50 Years of Passion for Technology

The year 1966 witnessed it all: The Beatles coming together for the last time, the “Wembley goal” during the World Cup Final, and the premiere of Star Trek. And in Troisdorf, Hans-Josef Kitz was laying the foundation of his own mechanical engineering company. As a young entrepreneur Hans-Josef Kitz started this first production facility over half a century ago in a garage that was attached to his parent’s house. One of the first designs by Hans-Josef Kitz included a celery washing machine for a farmer from the neighborhood. In the early years, as a contractor, he built machines and components for local companies. During this time, more and more of his own products were developed. And then in 1972 he developed his first standard conveyor. Even to this day, conveyor technology is a central pillar of mk’s business. The wealth of ideas and power the company has is evident in its global position 50 years after its founding. The mk Technology Group, which was developed from Maschinenbau Kitz GmbH, is currently in the European and American markets. It is among the leading providers of mechanical modules, components and system solutions for factory automation – a branch with good prospects for the future due to the globalized effort to modernize production facilities and improve processes. Many of the products that mk offers play a key role in this sector and modernization. mk’s customers include mechanical engineering companies and automobile manufactures and their suppliers as well as research and knowledge-driven high-tech companies in the areas of pharmaceuticals and medical technologies, semiconductor production and the food and beverage industry. The mk Technology Group with its headquarter in Troisdorf-Bergheim has construction and production facilities located in eastern Germany, North America, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK. Globally mk employs around 350 people. In 2015 mk Technology Group had sales of 47 million euros. Stephan Kitz attributes the success of the company to the human quality of entrepreneurship. He emphasizes, “What has always been important to me and my parents is the commitment within our family business; most of the managers of mk Technology Group today, have been developed in our company.” Such individual characteristics are the basic human values that enrich engineering and have helped the company gain a good position globally. mk offers competitive market prices primarily as a result of their problem-solving expertise, gathered over several decades.