KNAPP Company Profile: History, Structure, Products and Leadership

Oct 11

3 min read

Updated: 7 days ago

KNAPP is an Austrian warehouse automation group with about 9,000 employees at 60 locations and revenue of EUR 1.8 billion in 2024. Founded in 1952 in a workshop in Graz, it grew through automated picking for pharmaceutical wholesalers and remains privately held. This profile sets out its history, structure, products and leadership.

KNAPP at a Glance

Fact	Detail
Company	KNAPP AG
Founded	1952, by Guenter Knapp in Graz
Headquarters	Hart bei Graz, Austria
Employees	About 9,000
Locations	60 worldwide
Revenue	EUR 1.8 billion in 2024
Stock listing	None; privately held
Chief Executive Officer	Gerald Hofer, since 2012

Company History

Guenter Knapp started the company in 1952 with two employees. A first order from a pharmaceutical wholesaler in 1960 led to the idea of building order-picking machines, and that sector shaped the company for decades: its first automatic picking machine for pharmaceutical wholesale went into service at Gehe in Germany in 1985. KNAPP won its first international order in 1974, entered the United States in 1990 and passed 1,000 employees in 2002.

Growth then accelerated. The company took its present legal form, KNAPP AG, in 2009, opened a new headquarters in Hart bei Graz in 2010, and by 2018 had more than 4,100 employees. For the financial year reported in mid-2019 it announced net sales of EUR 954 million and orders above EUR 1 billion for the first time. Revenue has roughly doubled since then.

Key milestones

1952: Founded in Graz.
1960: First pharmaceutical wholesale order.
1985: First automatic picking machine for pharmaceutical wholesale.
1990: Entry into the US market.
2008: Acquisition of the Swedish company Moving AB.
2009: Becomes KNAPP AG.
2010: Acquisition of Duerkopp Foerdertechnik in Bielefeld; new headquarters; cooperation with Daifuku in Asia.
2016: ivii and redPILOT founded.
2019: Orders exceed EUR 1 billion for the first time.

Structure and Ownership

KNAPP describes itself as a family-owned business at heart. It is not listed on a stock exchange and does not publish a shareholder breakdown on its website, so none is given here.

Subsidiary	Country
KNAPP Systemintegration	Austria
KNAPP Industry Solutions	Austria
KNAPP IT Solutions	Austria
ivii	Austria
redPILOT	Austria
Duerkopp Foerdertechnik	Germany
iSS Automation	Germany
KNAPP-Moving	Sweden

Products

Automated storage and retrieval systems.
Picking systems, including automatic picking machines.
Sorting systems, including pocket sorters for fashion from the Duerkopp business.
Warehouse robots such as AeroBot, and autonomous mobile robots.
KiSoft software for warehouse management and control.

KNAPP's traditional strength is healthcare distribution, and it also serves fashion, retail, food and industrial customers.

Leadership

Name	Role
Gerald Hofer	Chief Executive Officer; with KNAPP since 1995
Franz Mathi	Chief Operations Officer; with KNAPP since 1999
Christian Grabner	Chief Financial Officer; with KNAPP since 2006
Heimo Robosch	Executive Vice President; with KNAPP since 2001
Bernhard Rottenbuecher	Managing Director; with KNAPP since 1997

The three board members have held their posts together since 2012, an unusually stable team for the industry.

Can You Invest in KNAPP?

No. KNAPP AG is privately held and has no listed shares.

Strengths and Challenges

Strengths

Deep specialization in pharmaceutical and healthcare logistics.
Its own software, robots and picking technology.
Long-serving management and private ownership.

Challenges

Limited public financial disclosure.
Competition from larger listed groups and robot-based newcomers.

Current Catalogue Coverage

Catalogue checked on 15 October 2026: 3 associated product records. The links below are representative entries, rather than a claim that every historical model is currently available.

KNAPP Evo Shuttle

KNAPP Open Shuttle

KNAPP AeroBot