KNAPP celebrates grand opening of phase 1 facility in Kennesaw, Ga.

KNAPP has announced the grand opening of its Phase 1 facility expansion in Kennesaw, Ga.

Fueled by major projects in grocery, retail, healthcare and eCommerce sectors, the $7 million initial investment is the first step in expanding U.S. operations to meet the rapidly growing demand in North America. Including office space for up to 250 employees, the facility has added space for 400 employees and a 15,000-square-foot state-of-the-art automated parts warehouse, including KNAPP’s OSR Shuttle™ Evo – as well as expanded parts and customer service capabilities.

Josef Mentzer, CEO of KNAPP, explained that “Market demand for automated warehousing, distribution and order fulfillment systems has risen sharply in recent years. The corresponding demand for software solutions to drive these systems and help companies transition to the digital economy is also accelerating rapidly, and this has driven a three-year 404% growth in our business that is fueling our expansion”. In addition, KNAPP is creating a North American Center of Excellence and expanding our global footprint with the addition of expertise and capabilities from mechanical and electrical engineering, to software development, program and project management.

The U.S. labor shortage coupled with the market opportunity driven by emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence, cloud-based technology and internet of things technology (IoT) are all factors in KNAPPs accelerating investment in US based facilities and workforce. The combination of market factors and KNAPP investment in market leading innovation have resulted in increased demand, and sizeable, and recently acquired multi-year contracts.

Gernot Rupp, COO added “we have been very fortunate that the company commitment to R&D, a 7% year-over-year investment, has resulted in a number of industry leading supply chain software and automation products. This had a direct impact on our relationship with industry sector leaders, adding major contracts with top 5 global companies in grocery, retail, healthcare and eCommerce based here in the U.S.”