Foreword

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

credibility, reliability and trust – in times of constant change and ever-closer collaboration across company and national boundaries, these factors are more important than ever. Like anything of value, however, these success factors do not create themselves; this takes hard work. Taking a sustainable approach that focuses on our stakeholders’ questions and requirements provides the main basis for this.

How are our products made? Can they be used safely and efficiently? How do we deal with the resources available to us? Do our global working conditions meet the same high standards? As a company, how are we contributing to society in many locations around the world where we strive to be not just an employer, but also a ‘good neighbour’? And how do we ensure that our suppliers also meet the same high standards that we set ourselves?

The KION Group Sustainability Report describes our answer to this and many other questions regarding the sustainability of the KION Group. Having laid the foundation last year for Group-wide reporting, this second report documents the progress we have made in recent months. It proves that we are not paying mere lip service to our pursuit of greater sustainability; rather, that it is a fundamental principle that we embrace within our Company. We see ourselves as well prepared for the future opportunities and challenges posed by intralogistics.

We are in an excellent starting position. Our Company is financially strong, and our market prospects are promising. We also offer our customers a wide range of products and services that are unparalleled in our industry – from hand pallet trucks to highly complex, automated material handling solutions.

We would not be satisfied with anything less, as we aim to be the best in everything we do. This aspiration is not only a quantitative, but also a qualitative promise. After all, it is not just about what you do – above all it is also about how you do it. In other words, we not only create added value for our customers through the comprehensive scope of our offering, but also through the quality of our solutions that are focused on our customers’ requirements and which we supply efficiently, safely and reliably.

This is also how we are approaching our sustainability activities based on our sustainability strategy that aims to balance economic, environmental and social aspects. Embedding this strategy and the associated Group-level sustainability programme was one of our key sustainability initiatives in 2017 – another milestone in our Company’s history that we have achieved successfully. Through this we have laid the cornerstones of our commitment. And it goes beyond this: with specific objectives and measures in 14 action fields we ensure that the sustainable approach we are taking as the material basis of our business success shapes the actions of our executives and employees around the world.

Now it is time to put these principles into action. We want to make the KION Group the industry benchmark along the entire value chain. Together with our suppliers and business partners, we want to try to get just that bit better every day.

We do so because we believe that taking a sustainable approach is the basis for our business success. And even if we have not achieved our goal yet, we have set out on this path and we fully intend to achieve what we set out to do. To this end, we work in our customers’ interests each and every day.

I am delighted that you are accompanying us on this journey, and I hope you find this report both informative and interesting!

Gordon Riske
Chief Executive Officer
KION GROUP AG