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KONE enters a new phase of its strategy: ‘Sustainable success with customers’

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KONE Corporation, press release, January 28, 2021



 KONE, a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, enters a new phase of its strategy: ‘Sustainable success with customers’. During the four-year strategy period, KONE will focus on increasing the value we create for customers with new intelligent solutions and will embed sustainability even deeper across all of its operations.

During its successful ‘Winning with Customers’ strategy between 2017 and 2020, KONE took clear steps to become more customer-centric and better equipped to serve customers in a rapidly changing environment. In addition, KONE has introduced game-changers such as KONE 24/7 Connected Services predictive maintenance solutions as well KONE DX Class elevators, the world’s first digitally connected elevator series. The company intends to build on all these strengths.

Urbanization, sustainability and technology are three megatrends which continue to be key drivers in the development of the elevator and escalator industry. Against this backdrop, ‘Sustainable success with customers’ will address the needs of a digitally enabled world, where the ways people live, work and commute continue to change. KONE will focus on developing smart and sustainable solutions that adapt to future needs, together with its customers and partners. By doing this, KONE will enable customers’ facilities to function more effectively and to deliver an improved user experience. 

“The next phase in KONE's strategy will build on what we have achieved during our ‘Winning with Customers’ strategy. We will continue to expand customer value and differentiate more strongly. The service business in China will provide strong growth opportunities in the coming years. In addition, we will further raise our ambitions in sustainability, by embedding it deeper in all aspects of our business. I am excited about the opportunities this new phase in KONE's development will bring, linking our success more tightly to our customers’ success", says Henrik Ehrnrooth, KONE President and CEO.

 KONE Mission and Vision 

KONE’s mission is to improve the flow of urban life. This means understanding urbanization and helping customers make cities better and more sustainable places to live. 

KONE’s vision is to create the best People Flow experience. The best experience can be created by working together with customers and partners in every step of the process, from early engagement to upgrading equipment.

Clear focus areas for success

In order to bring clear direction to our strategy, KONE has defined four Where to Win areas, representing the biggest opportunities for profitable growth and differentiation:

  • Core products and services: matching customer specific needs for a seamless experience through connectivity and adaptability. All products and services will be optimized for cost efficiency and sustainability.
  • New solutions for customer value: developed and integrated with core products and services to create value for customers in new ways.
  • Smart and sustainable cities: becoming the preferred partner for smart and sustainable city development.
  • Service business in China: becoming a clear market leader in this very fast-growing and fragmented market.

In addition, the following Ways to Win are KONE-wide transformation and development initiatives which will enable us to create ‘Sustainable success with customers’:

  • Empowered people: having the most capable and engaged team of professionals who succeed in a changing world and are able to develop with continuous learning opportunities.
  • Marketing and sales renewal: creating a seamless, unified customer experience across multiple channels.
  • Lean KONE: leveraging Lean skills, practices and leadership to eliminate waste and ensure continuous improvement.
  • Digital + physical enterprise: having future-proof technology infrastructure, building the capabilities to use data and analytics and further developing the efficiency and resilience of our supply chain.
 

KONE’s strategic and financial targets remain unchanged.

KONE measures progress against five strategic targets:

  • Great place to work
  • Most loyal customers
  • Faster than market growth
  • Best financial development
  • Leader in sustainability

The company’s long-term financial targets are:

  • Growth: Faster than the market
  • Profitability: To reach an EBIT margin of 16%
  • Cash flow: Improved working capital rotation 
 

For further information, please contact:

Investors: Sanna Kaje, Vice President, Investor Relations, KONE Corporation, tel. +358 204 75 4705 
Media: Hanna Rutanen, Director, External Communications, KONE Corporation, tel. +358 41 507 1361, media@kone.com


Read more
Previous press releases are available at https://www.kone.com/en/news-and-insights/releases/ including:
September 28, 2020: KONE sets ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets and pledges to have carbon neutral operations by 2030


About KONE
At KONE, our mission is 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. Through more effective People Flow®, we make people's journeys safe, convenient and reliable, in taller, smarter buildings. In 2020, KONE had annual sales of EUR 9.9 billion, and at the end of the year over 60,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. in Finland.
www.kone.com

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