KHS continues to grow in 2014

 
Dortmund, June 26, 2015 – KHS GmbH can look back on a very successful business year; in 2014 the manufacturer of filling and packaging systems for the beverage, food and non-food industries increased its sales by 5.8% to €1.08 billion. This was chiefly thanks to the expansion of its service business which the company is continuing to build up this year. With many innovations KHS also cemented its position as one of the market and technology leaders in the last year. 

„We're very pleased with how the last business year has gone and will continue to set course for innovation and growth," states Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Niemeyer, CEO of KHS GmbH. Business was especially good in Europe, with the company generating 35.3% of sales on its home continent (previous year: 32.8%). Other regions throughout the world also helped to promote growth at KHS, with the Middle East and Africa making up a 15.7% share of total sales, Asia and Pacific accounting for 23.8% and USA and Latin America for 25.2%. The total order entry was still at a high level of about €1.1 billion as of December 31, 2014. 

This renewed growth is not just attributable to KHS' project business but also to the fact that the systems manufacturer has expanded its service business. Thanks to the establishment of the new KHS World Logistics Center with its larger stock in Dortmund, Germany, KHS customers are now profiting from a higher availability of spare parts, faster logistics and shorter delivery times. The company also increased its warehousing capacities at other locations, such as Shanghai, in order to further optimize the international supply of spare parts. The new local presence of various KHS companies – KHS East Africa Ltd. in Kenya, KHS Panamericana SpA. in Chile and the service base in Dubai, to name but three – also increases worldwide coverage by KHS service engineers.

With such a positive corporate development behind it KHS is continuing to strive towards its vision of becoming technological leader. One pioneering invention in the company portfolio is the world's lightest 0.5-liter PET bottle for highly carbonated beverages with a screw cap and a weight of just 10.9 grams. In mass production a reduction in weight and material of this magnitude soon yields a financial saving that goes into six figures (in €). This technology is being successively transfered to other segments, too; recently a 1-liter bottle for milk and mixed milk beverages weighing just 20 grams was readied for market. "This approach is of great interest to both existing and new customers, as our rising number of inquiries shows," explains Niemeyer. 

The high level of the research and development work being carried out by KHS is not least manifested in the company being presented with the 2014 German Packaging Award. The innovations to win the prize were the Direct Print Powered by KHSTM bottle printing process, currently at the prototype stage, and the sustainable Nature MultiPackTM packaging system. At the beginning of the year the KHS Innofill Glass bottling system again received the internationally coveted certificate for energy-efficient machines and systems from TÜV SÜD in Munich, Germany, in accordance with TÜV SÜD's energy and media efficiency standard. A further highlight of 2014 is the newly developed Plasmax+ coating technology process which gives beverages and liquid foods with a higher pH of 4.5 or more better long-term stability. 

KHS is expecting further growth with its future-oriented technologies in 2015. One of the projects KHS is forging ahead with is its Bottles & Shapes™ program, for instance. This holistic service for the development of bottle designs is aimed at increasing product quality and economy when bottling beverages. Bottles & Shapes™ was in especially great demand from KHS customers in 2014, echoed in the record growth in blow mold production of 25% compared to 2013. Other established systems, such as the Innofill Can DVD can filler with an output of 132,000 cans per hour, are also seen as growth factors for the future.

About KHS GmbH
KHS GmbH is one of the leading manufacturers of filling and packaging systems for the beverage, food and non-food industries. Headquartered in Dortmund, Germany, the company has an international production network with over 4,600 employees worldwide. In 2015 KHS was awarded the Top 100 seal of approval for exceptional innovative power and outstanding innovative success among German SMEs.  KHS GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Salzgitter AG. With around 25,000 employees throughout the globe the German steel and technology group achieved a turnover of over €9 billion in the 2014 business year. Within the Salzgitter Group the KHS Group and two other special machine manufacturers make up the Technology Division and are part of the core business of the MDAX-listed corporation.