Machine factory Bernard Krone
| Machine factory Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG
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| legal form | GmbH & CO. KG |
| founding | 1906 |
| Seat | Spelle , Germany |
| management | Josef Horstmann, Wolfgang Jung, Martin Eying |
| Number of employees | approx. 2000 |
| sales | 642 million euros (2017/18) |
| Branch | Agricultural machinery |
| Website | www.krone.de |
The Maschinenfabrik Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG is a European manufacturer of forage harvesting technology and is part of the Bernard Krone Holding SE & Co. KG
description
While in the early 1970s the company was still concentrating on the production of machines for tillage, transport technology (including the "Emsland tipper") and green forage harvest, the focus of production shifted to green forage harvest over the next ten years.
Despite the declining sales of agricultural technology within Germany, the Krone company, according to its own statement, succeeded in stabilizing and in some cases increasing its market shares in self-propelled machines and large packing presses by increasing the export share of sales from 44% to 70% (as of 2018). In addition to the Central European countries, North America, with its intensive dairy farming and beef fattening, is the main market for forage harvesting technology. In addition, the demand for agricultural technology in Eastern Europe, Russia and the other CIS countries has increased since the 1990s .
history
The company was founded in Spelle in 1906 by master blacksmith Bernhard Krone and his wife Anna. The company initially focused on shoeing and trading in hardware for household appliances. From 1924, Bernhard's sons, Bernard and Heinrich, ran the business together and brought the first self-operated water pump onto the market. Towards the end of the 1920s, manual straw cutters, disc-wheel beet cutters, potato crushers, disc harrows and cultivators were added to the production program. Shortly afterwards, in 1930, Krone received the Reich patent for the construction of the horse-drawn fertilizer spreader . In 1936 there was a change in the company's management, Bernard Krone is registered as the owner of the company, and his brother Heinrich received a severance payment.
After the Second World War , new machines, such as a centrifugal slurry pump with agitator and galvanized housing, were added to the range. A new machine factory was also built in 1948, which was expanded again in 1951. For the first time, rubber-tyred agricultural trailers were also produced. In 1951 the first all-terrain plow was presented, which worked independently of the tractor's pitching movement. The first manure spreader called Optimat was launched in 1957.
In the 1960s and 70s there were numerous important events for the company's development. The loader wagon loadmaster was introduced in 1964. This machine was a resounding success, accounting for 40 percent of total production. In the same year a branch was founded in Werlte, where some of the Emsland tippers were manufactured. A drum mower ( turbo mower ) came onto the market for the first time in 1966 . Two years later, Bernard Krone Jr., who has been with the company since 1962, became managing director of the company. A subsidiary was founded in the USA in 1973, and the rotary harrow was also improved, as rotary tillers were also in demand in the USA, Australia and Japan since the early 1970s. Other new products such as a round baler and a maize chopper appeared.
In 1989 the first hay machine and the KS 330/10 single-rotor rake were added to the range. In the same year Krone presented the first rotary tedders 550 / 4x7 (working width 5.50) and KW 640/6 (working width 6.40) at the Agritechnica . The first two-rotor side rake came onto the market in 1993. In the following year, 1994, the company gave up the production of tillage implements and manure spreaders and finally concentrated on the green forage harvest.
In 1997 the CombiPack press-wrapper combination was demonstrated. These are round balers that press and wrap in one step. In the same year, the first rake with four rotors and the self-propelled Krone mower conditioner (BiG M) were presented at Agritechnica. The latter shows a good mowing pattern, good forage preparation and has the option of doing without tedders. His mowing performance is in the 2001 Guinness Book of Records .
In 2000 the first self-propelled Krone forage harvester (BiG X) and the row-independent maize header (Easy Collect) were presented. In the same year the company bought the production company Norfrig A / S Denmark, today Bernard Krone A / S (production of refrigerated trailers). In 2001 the Drive & Train training center was created from the halls of the former high-bay warehouse. In addition to the training rooms, there is an exhibition hall and a Krone shop. In addition, Krone machines can be tested on the surrounding area.
In 2002, Krone offered the EasyCut mowers with a flatter cutter bar and larger mower discs for sale. In 2003, Krone presented a technical advance with the BiG Pack 1270, because large packs can be divided into up to six small bales. In the same year, Bernard Krone A / S received the award for Best Workplace of the Year . In the following year, 2004, the company received the Shell Service Award as the best German agricultural machinery specialist for the LVD. The BiG X and the BiG Pack 1270 received the coveted New Maschinery Award at the Royal Smithfield Show . Also in 2004, Krone was the first manufacturer in the world to offer a chopping drum ex works that is specially tailored to the requirements of modern biogas plants. The new Krone "biogas drum" is equipped with 40 (2x20) V-shaped knives, which allow a theoretical chop length of only 2.5 mm. In 2005, the BiG X received an award for its chop quality at the OMÈK. In 2006, Krone was awarded the Innovative Technology award for the BiGPack MultiBale system at FIMA. The world's first non-stop round bale baler-wrapper combination was presented at Agritechnica in 2011 and awarded a gold medal. In 2015, the Premos 5000 was the first pellet press that can produce straw pellets directly from the swath in the field, also awarded the DLG gold medal at Agritechnica.
In 2007, Europe's most modern diving system was put into operation in the machine factory. The components to be painted pass through 52 stations there.
Publications
- Nicola Krone: 100 years of the Krone . Landwirtschaftsverlag GmbH, Münster-Hiltrup, 2005, ISBN 3-7843-3381-8
- Nicola Krone: 110 years of the Krone . Bernard Krone Holding SE & Co. KG, 2016, ISBN 978-3-00-054904-5
- Nicola Krone: 100 Years of Krone - The film for the book
