KONE named one of the world's most innovative companies by Forbes

KONE Corporation, press release, August 22, 2014

KONE has been ranked 42nd out of the top 100 most innovative companies in the world by the well-known business magazine Forbes. Out of all European companies listed this year, KONE was ranked an impressive sixth. KONE is the only elevator and escalator company featured on Forbes' list this year.

"It's a great honor to be recognized among the world's most innovative companies for a fourth consecutive year," says Henrik Ehrnrooth, President & CEO of KONE Corporation."Innovation and technological advancement have been at the core of our company for decades, and will continue to be moving forward."

KONE's history as an industry forerunner is well documented. In 1996, KONE was the first company in the industry to introduce machine-room-less elevators. KONE's latest ground breaking solution is its new high-rise elevator hoisting technology, KONE UltraRope(TM), enabling future elevator travel heights of one kilometer - twice the distance currently feasible. Last May, KONE announced that the KONE UltraRope technology would be used in Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Tower building, expected to be the world's tallest building with a height rising over one kilometer once completed.
 
Forbes magazine's ranking is based on a metric called the "Innovation Premium". One of the developers of the metric is Harvard Business School Professor, Clayton Christensen.

The list of world's most innovative companies can be viewed on forbes.com.

For further information, please contact:
Liisa Kivelä, Director, External Communications, KONE Corporation, tel. +358 204 75 4330.

Read more 
www.kone.com/ultrarope

Previous press releases are available at www.kone.com/press including:

June 10, 2013: New KONE UltraRope(TM) elevator hoisting technology enables the next big leap in high-rise building design

About KONE
KONE is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry.  KONE's objective is to offer the best People Flow® experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment. KONE provides industry-leading elevators, escalators, automatic building doors and integrated solutions to enhance the People Flow in and between buildings.  KONE's services cover the entire lifetime of a building, from the design phase to maintenance, repairs and modernization solutions. In 2013, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 6.9 billion, and at the end of the year over 43,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd in Finland.

www.kone.com