With pride, we can look back on a successful fiscal year in 2020/21. Thanks to the efforts of our 5,300 employees worldwide, a number that continues to grow, we have made this a reality. Having different professional backgrounds and working in different areas of the company, our employees all greatly contribute to the long-term success of our company. To harness their skills and talents effectively, we offer them a range of opportunities for personal development.
A great number of colleagues have been with us for many years and have shaped their careers in different ways. They are innovators, progressive thinkers, shapers of the future and sharp minds – we are proud that they are part of our international team. So in this post, we would like to shine a spotlight on some of them to show you how diverse our employees’ professional backgrounds are and where their careers have led them.
Innovators. We produce pioneering technologies of the future.
At KNAPP, innovation is a tradition. Thanks to the founder Günter Knapp – an inventor and visionary of his time – the spirit of invention is still an essential cornerstone of our company. We live up to this and continue to develop innovative technologies to offer our customers tailored solutions.
Our colleague Thomas Binder has been on board since 2000. He started his career as a mechanical engineering apprentice and later gained experience in piece production and prototype construction. Today, he is the head of the Production & Supply Chain department at our Dobl location, applying his expertise in the production of our state-of-the-art technologies. Thomas regards KNAPP as a future-oriented employer who offers many career prospects:
“KNAPP thinks long-term, offering high job security. They are a dynamic company, always on the move, and they value their employees. My work here has always been exciting – whether at the workplace, the customer or trade fairs. I really appreciate the fact that I can work in such a motivated and fun team. During my apprenticeship, I always felt supported. In prototype construction, I was fortunate to have worked with highly experienced people. When I undertook further training in mechanical engineering and plant engineering to become a plant manager, the company kindly granted me educational leave.”
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Progressive thinkers. We are passionate about intelligent software.
Digitalization, automation, software – developments that are driven by human intelligence. We bundle this intelligence at our location in Raaba-Grambach where our passionate SAP® EWM consultants and software developers are crafting optimized software solutions for the intralogistics area. Our special logistics software, SAP® Extended Warehouse Management (SAP® EWM for short), controls entire warehouses and supply chains. While ensuring full shelves in stores and pharmacies, it also makes timely delivery of online orders possible.
Our colleague Patrick Reicher and his team always stay on their toes to find the ideal solution for our customers:
“Software optimization is my passion. At KNAPP, I can fully immerse myself in it as a solution expert, an SAP® EWM consultant. I work in a team of consultants, software developers and a project manager, and my job is to understand our customers’ business processes and requirements in order to provide advice on the ideal solution in the SAP® EWM domain. As part of this analysis, it is vital to keep an eye on future trends and developments in our customers’ sectors, in intralogistics and the SAP environment. Since logistics systems are growing in size and process complexity is increasing, the SAP® EWM software solution has to be adaptable to change with the conditions.”
Shapers of the future. We create the leaders of tomorrow.
We have around 70 apprentices at any given time in Hart bei Graz and Leoben working toward one of our five skilled trades. Apprenticeships at KNAPP offer diverse training and many opportunities for continuing development in the company.
Our colleague Oliver Micheler is a prime example, starting his career at KNAPP as a mechatronics apprentice in Hart bei Graz in 2007. After completing his apprenticeship, he became shift supervisor in shuttle production, where he was already working closely with colleagues from the Procurement department. In 2015, his career within the company changed directions and he moved to Operative Procurement, soon taking on the position of team leader. His training at KNAPP paved the way for his current leadership position:
“During my apprenticeship, I built up a good base of technical knowledge, which continues to serve me well in my current role as team leader. During training, you get to know colleagues, work processes, and all the different interrelationships within the company. I’d like to use my position as manager to support apprentices in gaining experience in a range of different departments, which is why I offer a 6-week internship in my team. This gives apprentices an insight into our everyday working life and perhaps even the opportunity to work in Operative Procurement once their apprenticeship comes to an end.”
Sharp minds. We consider further training to be the key to success.
To surpass ourselves and set new standards in logistics, we need sharp minds who further their education and use their knowledge effectively. Our colleague Mario Müller would like to shed some light on how to apply newly acquired skills. Mario started his career at KNAPP seven years ago as an electrician in plant construction, working on international customer projects. As an assembly manager, he was responsible for coordinating complex projects. In 2019, he became plant manager with a focus on electrical engineering and completed the part-time higher education entrance qualification for leavers of apprenticeship training and is currently applying for the title of Engineer.
Today as Senior On site Installation Manager in Leoben, Mario’s main task is to oversee his colleagues’ assembly work at installation sites. As an electrician, carrying out assembly assignments in an international environment is always an exciting challenge offering him valuable opportunities to learn:
“Working as an electrician in customer projects, every day is different. You can always take on a new challenge. Together with my fantastic team, we can rise to these challenges. I can recommend KNAPP to anyone who wants to continuously develop and get to know people from all around the globe. Working here requires full commitment, but in return you have a secure future in a company offering a family-like atmosphere.”
Fancy a job that offers excellent career prospects?
Then join our team of innovators and progressive thinkers, shapers of the future and sharp minds! Worldwide, we are looking for 1,000 new employees in all areas who will work with us as we continue writing the amazing story of our success. Find all vacancies here.
Further reading recommendations
An exciting, innovative, solution-oriented job that our customers can’t live without – this is how Luca describes his career as a PLC Technician at KNAPP. Find out more about his job in this interview.
IT Service Administrators are responsible for maintaining servers and performing services for our customers worldwide directly on site. We asked Caroline Zojer to tell us about her average day on the job as an IT Service Administrator.