The acetylene factory in Augsburg was founded in 1898 in
Augsburg, Germany, by Johann Josef Keller and Jakob Knappich for the production of low-cost domestic and municipal lighting, household appliances, and automobile headlights. Their production extended into autonomous welding equipment in 1905. After the First World War, Keller and Knappich resumed production of safety winches, manual winches, and power winches and began manufacturing large containers. As a result, Bayerische Kesselwagen GmbH was formed in 1922. The new company developed and produced superstructures for municipal vehicles. In 1927, this business division presented the first large garbage truck. The name KUKA came into being in the same year through the company's name at that time, "Keller und Knappich Augsburg". In Hungary, the name—being prominently displayed on the first closed container garbage trucks—eventually became a
generic trademark and ultimately a
synonym for
trash cans. Keller & Knappich GmbH merged with part of Industrie-Werke Karlsruhe AG to become Industrie-Werke Karlsruhe Augsburg Aktiengesellschaft, eventually shortened to KUKA (Keller und Knappich Augsburg). The development and manufacture of
spot welding equipment began in 1936. By 1939, KUKA had more than 1,000 employees. Starting in 1934, KUKA expanded to become a major company. Its owners joined the
NSDAP early on and benefited from the contacts this provided. The production of machine tools and machine components for the increasing demands of the arms industry, such as being an important supplier for
Messerschmitt AG, and of anti-aircraft guns, led to significant workforce expansion. The company had 1,000 employees in 1939, and this number steadily increased with the use of prisoners of war, “civilian workers,” and concentration camp prisoners. In 1944, 1,400 people working for “KUKA” were housed in Collective Camp II alone. After the major destruction of the company during the Second World War in 1945, KUKA resumed manufacturing welding machines and other small appliances. With new products such as the double-cylinder circular knitting machine and the portable typewriter "Princess," KUKA introduced new industrial fields and gained independence from the supply sector. In 1956, KUKA manufactured the first automatic welding system for refrigerators and washing machines and supplied the first multi-spot welding line to Volkswagen AG. Ten years later, the first
friction welding machine went into production. In 1971, the delivery of the first robotic welding system for the S-Class took place. A year later, the magnetic arc-welding machine came to market. In 1973, KUKA created its own industrial robot, FAMULUS. At that time, the company belonged to the
Quandt group. In 1980, the
Quandt family withdrew, and a publicly owned firm was established. In 1981, KUKA's main activities were grouped into three independent companies:
KUKA Schweissanlagen und Roboter GmbH,
KUKA Umwelttechnik GmbH and
KUKA Wehrtechnik GmbH, which was re-sold to
Rheinmetall in 1999. Towards the end of 1982,
LSW Maschinenfabrik GmbH, Bremen became a subsidiary of KUKA. In 1993, the first laser-roof-seam welding systems were manufactured. These welding systems were then further expanded to adhesive bonding and sealing technologies in the following year. Around the same time, KUKA took over the tools and equipment manufacturer
Schwarzenberg GmbH and expanded its business to China and the USA in the following years. In 1995, the company was split into KUKA Robotics Corporation and KUKA Schweißanlagen (now KUKA Systems), both subsidiaries of KUKA AG. The company is a member of the
Robotics Industries Association (RIA), the
International Federation of Robotics (IFR), and the German engineering association
VDMA. In 1996,
KUKA Schweissanlagen GmbH became an independent company and, two years later, became the leader among European welding equipment manufacturers. The supply of the first pressing tools for automobile side-walls made of high-strength steel began in 2002. The company launched the KUKA RoboScan with a remote laser welding head in 2003. Since 2006,
KUKA Systems has operated its own body shell factory in
Toledo, Ohio, producing the bodywork for the
Jeep Wrangler by Chrysler. In the course of internationalisation and expansion of business units and technologies such as reshaping, tooling, bonding, sealing, etc.,
KUKA Schweissanlagen GmbH became
KUKA Systems GmbH in 2007. In 2010, KUKA presented a newly developed standardized cell concept for welding machines, KUKA flexibleCUBE. In the automation sector, KUKA Systems offers standard and customized products for industrial production automation; joining technologies and component handling are among their activities. The technologies are tested, and the production processes are fully optimized before development. The company also provides engineering and individual counseling. In June 2016,
Midea Group offered to buy Kuka for about €4.5 billion ($5 billion). Midea completed the takeover bid in January 2017 by purchasing the 94.55% voting stake in the company. In late 2017, Kuka announced that 250 employees of KUKA Systems were terminated. The management cited project troubles as the reason. In November 2022, Midea Group acquired the remaining 4.69% stake in Kuka. Most robots are finished in "KUKA Orange" (the official corporate color) or black. == Corporate structure ==