Krones AG is a world-famous beverage machinery manufacturer. Mr. Volker Kroneseder, Krones’ second-generation leader, has been paying close attention to China and China’s beverage industry. Before the 29th Beijing Olympiad, the reporter from China Beverage had the honor to have an exclusive interview with him.

Reporter: Mr. Kroneseder, mergers are always considered a shortcut for many foreign companies to enter China, what’s your opinion about it? In which way will Krones develop in China? What goal do you have for Krones’ development in China? And what are your essentials in localization?

Kronesder: Mergers often take place between enterprises in trouble. But the newly-emerging enterprise may be hard to reach what’s anticipated due to the unsatisfactory blending of structures and the difference in management concepts. Only a part of enterprises on an equal footing succeed in mergers. The reason lies in the different cultures existing between the enterprises, which is especially evident for enterprises from different countries. Krones chose a way different from conventional mergers when setting up its sub-company in Taicang. This decision came from the following goals we desired to reach: 1. to set up a production base of change parts, assembly parts and single machines; 2. to organize the training of production line operators by the Chinese technical trainers; and 3. to set up a production cycle center with a view of obtaining the first-hand information about the market. At the same time, China Division we set up in our headquarters in Germany has worked as a bridge to link our clients closely with all our sub-companies.  

Reporter: Beginning with its first semi-automatic labeler, Krones has stepped on a road of innovation through continuous development and long-term leading. How will Krones keep its role as the leader in the beverage equipment industry ever-progressing in China in recent years? And in your opinion, in which aspects will the future technological advances of the beverage equipment industry be embodied?

Kronesder: R&D always has priority in Krones’ operation, and we use 5-7% of our sales volume for it. Meanwhile, we have been positively encouraging technological innovations to carry on my father’s innovative spirits in Krones. At present, the focal points of our technological innovations are concentrated upon the effective utilization of energy and the protection of resources. The simplification of operation is also focused on to maximize productivity. It’s our idea to consider and design the entire line comprehensively so as to optimize the connection of joint points. At the same time, we do our work in combination with process flow and technology as well as logistics management with a view of providing a series of technologies from beverage making to palletizing and to warehousing.     

Reporter: The global energy shortage in recent years and the sustainable development of the world both set higher demands for energy conservation and consumption reduction as well as cleaner production of beverage equipment. Would you please give us a description of Krones’ technical applications and prospective developments concerned?

Kronesder: We have included energy conservation and consumption reduction in Krones’ strategic development goals. Besides economic benefits, we should pay attention to environmental protection to bear the due social responsibility of an enterprise. As for production, we call this idea as Enviro. With Enviro, we guarantee that single machines and production lines we produce are all up to the standards of environmental protection in all respects. Moreover, with Enviro, we can help our clients to record the energy consumption of their machines so as to support the environmental protection of these companies. What’s mentioned above can be well demonstrated by the following two examples: in beer brewing, with our VarioFlash, about 50-70% of energy consumption can be reduced compared with other identical systems; and in beverage filling, a 60000 b/h filling line only consumes 20% more energy than a 30000 b/h filling line, but not 100%.