Creators, makers, pioneers

More than 12,000 employees, globally active and passionate about innovation — that is the way to achieve both market and technological leadership. We are Körber. Presenting our Group.

To overview

We are Körber

Körber is a leading international technology group that has more than 12,000 employees at over 100 locations worldwide. We are the home for entrepreneurs — we turn entrepreneurial thinking into customers success. Körber AG manages the Group and its four Business Areas: Digital, Pharma, Supply Chain and Technologies.

Insights

The Körber Insights shows the entire spectrum of the Körber world: We give our view of exciting developments and trends, as well as innovations and technologies. We also highlight personalities who drive Körber forward every day with their entrepreneurial spirit and new ideas.

Sustainability

Sustainability

We develop innovative products, solutions and services for a more sustainable tomorrow and introduce the people who make them possible. Find out more in our Sustainability Report 2023.

Online Sustainability Report 2023PDF Sustainability Report 2023

Körber pursues ambitious climate targets

In October 2023, we had the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) verify our commitment to achieving net-zero CO₂e emissions throughout the entire value chain by 2040. We would like to introduce you to some of the measures that will help us achieve this ambitious goal.

Group-wide standards for Ecodesign

We were able to advance our Ecodesign initiative decisively in 2023 after creating a group-wide standard for life cycle assessments (LCAs). Find out more about the first LCAs we implemented and the challenges we overcame.

Data and infrastructure protection

We aim to transform information security into a strategic objective and make it a shared concern for all employees. We provide an overview of the corresponding measures and projects in 2023.

Career

Career

Wanted: team players. The know-how, creativity, and dedication of our employees have made us a successful technology company in Germany and worldwide. Now we want to shape the future — with you! We offer exciting positions for experts, young professionals, university students, and high school students.

To CareerTo the Körber Group job market

"Modern leadership culture has a performance-enhancing effect"

A working climate that promotes innovation, diversity, and the courage to tell uncomfortable truths is more central than ever to a company's success today. In an interview, Gabriele Fanta, Head of Group Human Resources, explains how the new leadership principles at Körber specifically strengthen fruitful collaboration in everyday working life.

What comes after traineeship, Max?

Experience report: After graduating in mechatronics and mechanical engineering, Max Döring became a trainee at Körber. Today, he is Technical Product Manager at our Körber Business Area Pharma.

Procurement and Supply Chain Management

Procurement and Supply Chain Management

Joint future-proof activities are the foundation of sustainable procurement. Körber, as a globally leading technology group, therefore places great value on the optimal purchasing of materials and services.

To our Procurement and Supply Chain Management

Pharma

With data flowing, production is running

Kevin Hillmann, Head of Digitization in the Körber Business Area Pharma

No need to fear Pharma 4.0: We are here to support customers shaping digitization tailored to their individual needs and capabilities. Our modular approach will allow them to take one step at a time on their path to digitization, whether it's a significant transition or a small solution.

Part of the Internet of Things (IoT), the term "Pharma 4.0" refers to digital technologies, solutions, and transformations that are particularly relevant to the pharmaceutical industry. It's about how work and production processes will run in the future, how everyone will communicate and how supply chains can be tracked. Intelligent production lines and seamless documentation of all steps in the manufacturing process are also part of the equation. The aim is to make production even more efficient, to respond quickly to supply and demand, and to adapt to constantly changing compliance regulations and quality management standards.

Data-driven solutions play a decisive role in this. They are commonly referred to as "Pharma 4.0" and are subject to different customer interpretations. To some, it means eliminating the use of paper in production; to others, it means to manage manufacturing processes nearly without personnel in the factory. "That's where we come in exactly," says Kevin Hillmann, Head of Digitization in the Körber Business Area Pharma. "Initially, we find out precisely what the customer needs, which areas they would like to change." Subsequently, we examine the prerequisites and potentials along with specific measures to achieve the intended goal.

No time to waste

"We are past the time of trial and error," says Hillmann. "Everyone in the industry has recognized the need to digitize operations as much as possible and to become more efficient." From its early attempts, digitization has now become a cornerstone of the business strategy on the customer side. However, the speed and extent to which this is implemented vary. While some are still at the very beginning of their digitization efforts, others are already thinking about their first dark factory.

It's a very extensive promise that we at Körber make to our customers: with our digital solutions, efficiency can be increased, the highest quality of production can be achieved, and the availability of machinery can be increased due to the reduction of downtime. Hillmann: "All this is based on the collection of data, i. e. information in digital form, linking human knowledge with machine knowledge." Pharma 4.0 is about the intelligent networking of people, machines, and processes - ultimately, it's all for the patient. "Our strength in this context is the interoperability of our systems, which do not only interact seamlessly with all our machines and applications but also with those of external providers such as our competitors." 

On the road to digitalization, we at Körber see ourselves as a holistic partner and ecosystem provider for our customers. So, in addition to physical products such as our machines, we offer interoperable software applications and pharma-specific and cross-industry consulting services. But above all, we have the expertise, skills, and network to shape the digital transformation with our customers. As a result, companies no longer have to do everything independently, regardless of size. They can instead become part of our integrated ecosystem. 

lOur strength in this context is the interoperability of our systems, which do not only interact seamlessly with all our machines and applications but also with those of external providers.r

Kevin Hillmann, Head of Digitization in the Körber Business Area Pharma

Efficiency-enhancing digital technologies

If companies want to benefit from Pharma 4.0, they need to digitize their business models holistically on a long-term basis. Körber's modular system for designing its standalone solutions allows companies to enter the digitization process at different levels. At times it is data analysis to identify the efficiency of individual machines or to enhance certain manufacturing lines. In other cases, it is a matter of adapting the entire processes in a plant or optimizing several locations worldwide. Due to the wide range of options, customers can gradually develop digitally at their own pace and according to their abilities, regardless of whether it's a globally acting drug manufacturer or a national pharmaceutical producer.

We include customers in all processes and ensure that only those aspects are implemented that actually benefit them and their employees on the shop floor. "Holistic consulting is the top priority," says Hillmann. "Digital products are complex and require explanation. We find solutions for their transformation by walking the path together with customers." We at Körber are always thinking one step ahead in the process: Only when we know where the journey will go we are able to show the way to others.

Novel approaches for a more effective production

That's why we are actively shaping production today and, thus, tomorrow's market. Take artificial intelligence for quality-related processes; for example: "InspectifAI" is an end-to-end AI solution that improves the performance of inspection machines. As a result, costs for follow-up tests are reduced, and patients' safety increases.

AI is also FactoryPal's key technology. This Körber venture offers software solutions for the manufacturing industry based on machine learning and artificial intelligence. The technology allows previously unused machine data to be analyzed and more cost-effective workflows to be implemented. The result, for example, is reduced energy consumption or increased machine effectiveness. “With FactoryPal, we are able to make factories worldwide more efficient,” says Kevin Hillmann. Its unique feature: "Our solutions operate across industries and manufacturers as a building block of an integrated ecosystem. So we create real added value for customers."  

One example is the installation of a cloud-based software solution for a pharmaceutical manufacturer. To boost efficiency in production, it was required to record the performance data of a non-Körber machine purchased from a major competitor. Initially, all relevant performance data were collected in real-time. Once they had been analyzed, it was possible to make specific improvements to the production process and the machine's configuration."

Of course, there is not only our equipment installed in factories worldwide," says Hillmann. "Neither are they exclusively new machines or production halls that have just been built recently. Hence, with our digital solutions, we consider that they can also be connected to any other production line, whether new or already showing its age."

lOur solutions operate across industries and manufacturers as a building block of an integrated ecosystem. So we create real added value for customers.r

Kevin Hillmann, Head of Digitization in the Körber Business Area Pharma

Data strategy and data security

When it comes to data security and data maintenance, Körber's consulting services are intensely focused, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry. Questions arise, such as: Who has access to the data? What guidelines or regulatory frameworks need to be observed? How is the data archived, for how long, and where? Customers have a say in how the information is stored. "Our customers can decide whether their data is to be kept in the U.S., Europe, or Asia," says Hillmann. "But also how granular that information should be processed."

All Körber products meet the highest IT security standards. In addition, there is Körber's internal Cyber Defense Center, which monitors the company's systems and identifies potential threats at an early stage and ongoing. Data is gathered with complete transparency, so customers always know exactly how and for what purpose information is collected. 

The scope of consulting in the pharmaceutical industry is large, and the level of expertise in Körber's Business Area Pharma is high. It covers machine and plant qualification, validation consulting, support for manufacturing execution systems (MES), supply chain management, and data integrity.

Even more digital expertise has come in-house with the acquisition of a majority stake in DAIN Studios, a consulting company focused on artificial intelligence. Körber has thus not only succeeded in expanding its solution expertise in the field of AI: First and foremost, DAIN Studios is dedicated to addressing the fundamental challenges a company faces in digitization. Ranging from developing a data strategy to implementing it. Hillmann: "Today, we are positioned to accompany our customers to a data-driven organization."

www.koerber-pharma.com

Insights shows the entire spectrum of Körber, what we do and how we do it: We give our view of exciting developments and trends, as well as innovations and technologies. We also highlight personalities who drive Körber forward every day with their entrepreneurial spirit and new ideas - always to the benefit of our customers. In this section, you’ll find inspiring content concerning our topic Tech.

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Tech

"Our customers know: We can not only handle end-of-line, we can manage ecosystems"

With the PA15, Körber has developed a layer palletizer that meets the requirements of our industrial customers in an energy-efficient and flexible way. In this interview, manufacturing logistics experts Dominik Griefahn and Peter Lambeck provide insights into why the PA15 can serve as the centerpiece of operational pallet logistics.

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Tech

Why complex when it can be simple?!

Many provide individual solutions; only a few provide ecosystems. As experts in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, we at Körber rely on strategic ecosystem partnerships and offer our customers holistic solutions from a single source: everything, effortlessly, in one place.

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Tech

Körber evolves ecosystem partnership with Microsoft to create more value for customers

To help our customers become more efficient and agile in pharmaceutical production, we transformed our market-leading PAS-X Manufacturing Execution System (MES) offering into a cloud-based solution. The partnership with Microsoft plays a key role here.

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Tech

Pioneering information security with AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) provides hackers with new ways to attack organizations. But it also opens up opportunities for companies to better protect themselves against these attacks. Körber is, therefore, investing in AI and advising its customers to follow suit.

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Tech

Collaboration is key – the power of B2B ecosystems

At a time when new technologies and business models are rapidly entering the market, complexity increases. Interconnected solutions will allow us to realize our full potential in creating customer value.

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