KION Group Starts New Forklift Production in Kolbaskowo, Poland

The intralogistics group KION is making a total investment of around €80 million at its site in Kołbaskowo, Poland. A new production facility for forklifts is being established. Up to 400 new jobs are expected to be created by the end of 2023. The production with engineering will take place on approximately 44,000 square meters. An expansion option is already planned.

(Frankfurt/Main) KION GROUP AG has launched a state-of-the-art facility for industrial trucks in Kołbaskowo, Poland, near Szczecin. At the new site, counterbalance forklifts for all brands of the KION Industrial Trucks & Services segment will be produced, including product series from Western European locations, to further develop them in terms of automation and digitalization. In the coming year, additional product series that have so far been produced exclusively in Xiamen (China) will also be localized in Kołbaskowo to accelerate delivery times.

The new plant in Poland complements the existing production sites of the KION Group across Europe and is particularly aimed at serving customers with less intensive operating conditions in the EMEA region. “The new location in the heart of Europe is ideally suited to tap into the potential of this dynamic market segment,” explains Gordon Riske, CEO of KION GROUP AG. “Moreover, we can leverage an excellent supplier network here, close to the German-Polish border.”

State-of-the-art and Attractive Work Environment

The KION Group aims to better support its customers in the growth of the intralogistics industry in the EMEA region with its three strong brands: Linde Material Handling, STILL, and Baoli. For this purpose, KION Group has invested a total of around €80 million in the new facility. By the end of 2023, the global leader in material handling and logistics equipment aims to create up to 400 jobs at the Polish site. “We offer our new employees a state-of-the-art and attractive work environment. Additionally, the new site, with its engineering capabilities, has long-term development prospects,” emphasizes plant manager Tomasz Maleszka.

On an area of approximately 18 hectares, alongside a state-of-the-art and sustainably designed production facility, there is also an administrative area with a total area of almost 44,000 square meters – equivalent to about six football fields. The new site is already prepared for future growth of the intralogistics group: there are expansion possibilities of up to approximately 20,000 square meters on the property.

The KION Group in Poland

The brands of the KION Group have been successfully present in Poland for many decades. As a result, KION Group is one of the leading forklift and warehouse technology providers in the country. In the past year, more than 25,000 new vehicles were ordered in Poland, about 30 percent of which were from KION Group brands.

The sales subsidiaries of Linde Material Handling Polska Sp. z o.o. and STILL POLSKA Sp. z o.o. are sought-after partners for customers of modern industrial trucks and focus on comprehensive service and extensive intralogistics solutions. The offerings cater to both international corporations and smaller family businesses that value powerful, innovative, and technologically leading products of the highest quality. STILL also operates a refurbishment center for used equipment in Rokietnica near Poznań. Here, around 2,000 industrial trucks are refurbished annually on an area of 2,500 square meters.

KION subsidiary Dematic, a global specialist in material flow with intelligent software, supply chain, and automation solutions to optimize supply chains, is also represented with its own branch, Dematic Poland Sp. z o.o., in Poznań. Additionally, KION Group operates a Center of Excellence for Finance & Accounting Services, IT, and Procurement with KION Business Services in Kraków. Currently, more than 1,200 employees work for the KION Group in Poland.

Photo: © KION