KONE

Kone is to make the world’s cities, buildings and public spaces, they believe that cities of the solution for a better future. They are one of the global leaders in the lift and escalator industry. Founded in 1910, they have been committed to understanding the needs of their customers for over a century. 

They provide innovative and eco-efficient solutions for lifts, escalators and automatic building doors. Their objective is to offer the best People Flow® experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanising environment.

Kone (then known as Osakeyhtiö Kone Aktiebolag) was founded in 1910 as a subsidiary of Gottfr. In 1912, Lorenz Petrell, head of Strömberg's elevator activities, was named managing director of its Kone subsidiary. The company sold just a few units before terminating the licensing agreement in 1917. Kone, then a company with only 50 employees, started to make and install its own elevators in 1918.

The company's initial elevator experience was positive, prompting the company to turn its focus to elevators in the early 1920s. Kone featured in Finland’s sporting history when its technical director at the time, Walter Jakobsson, and his wife, Ludovika, won Olympic gold in mixed pairs skating. In 1927 Kone moved into new, far larger production facilities, after buying a former margarine factory.

By the end of 1928, the company had produced more than 1,000 elevators. Kone was cranking out an elevator a day. His son, Heikki H. Herlin, joined the company and was appointed technical director. Heikki H. Herlin took over as Kone's president in 1932. In 1939 Kone celebrated the production of its 3,000th elevator. Heikki Herlin took over the chairmanship of the company upon his father's death in 1941.

The bombing of Helsinki and the demand for industrial cranes to meet wartime production needs to be forced Kone in 1943 to move its crane production from its increasingly cramped factory in the Finnish capital to Hyvinkää, 55 kilometres away. The Kone logo was redesigned in 1948.

Kone opened its own vocational school in 1951. At the same time, it had to increase its skills and capacity to meet Soviet demands for larger and more demanding equipment than it had ever produced as part of the post-war reparations program. As a result, Kone was well placed to continue exporting to Soviet customers when the program ended in 1952. Heikki Herlin’s son Pekka Herlin joined Kone in 1954.

Kone's first foreign subsidiary – AB Kone Hissar of Sweden – was established in 1957. Pekka Herlin replaced his father as Kone president in 1964. Two years later, the company opened a new, state-of-the-art elevator production facility in Hyvinkaa. By 1967 Kone’s business had evolved, and the logo was redesigned to represent the company’s international ambitions. The company acquires the elevator and escalator business of Sweden's ASEA a year later. 

Kone opened a new elevator testing laboratory at the top of its 68-meter-high test tower in Hyvinkää, Finland, in the summer of 1976. The company acquired Navire Cargo Gear in 1982 and International MacGregor, makers of shipboard cargo access equipment.

First to go was the company's conveyor and bulk handling businesses, which were sold off in 1986. A year later, after 60 years as a member of Kone's board of directors and 46 as its chairman, Heikki H. Herlin retired.

In 1990 the Kone logo was tweaked. Next, the company's cargo access wing, MacGregor-Navire, was sold to Incentive Group, based in Sweden, in 1993. In 1997 the company held maintenance and modernization contracts on more than 400,000 elevators worldwide. Whereas Europe traditionally has been the company's primary sales base, representing 55 percent of company revenues, the company has made strong inroads into the United States market, which provides 29 percent of company sales. In 1998 the company made a $29 million (US) investment in the construction of an elevator and escalator factory in Kunshan, China. 

In 2000, Kone sold off the American factory in Winfield, KS to Wittur. Two years later, Kone acquired Partek, a Finnish industrial engineering company with net sales equal to Kone's. Antti Herlin was subsequently appointed the new chairman of the board in June 2003. Kone decided to concentrate on Container Handling and Load Handling and the tractor and forest machine businesses were sold. As the structure of Kone Materials Handling changed significantly, the name Kone Cargotec was introduced in January 2004. The Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting in December approved the Demerger Plan. The transition was completed in June 2005 when both companies were listed as separate entities on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. The demerger was completed. When Matti Alahuhta was appointed Kone president at the beginning of 2005, he set out to streamline Kone’s organization and improve performance across the board. Sales: EUR 2.9 billion ($3.4 billion).

Kone celebrated its 100-year anniversary at its 1,000 locations around the world in 2010. The iconic machine-room-less Kone MonoSpace® elevator was completely upgraded in 2012, resetting the industry benchmark with leading eco-efficient performance, premium ride comfort and award-winning design. In April 2014, Alahuhta stepped down and Kone's CFO at the time, Henrik Ehrnrooth was appointed Alahuhta's successor.

In September 2015 Kone repositioned itself for the digital era, announcing the creation of a new Technology & Innovation unit that brings together Kone’s R&D and IT functions. Kone’s Capital Markets Day 2018 was held in Helsinki on September 25.

“To improve the flow of urban life. As a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, Kone provides elevators, escalators and automatic building doors, as well as solutions for maintenance and modernization to add value to buildings throughout their life cycle.”

“We make people's journeys safe, convenient and reliable, in taller, smarter buildings.”