KION GROUP AG expands its production facility in Stříbro, Czech Republic

- Third factory building brought on stream

- Manufacture of material handling equipment by KION subsidiary Dematic for seamless warehouse logistics

- KION CEO Gordon Riske: "We expanded the production facility in Stříbro in response to the sustained boom in e-commerce"

Frankfurt am Main/Stříbro, September 14, 2020 - KION GROUP AG has added a third factory building at its site in Stříbro near the Czech city of Plzeň. The building, which covers 25,500 square meters, was constructed in less than one year and is operated by KION subsidiary Dematic. The KION Group, which specializes in intralogistics, has invested about €2 million in the new factory. It will be used for the manufacture of conveyor belts, pouch sorting systems, and storage and retrieval equipment - known as Multishuttle systems - that ensure the smooth flow of goods in warehouses and distribution centers.

KION's subsidiary Dematic is a global leader in material handling using intelligent software and automation solutions for the optimization of supply chains. In the first half of this year, the KION Supply Chain Solutions segment increased its order intake by 57.3 percent to €1.744 billion (previous year: €1.109 billion). Over 6,000 installed systems from the KION Group are deployed by large and small customers in a variety of industries on six different continents. Dematic currently has around 150 permanent employees in Stříbro, and this number is rising.

"We expanded the production facility in Stříbro, one of our largest sites worldwide, in response to the growing trend for omnichannel solutions and the sustained boom in e-commerce," says Gordon Riske, Chief Executive Officer of KION GROUP AG. He adds that Dematic is focusing its expertise on innovative, industry-specific warehouse logistics solutions, such as automated storage and retrieval systems, automated guided vehicle systems, Multishuttle systems and, increasingly, robotics.

"I am very pleased with the successful completion of the third KION Group project in our industrial zone as I am extremely satisfied with the cooperation with this company. The company acts openly with willingness respecting the principles of social responsibility. Last but not least, I would like to emphasize that KION brought the end product manufacturing with high added value, as well as the qualified jobs," said the mayor of Kostelec u Stříbra, František Trhlík.

"When KION entered Panattoni Park Stříbro five years ago, it announced in advance that if it was successful in the area, it would build another building, and if it was very successful, it would build a total of three buildings. I'm very pleased that it finally chose the maximum expansion, because it means maximum satisfaction for all. Secondly, I would like to emphasize that KION's story testifies to the gradual transformation of Czech industry to the level of 4.0. All factories are fully digitized and their operations are paperless," says Pavel Sovička, Managing Director of Panattoni for Czech republic and Slovakia.

KION in the Czech Republic

KION GROUP AG officially opened its production facility in Stříbro, Czech Republic, in 2016. Since then, the world's second-largest manufacturer of forklift trucks and warehouse trucks has been deploying digitally connected systems at its state-of-the-art facility to create a 'smart factory'. Reach trucks and pallet stackers are built for the Linde MH brand at the KION Stříbro site.

The KION Group has a total of three sites in the Czech Republic. Besides the plant in Stříbro, where a transport company is also based, Linde Pohony (LiPo) makes steering axles and electric and hydrostatic drive axles in Český Krumlov for the KION Group's brands, while JULI, a joint venture of the KION Group near Brno, builds electric motors. In total, almost 1,500 people work at the three sites.

The Company

The KION Group is one of the world's leading providers for industrial trucks and supply chain solutions. Its portfolio encompasses industrial trucks, such as forklift trucks and warehouse equipment, as well as integrated automation technology and software solutions for the optimization of supply chains, including all related services. Across more than 100 countries worldwide, the KION Group's solutions improve the flow of material and information within factories, warehouses, and distribution centers. The Group, which is included in the MDAX, is the largest manufacturer of industrial trucks in Europe and the second largest worldwide in terms of units sold. It is also a leading provider of automation technology.

The KION Group's world-renowned brands are well established. Dematic, the newest addition to the KION Group, is a global leader in warehouse automation, providing a broad range of intelligent supply chain and automation solutions. The Linde and STILL brands serve the premium industrial truck segment. Baoli focuses on industrial trucks in the value segment. Among KION's regional industrial truck brand companies, Fenwick is the largest supplier of material handling products in France and OM is a provider of industrial trucks in the Indian market.

With an installed base of more than 1.5 million industrial trucks and over 6,000 installed systems, the KION Group's customers include companies in numerous industries of various sizes on six continents. The Group has currently more than 35,000 employees and generated revenue of €8.8 billion in 2019.

Current KION Group images can be found in our image database at https://mediacenter.kiongroup.com/categories and on the websites of our various brands.

(fgr)

Disclaimer

This release and the information contained herein are for information purposes only and do not constitute a prospectus or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction.

This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Future results could differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements due to certain factors, e.g. changes in business, economic and competitive conditions (including with respect to further developments in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic), regulatory reforms, results of technical studies, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, uncertainties in litigation or investigative proceedings, and the availability of financing. We do not undertake any responsibility to update the forward-looking statements in this release.

Further information for the media

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