Sustainability

The KION Group contributes to the achievement of SDG 3 in two key areas: by implementing effective health and safety management measures in the workplace and by offering products and solutions that aim to set new standards of workplace safety and ergonomics.

Our comprehensive HSE (health, safety, environment) management ensures that our workplaces are safe and the health of our employees is safeguarded. Metrics such as the illness rate and the lost time injury frequency rate provide a transparent picture of our progress in this area and a basis for the definition of concrete targets. To promote continuous improvement, we have implemented measures that reach virtually everyone in the company – from safety reminders at the start of meetings to the promotion of safe and ergonomic workplace design, and even campaigns to raise awareness about healthy eating.

Active and passive safety systems built into Linde and STILL industrial trucks ensure maximum safety and reduce the risk of accidents. At the same time, our trucks’ decoupled operator cabs and shock-absorbing driver’s workstations are designed to offer the highest possible level of ergonomic support. Dematic’s logistics solutions use intelligent control software that helps to increase efficiency while also reducing risks and avoiding dangerous situations.

Climate protection is a core objective of the KION Group in the environmental sphere (see also SDG 13). We are therefore working hard to reduce the company’s energy consumption systematically and we endeavor to substitute energy sources with lower-emission ones where possible. In this respect, our primary focus is on electricity, the main form of energy consumed at our plants.

To the greatest possible extent, we are shifting the electricity mix of our plants toward renewable energy sources. We are also using photovoltaic technology to generate electricity, for example at our Summerville site in the US state of South Carolina and at our plant in Pune, India.

Respecting human rights and compliance with essential environmental standards are fundamental principles of our activities – all around the world. We clearly state this in our statement on the KION Group's human rights strategy.

The KION Group strives to ensure the personal dignity of every individual and promotes mutual respect, regardless of characteristics such as gender, skin color, ethnic or social background, age, or religion. These principles are firmly enshrined in the minimum employment standards of the KION Group, which apply worldwide and across all Group sites. We are a global enterprise with a diverse workforce from all parts of the world. In addition to equality of opportunity and the fair treatment of all employees, the company’s understanding of diversity therefore also involves tolerance and respect for different ways of thinking. Standardized talent management processes support the elimination of diversity-related barriers to career progression.

The high standards that we apply to our own practices also shape the setup of our supply chains. We require those who want to collaborate with us to show the same level of commitment to promoting diversity and equality of opportunity, and we expect to see this reflected in their actions. For example, our suppliers are obliged to combat all forms of discrimination under the KION Group Principles of Supplier Conduct. After all, we know that our responsibility does not end at the gates of our factories.

The KION Group is a trailblazer in the field of green intralogistics. Regardless of the drive technology, we design our products and solutions to have minimum environmental impact and maximum energy efficiency, because we want to offer our customers solutions that are not only ideally suited to their relevant area of application, but also climate-friendly, resource-efficient, and therefore cost-effective. Especially when it comes to developing sustainable drive technologies – such as lithium-ion batteries or fuel cells – we see ourselves as an industry pioneer that is making a significant contribution to the protection of our climate and the natural environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to making our products and solutions as safe and user-friendly as possible, we always keep our customers up to date about how to use our products safely (see also SDG 3).

Socially and environmentally responsible sourcing processes, including defined minimum standards for our suppliers, enhance the sustainability of our production. Our expectations and aspirations are clearly outlined in a set of concrete requirements and rules. EcoVadis assessments are used to prompt suppliers to provide information about their sustainability performance.

We support the agreements reached at the Paris Climate Change Conference, especially the objective of limiting global warming to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Against this backdrop, we set ourselves a climate target in 2018 based on scientific research: By 2027, we want to reduce our Group’s energy-related emissions by 30 percent (reference year: 2017). Reducing our energy consumption – for example across our vehicle fleets – and using low-emission energy sources (see also SDG 7) are key levers we need to shift within our business to reach this climate target.

Certified lifecycle assessments of our most important products have revealed that energy and fuel consumption are the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions during their use phase. Enhancing energy efficiency is therefore a priority in product development. And we are also including our supply chain in our efforts to mitigate climate change (see also SDG 12).

In the KION Group, we know that it takes concerted action to effect lasting change. Close involvement of relevant stakeholders and targeted partnerships, aimed at achieving more by joining forces, therefore form a key element of our sustainability management. For instance, we support the Blue Competence sustainability initiative within the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA). And as a member of various other associations and boards, we are also involved in the development of environmental standards under schemes such as ISO, CEN, and DIN.