Krones (Neutraubling / Germany; www.krones.com) will open a new production facility in Hungary's second largest city, Debrecen, in early 2019. This is its first plant in southeastern Europe, the packaging and bottling equipment supplier said. It will implement production for transport technology as well as various components, modules and products with low complexity that have so far been manufactured at German sites, a spokeswoman told Plasteurope.com. The production of more complex parts will remain at the German locations, the spokeswoman said.

The investment of more than EUR 40m is expected to create 500 jobs, but comes along with the reduction of 200 temporary jobs in Germany. A further 400 employees, most of whom are part of the core workforce at the company's headquarters in southern Germany, will "continue to work in other areas at Krones," the company said.

At the same time, Krones is also investing in Germany. Its Neutraubling plant will be transformed into a "factory for the future" with integrated logistics and digitisation solutions. The total investment sum for production facilities worldwide over the next five years amounts to EUR 200m.

In Italy, Krones acquired a 60% stake in System Logistics (Fiorano Modenese / Italy; www.systemlogistics.com/usa/), a specialist in intra-logistics, material handling and warehousing.

The PET bottling specialist is pursuing internationalisation in order to produce close to the customer and protect itself against currency fluctuations and protectionism. In the US, its subsidiary Krones Inc. has bought three smaller companies specialising in digitalisation, process technology and logistics, over the past two years. In addition, a production facility for the Asian market was set up in China.

Krones employs 10,000 people at its German sites in Neutraubling, Nittenau, Rosenheim, Freising and Flensburg. In the US, the company has a production site in Franklin, Wisconsin. Through its subsidiaries, the group is present at 90 locations worldwide. Further acquisitions in the areas of process technology, logistics and digitisation are conceivable to strengthen local markets, the company said.