He kept his feet on the ground

On 3 October 2024, Hermann Kronseder would have celebrated his 100th birthday. We’re taking the occasion to celebrate him posthumously and to look back on the life’s work of our company’s founder. And who better to guide us through this rich history than his own son? We met with Volker Kronseder in his office in Neutraubling. In our interview, he offers insights into the life of Hermann Kronseder and shares memories relating to both work and life.

Mr. Kronseder, Krones’ roots are in labelling technology. But how did your father come up with the idea of building a labelling machine, of all things?

My father came from a blacksmithing family and so was introduced to the crafts at an early age. He was always tinkering and really enjoyed putting his ideas to paper. Which is exactly what was needed after the war: people who could turn smart ideas into hands-on reality.

His exposure to labelling technology actually came indirectly, through my mother. My parents met in 1949. My mother was originally from Aufhausen, where a labelling machinery manufacturer had recently relocated its design department from Berlin, since the city had been destroyed during the war. It was through mutual connections that my father met his first business partner, a fellow who worked for that company and knew a thing or two about building labelling machines. His expertise and my father’s machine tools were a great combination – and the two of them decided fairly quickly to go into business. So, they built a workshop here in Neutraubling.

Their partnership only lasted about a year, but it was enough for my father to have a pretty good understanding of labelling machines. He also had plenty of ideas for how the existing systems could be improved. He drew the first machines of his own design at the kitchen table in our apartment in Neutraubling in 1951.

From a kitchen table in Neutraubling to the world. When did your father realize what all was possible with the development and manufacture of labelling machines?

I think he recognised very early on that the beverage industry and the machinery sector in general held enormous potential. After all, people will always eat and drink. One thing that especially helped him was his innate ability to stay one step ahead. He always had great ideas for how things could be done better or more cost-effectively.

He demonstrated this inventiveness not only in continuously developing his machines but also in selling them. In the early days, he was very much a one-man show. So he was responsible for sales, too. I remember a story he once told me: He loaded that first labeller that he had drawn at the kitchen table into a borrowed VW bus and drove it to a brewery in Lower Bavaria. Their labelling machine had broken down, and they had hired my father to fix it. So, he lent them his very first machine while he repaired theirs. At first, the brewer was sceptical. The ST 1500 – that’s what the semi-automatic machine was called – was quite a bit smaller than the brewery’s existing labeller. But once he saw how smoothly my father’s machine worked, he decided to buy it. He gave my father a down payment for it right there, on the spot.

With that, my father had the capital he needed to continue his work – and then word got around that Kronseder machines were good quality. Back then, Bavaria was already the region with the most breweries per square kilometre in Germany. When the time came for his international breakthrough, it helped that breweries abroad were often staffed by German master brewers. Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and France were among his first export markets.

And how did he make the leap across the ocean?

Of course, word of mouth helped make the Krones name known. But in the end, it was the technology that really made all the difference.

My father took his first business trip to the United States in 1966. Of course, local companies were making labelling machines at the time, too, but there was one important difference: They were building intermittent-motion machines, with low outputs, while Krones already had continuous-motion rotary labelling machines in its portfolio. To process 30,000 containers per hour, which was quite a high output at the time, a beverage plant would need to have as many as ten intermittent-motion machines running in tandem – or just one Krones Prontomatic. Of course, ten machines to one is a big difference in terms of capital expenditure and a big selling point for Krones.

But the American market didn’t just give us another sales outlet. It was also a source of inspiration for further technological advancements. An example was the desire for continuous operation. American beverage plants were already running multiple shifts, which was not at all common in Germany or the rest of Europe yet. So, we developed our machines to accommodate longer running times.

I think this example really demonstrates how my father made a point of listening to his customers very early on. That’s what enabled him to establish Krones labellers as the leading, most reliable on the market. And without a doubt, it’s still one of the keys to Krones’ success today: understanding the market and taking inspiration from its wants and needs to keep improving, to keep moving Krones forward technologically.

It sounds like a story taken right out of a storybook. Did your father ever experience any setbacks?

Of course, there were always headwinds to deal with, especially from the competition. And people didn’t always take the Bavarian seriously. But his sound designs, high quality, ideas and ingenuity quickly made my father the leader in innovation – and word got around that the Krones machines actually worked quite well. (winks)

Before you can turn your ideas into reality, you first have to have some. Where did your father find inspiration?

You certainly don’t get ideas from sitting around and thinking, “I need an idea, now.” Ideas come from everyday life. They come when you get up in the morning, when you’re driving in your car or – as was often the case for my father – when you’re sitting up on a hunting platform. He was a keen hunter. And if you’ve ever gone hunting, you’ll know what an incredible feeling it is to sit out there in the dark, at the crack of dawn and watch the sun slowly come up. You’ve got peace and quiet and no stress. And that’s when my father often got his best ideas.

But of course, you don’t just get an idea from nowhere. You have to know your stuff. You have to walk through the world with your eyes open and take inspiration from other places, other industries. I think my father had a real knack for combining vision and creativity like that.

And he was persistent. Once he set his mind to something, he worked at it until he achieved it. A good bit of flexibility, too. Because sometimes you have to take a detour or two to get where you want to go.

Europe, America, Asia, … – Your father travelled the world for his work. How was life at home?

I grew up here in Neutraubling, of course. And from the early 60s, we lived right next door to the shop. My father often came home during his lunch breaks and told us about his day. In that way, we really grew up in the company.

The workshop was like a playground to us, especially in the evenings and at weekends. Sometimes my brothers and I would try things out just for fun, turning on the machine tools for example. We were exposed to technology at a young age – and my brothers Harald and Gunther and I decided to apprentice in the shop. My brother Norman, on the other hand, decided to focus on the family farm.

As we grew up, my father often took us along on his visits to customers. I remember one, to a mineral water bottler in southern Germany. While my father was negotiating the terms of a contract, I walked around the adjacent gardens and took a look into the bottling hall itself. I recall feeling very impressed, seeing the machines that had been built in our workshop in action.

You eventually followed in your father's footsteps and took over as CEO when he stepped down in 1996. What was the most valuable piece of advice your father gave you?

My father was always a role model for me. Professionally, I was certainly influenced by his ambition, his vision and his passion for innovation and progress.

On a personal level, his rule was always: keep your feet on the ground. And I still carry that with me. Of course, you have to set goals if you want to get anywhere in life, but they have to be attainable. Because when I achieve something, I have a positive experience and can approach the next task with renewed vigour and confidence – and keep improving bit by bit.