ONE's roots go back to 27 October, 1910 and the founding of Osakeyhtiö KONE Aktiebolag, an electrical repair shop, as a subsidiary of Gottfr. Stromberg Oy. Stromberg's license to import Graham Brothers elevators was transferred to the new company. KONE sold just a few units before terminating the licensing agreement in 1917.

The Early Years

KONE, a company with 50 employees, started to make and install its own elevators in 1918. Six year later, in 1924, Harald Herlin bought KONE from Strömberg and became the company's board chairman. His son, Heikki Herlin, joined the company and was appointed technical director in 1928. His office was located in a former margarine factory on Haapaniemi Street in Helsinki that KONE had bought and converted into an elevator production facility the previous year.

In 1930 KONE completed its first really significant delivery, an order that included a five-car elevator group and the company's first escalators, in Stockmann's department store in Helsinki. Heikki Herlin took over as KONE's president in 1932.

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