery Systems in Karlstein am Main, manufactures lithium-ion batteries for its electric industrial trucks (Linde MH, Fenwick, Still, Baoli) and automated warehouse operations. In September 2023, Kion partnered with Li-Cycle Holding Corp. to launch an eco-friendly lithium-ion battery recycling program in Magdeburg, aiming to reclaim up to 95% of the batteries' valuable minerals and materials. According to their own statement, Kion intends to recycle up to 5,000 tonnes of battery materials by 2030. [46]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forklift</span> Powered industrial truck

A forklift is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various companies, including Clark, which made transmissions, and Yale & Towne Manufacturing, which made hoists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palfinger</span> Technology manufacturing company in Austria

The Palfinger AG, headquartered in Bergheim (Salzburg/Austria), is a publicly traded technology and machinery manufacturing company for hydraulic crane and lifting equipment for the land and maritime sectors. The company, founded in 1932, is known for its truck-mounted loader cranes.

Toyota Industries Corporation is a Japanese machine maker. Originally, and still actively, a manufacturer of automatic looms, it is the company from which Toyota Motor Corporation developed. It is the world's largest manufacturer of forklift trucks measured by revenues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linde plc</span> Largest global industrial gas producer

Linde PLC is a global multinational chemical company. It was created as a result of a merger in 2018 of American company Praxair and Linde AG and is domiciled in Ireland and headquartered in the United Kingdom. Linde is the world's largest industrial gas company by market share and revenue. It serves customers in the healthcare, petroleum refining, manufacturing, food, beverage carbonation, fiber-optics, steel making, aerospace, material handling equipment (MHE), chemicals, electronics and water treatment industries. The company's primary business is the manufacturing and distribution of atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, rare gases, and process gases, including carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, ammonia, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.

The Rhenus Group is an international logistics service provider based in Holzwickede near Dortmund, Germany. The company has branches in Europe, India, North, Central and South America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. It is a subsidiary of German Rethmann Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automated guided vehicle</span> Type of portable robot

An automated guided vehicle (AGV), different from an autonomous mobile robot (AMR), is a portable robot that follows along marked long lines or wires on the floor, or uses radio waves, vision cameras, magnets, or lasers for navigation. They are most often used in industrial applications to transport heavy materials around a large industrial building, such as a factory or warehouse. Application of the automatic guided vehicle broadened during the late 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lansing Bagnall</span> British forklift truck manufacturer

Lansing Bagnall, later known as Lansing Linde, was a British forklift truck manufacturer based in Kingsclere Road, Basingstoke, England. The company was known for the invention of the reach truck. Later, it was merged into Linde Material Handling which is now part of KION Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Material-handling equipment</span> Machinery and equipment used for transporting objects and materials

Material handling equipment (MHE) is mechanical equipment used for the movement, storage, control, and protection of materials, goods and products throughout the process of manufacturing, distribution, consumption, and disposal. The different types of equipment can be classified into four major categories: transport equipment, positioning equipment, unit load formation equipment, and storage equipment.

Tele Columbus is a large internet service provider in Germany with 3.6 million connected households via its Tier 3 network. Tele Columbus' services have been offered under the newly created umbrella brand PŸUR since September 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolfgang Reitzle</span> German business executive

Hans Wolfgang Reitzle is a German business executive.

Mitsubishi Logisnext Co., Inc. is a group of multinational companies that were formed under a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Caterpillar Inc. in order to manufacture and market trucks. The group manufactures and distributes Cat Lift Trucks, Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks, Rocla, TCM, and Jungheinrich warehouse products to the material handling industry.

Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG, known until 2005 as Hamburger Hafen- und Lagerhaus-Aktiengesellschaft, and prior to that as Hamburger Freihafen-Lagerhaus Gesellschaft (HFLG) since 1885, is a German logistics and transportation company specialising in port throughput and container and transport logistics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Schmalz</span>

J. Schmalz GmbH is a manufacturer of automation technology based in Glatten, Germany. The family-run company is one of the leading suppliers of vacuum technology in the fields of automation and manual handling and is also active in the energy storage business area. Over the years, the company's products changed from razor blades to transport equipment and finally to vacuum technology.

Manz AG is a German multinational engineering company active in the fields of automation, laser processesing, metrology, wet chemistry and roll-to-roll processing. Manz AG bundles its activities into two reporting segments: Mobility & Battery Solutions and Industry Solutions. The focus in the Mobility & Battery Solutions segment is on intelligent production solutions for highly efficient lithium-ion batteries. The Industry Solutions reporting segment is responsible for assembly and production solutions for electronic components and devices, power and consumer electronics, and components for the electric powertrain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dematic</span> American supplier

Dematic is an American supplier of materials handling systems, software and services. With a growth rate of 21.2% in 2021 Dematic was listed as the world's second-largest materials handling systems supplier with a revenue of 3.2 billion USD. The company employs over 10,000 people and has engineering centres and manufacturing facilities in the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Mexico, Australia, Belgium, China, Italy, Spain, France, Lithuania and Czech Republic. Its customer base includes small, medium and large companies in several other countries across six continents.

Atlet was a Swedish company that manufactured indoor and outdoor trucks. The company also provided services related to trucks and material handling, such as logistics analysis, training and service. The head office, manufacturing and training premises were located in Mölnlycke, just outside Göteborg, Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Börse Stuttgart</span> Stock exchange in Germany

Börse Stuttgart is the sixth largest exchange group in Europe. It has strategic pillars in the capital markets business as well as in the digital and cryptocurrency business. Börse Stuttgart Group employs around 700 people at its locations in Stuttgart, Berlin, Frankfurt, Ljubljana, Milan, Stockholm, and Zürich and holds a total of 15 licences from regulatory authorities in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jungheinrich</span> German material handling company based in Hamburg

Jungheinrich AG is a German company active in the material handling equipment, warehousing and material flow engineering sectors. In these segments, the company is ranked in second place in Europe, and third in the world.

Energy Products Inc. is a privately owned company based in Madison Heights, Michigan. They provide batteries, chargers, industrial utility vehicles, scrubbers/sweepers and recycling services. They sell and maintain industrial batteries and charging systems for forklifts, material handling equipment, AGV’s and utility vehicles used primarily in manufacturing and warehousing. Energy Products is also a wholesale distributor of automotive, deep cycle and sealed lead acid batteries as well as batteries and chargers for consumer electronic devices. In 2012 Energy Products started engineering, furnishing and installing backup power systems, service testing and provides removal services for a wide range of customers including banks, hospitals, property managers and the telecommunication industry. Energy Products offers a comprehensive recycling program for all battery chemistries. In 2013 they announced they recycled over 2,000,000 pounds of batteries in 2012 for customers located throughout the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fuel cell forklift</span>

A fuel cell forklift is a fuel cell powered industrial forklift used to lift and transport materials.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "KION with strong financial year 2024 – efficiency program resolved to strengthen resilience". KION Group. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  2. 1 2 3 "Kion Group 2023: Annual Report" (PDF). Annual Report. 29 February 2024. p. 2 – via Kion Group AG.
  3. ↑ Rothbart, Karolin (28 April 2022). "Intralogistik: Kion wagt noch keinen neuen Ausblick". Börsen-Zeitung . Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  4. ↑ "Kion überrascht positiv". Börsen-Zeitung . 25 October 2019.
  5. ↑ "Zwei Traditionsbetriebe feiern". Schwäbisches Tagblatt . 15 September 2018.
  6. ↑ Smolka, Klaus Max (13 May 2015). "Gabelstaplerkonzern plant Großübernahme". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  7. ↑ Braun, Christian (8 November 2006): "Linde kommt mit Konzernumbau gut voran: Gabelstaplergeschäft an Finanzinvestoren veräussert – Stolzer Preis – Käufer planen Börsengang ab 2010". Finanz und Wirtschaft.
  8. ↑ Gow, David (6 September 2006). "Germany's Linde acquires BOC to create world's biggest gases group". The Guardian . Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  9. ↑ Keidel, Stefan (7 November 2006). "Finanzinvestoren kaufen Linde-Gabelstaplersparte". Die Welt . Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  10. ↑ Riske, Gordon (4 June 2013): "Die Stapler rollen an die Börse". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung .
  11. ↑ "Kion takes control of Chinese joint venture". Logistics Manager. 27 May 2010. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  12. ↑ "Voltas, Kion of Germany to form venture". The Hindu . 30 May 2011. Archived from the original on 26 March 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  13. ↑ "Voltas joins hands with Kion to make forklift trucks". The Hindu Businessline. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  14. ↑ "Kion Group acquires Indian forklift manufacturer Voltas Material Handling". Supply Chain Management Review . 5 November 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  15. ↑ Burkitt, Laurie (31 August 2012). "Shandong Heavy Invests in Germany". Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  16. ↑ "Kion Group and Konecranes collaborate in the container handling truck business". Konecranes . 18 February 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  17. ↑ "Juni-Gewitter lässt Dax-Gewinne schrumpfen". Manager Magazin . 28 June 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  18. ↑ "KION Group AG begrüßt Aufnahme in den MDAX (News mit Zusatzmaterial)". Handelsblatt . 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  19. ↑ "Kion will stärker in Indien expandieren". Börsen-Zeitung . 29 August 2014.
  20. ↑ "Voltas Material Handling to use Kion India brand name". Business Standard . 4 September 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  21. ↑ "Kion setzt auf den Google-Stapler". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . 18 March 2016.
  22. ↑ "Dematic acquired by Kion Group". Supply Chain Management Review . 21 June 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  23. ↑ "Kion-Zentrale künftig in Frankfurt". Frankfurter Rundschau . 11 January 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  24. ↑ Herrmann, Wolfgang (11 April 2019). "Der Digital Campus treibt Innovationen voran". CIO Magazine . Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  25. ↑ "Kion AG takes minority stake in Chinese truck maker EP Equipment". DCVelocity. Archived from the original on 2023-11-29. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  26. ↑ "BMZ Holding and KION Group to launch joint venture for lithium-ion batteries" (PDF). BMZ Group (Press Release). Frankfurt. 11 July 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  27. ↑ "Kion Group opens plant in India". Inside Logistics. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  28. ↑ "Logistics Automation Global Market Report 2022: Featuring WiseTech, Kion Group, Swisslog Holding, Toshiba, Oracle & More". Yahoo! Finance . 21 November 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  29. ↑ "Kion expandiert in Polen". Logistik: Das Schweizer Fachmedium für Logistikprozesse. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  30. ↑ "Kion opens China plant". Inside Logistics. 28 December 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  31. ↑ "KION Group financial results 2024". KION Group. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  32. ↑ "Kion Group AG". CIO. 2022. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  33. ↑ "KION GROUP AG financial data". Marketscreener. Archived from the original on 2024-03-25. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  34. ↑ "KION Group announces efficiency program". KION Group. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  35. ↑ "Kion macht 2019 bessere Geschäfte als erwartet". Handelsblatt . 17 January 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  36. ↑ "Intralogistik: Kion übernimmt Dematic". Beschaffung aktuell. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  37. ↑ "Gabelstaplerhersteller Kion verpasst sich neue Struktur". Börsen-Zeitung . 27 November 2015.
  38. ↑ "Der Logistik-Leader". Börsen-Kurier. 13 November 2014.
  39. ↑ "Strategie: Kion Group arbeitet jetzt mit Quicktron zusammen". Logistik Heute. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  40. ↑ Krischke, Inka (4 October 2021). "Fraunhofer IML: Fahrzeugschwarm wird industrialisiert". Computer & Automation. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  41. ↑ Haus, Mareike (6 December 2023). "Linde und TH Aschaffenburg entwickeln autonome Outdoor-Stapler". Verkehrsrundschau. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  42. ↑ "NVIDIA, Accenture, and KION Use Physical AI to Transform Warehousing". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  43. ↑ "Wasserstoff: Kion will Brennstoffzellen für Intralogistik fertigen". Logistik Heute. 12 January 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  44. ↑ Burgert, Thomas (11 January 2023). "Kion will eigene Brennstoffzellensysteme entwickeln". Verkehrsrundschau. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  45. ↑ Tomppert, Bettina (27 July 2023). "Kion Group steigert Profitabilität im ersten Halbjahr 2023". Industrieanzeiger. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  46. ↑ Lehmann, Sandra (27 September 2023). "Kreislaufwirtschaft: Kion startet nachhaltiges Recyclingverfahren für Lithium-Ionen-Batterien". Logistik Heute. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.