Fundamentals of the KION Group
Management and control
At the Annual General Meeting on 12 May 2015, Birgit Behrendt and Xu Ping were elected as new members of the Supervisory Board for the period up to the 2017 Annual General Meeting. They had both been temporarily appointed to the Supervisory Board with effect from 1 January 2015 following the departure of Silke Scheiber and Dr Martin Hintze from the Supervisory Board on 31 December 2014.
Dr Eike Böhm was appointed to the Executive Board in the new role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) with effect from 1 August 2015. In this function, he holds groupwide responsibility for research and development (R&D), quality and procurement. By comprehensively restructuring R&D in this way, the KION Group aims to harness the full potential of cross-brand synergies in product development.
Wolfgang Faden was appointed as a new member of the Supervisory Board with effect from 1 August 2015. He succeeds Johannes Huth, a member of the Executive Committee of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Partners LLP. Huth had stepped down from his post on 31 July 2015 after KION Group AG shares held in funds advised by KKR had been sold in full.
There were no other changes to the membership of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board in the third quarter.
Strategy of the KION Group
With its Strategy 2020, the KION Group wants to close the gap with its biggest competitor in terms of size and market penetration and, at the same time, to further strengthen its position as a supplier of material handling solutions. Furthermore, the KION Group aims to improve its EBIT margin so that it is permanently in the double digit range – a target that remains unchanged in communications since the IPO. In addition, yet more efficient use of capital should help the KION Group to remain highly profitable, even in the event of economic downturn. To this end, the KION Group is building on its successful multi-brand approach underpinned by a comprehensive module and platform strategy, strengthening its presence in the United States and in key growth markets, such as China, and expanding its already very strong service business.
The KION Group continued to forge ahead with this strategy in the third quarter. Following the successful completion of its acquisition of Egemin Automation, the KION Group can now offer automated end-to-end logistics solutions, which will become hugely important in the context of Industry 4.0. Collaboration between Egemin Automation and the other brands in the KION Group is also being stepped up in order to create a comprehensive portfolio of automated trucks in volume production along with standard automation concepts. Furthermore, the KION Group’s investment in its core Linde and STILL plants in Aschaffenburg and Hamburg and the construction of a new factory in the Czech Republic are generating lasting increases in the Group’s efficiency and competitiveness.
Further details on the Strategy 2020 can be found in the 2014 group management report. The company profile and description of the management system in that report also continue to apply without change.
The segments and their products and services
The subsidiary KION India (formerly Voltas Material Handling Pvt. Ltd.) was integrated into the LMH segment with effect from 1 January 2015. Previously the entity was in the Other segment. Egemin Automation has been included in the Other segment since completion of the acquisition on 7 August 2015.