Dekron: the Krones subsidiary for digital decoration technology

Two merge into one: by purchasing the remaining shares, Krones has taken over Till GmbH in its entirety. Under the name of Dekron, the group’s subsidiary is now synergising the entire technology portfolio for digital decoration technology.

The Krones product portfolio themed around digital decoration of containers had previously been split between two companies: firstly, Krones AG itself, and secondly Till GmbH, in which Krones had owned a majority shareholding of 51 per cent since 2014. After the jointly developed DecoType machine portfolio had been successfully premiered for the market at the drinktec 2017, it was now time for the next logical step: to compress the knowledge and the technologies of both firms in a single responsively accomplished innovation-driven unit.

For this purpose, in early March 2018 Krones purchased the remaining shares in Till GmbH, and here synergised all the business operations relating to digital decoration technology. In order to publicly affirm its significantly enhanced role, the subsidiary has since April been operating under the name of Dekron. This coinage combining “Decoration” and “Krones” underlines both the company’s technological specialisation and its one-hundred-per-cent affiliation with the Krones Group.

Internal continuity

The firm will continue to be headquartered at Till’s facility in Kelkheim near Frankfurt – not least in order to retain in the company the smoothly functioning team of employees with all their valuable knowledge and experience. To put the group’s new member in optimum shape for the tasks ahead, Krones will be purposefully upgrading its infrastructure and its human resources. This applies to both the facility in Kelkheim and to the planned second facility, which is scheduled for inauguration before the end of 2018 – close to Krones’ headquarters in Neutraubling. It will constitute the new domain of some Krones staff who as specialists for digital decoration technology will be joining Dekron GmbH. For the existing clients of Till and Krones, this means: they will be able to count on their familiar contact persons at the same facility in the future as well.

Krones has also prioritised continuity in Dekron’s top management: it is composed of Sven Kerpe and Friederike Kalusche. The latter had already occupied this post in Till GmbH, and had been involved in building up the company right from the start. Her colleague Sven Kerpe was previously part of the Bottling Technology team at Krones, responsible for digital decoration technology. Dr. Christian Compera, Head of Bottling Technology, is gratified by this step, and says: “We have in recent years invested massively in developing a product portfolio for digital decoration. Now we are optimally equipped to join with our clients in successfully progressing the marketing of digitally decorated containers.“