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Innovation and Partnership: a Story of Success

16.06.2025

The KNAPP group can look back on a highly successful fiscal year 2024/25.

This year’s financial result, with a total of 1.98 billion euros in turnover and an order intake of 2.13 billion euros, is the strongest in the Styrian company’s history, marking a 10 % increase from last year’s turnover. Profitable growth allows the company to make targeted investments in processes, organizations and above all in its technology portfolio. KNAPP has also continued to uphold their role as a leading value chain tech partner with innovations such as the new AeroBot storage system and with the broadest warehousing portfolio on the market. Stable partnerships and close collaboration with customers and employees are cornerstones of the company strategy and are especially important in globally challenging times.

Strong through partnership and process know-how

»No two business cases are ever alike. The differences always lie in the processes, not in the technology,« explains KNAPP COO Franz Mathi. With this in mind, KNAPP creates custom, easy-to-maintain systems, whether they are new constructions or a modernization of existing infrastructure. The trust that many long-term customers have placed in KNAPP – including the Australian supermarket chain Woolworths, the US retail giant Walmart, the sporting goods manufacturer Asics and the German logistics provider Arvato – underscores KNAPP’s comprehensive mastery of solutions.

A central element of this is the security KNAPP offers, both for data and for investments. IT security is an integral factor for reliably connecting all processes. Centralized responsibility and long-term partnerships allow KNAPP to ensure that their customers are not only protected from current threats but also well positioned to continue developing their systems so that they are secure for the future. »Our customers can rest assured that we provide high-performance systems along with the support they need for decades to come. We see ourselves as a long-term partner. We think in terms of complete processes to create solutions that will meet not just current demands but those of the future as well,« says KNAPP CEO Gerald Hofer.

Innovation as the driver of success

One highlight of the past year was the launch of the new bot-based storage system, AeroBot. The system is a combined storage and retrieval system, making it ideal for small and medium-scale applications. For its innovative approach, AeroBot was awarded the Best Product Award at this year’s LogiMAT, the leading intralogistics trade fair. »The AeroBot system is another milestone in our long line of innovations. As with any other development, the AeroBot is a result of our customers’ current needs,« says KNAPP CEO Gerald Hofer. At the same time, KNAPP has also expanded their current shuttle portfolio for highly dynamic storage and retrieval with faster lift systems and new low-temperature applications. KNAPP also continued to strengthen their market position for pallet solutions with a smart mix of stacker cranes, AMRs, conveyor systems and solutions for palletizing and depalletizing. In the market segment for high performance sorting, KNAPP also strengthened their performance capabilities. Finally, KNAPP is setting whole new innovative standards with their digital solution portfolio. With their new KiSoft Delivery Solution software, KNAPP aims to optimize last mile transport logistics. Debuting at one of the largest retailers in Spain, the new solution has delivered more efficient routes, better vehicle capacity utilization and palpable savings in CO2.

Global success, regional roots

The technology company has always charted their course for innovation and strong global growth, bolstering their presence in their core sectors of healthcare, fashion, food, retail, wholesale and manufacturing. With 8,300 employees worldwide of which 4,300 work in Austria, KNAPP is successful on an international level and is an important employer in Styria and many locations worldwide. In response to global competitive pressure and relentless shortages in qualified personnel, the demand for automation solutions is gaining traction across the globe. In Europe, order intake for the concern has been very good across all their core sectors. The commissioning of an omnichannel automation solution for the DOUGLAS Group in Germany was particularly good news. Consolidating six warehouses into one central warehouse was made possible by intelligently combining a number of integrated technologies. The warehouse’s 2D shuttle solution is the world’s largest in the cosmetics sector and offers maximum flexibility and storage density. In the US, the company implemented important projects, more significantly in the healthcare sector. Automation solutions for pharmacies and medication logistics made appreciable contributions to company success. In Latin America, renowned customers such as the multinational Falabella group, Brazilian clothier Lojas Renner and Chilean retailer Cencosud all decided to work with the technology company from Styria, Austria. Investments in research and development as well as the expansion of the organization are important elements in KNAPP’s strategy to be a reliable partner worldwide, independent and close to their customers. In the past year, around 100 million euros was invested in innovation with a further 80 million euros invested in organization and infrastructure – »This is an expression of the long-term commitment the company has with regard to their employees and customers,« states KNAPP CFO Christian Grabner.