It works by using radio frequency ID tags located around the mail room to enable it to determine the route it should follow to deliver or collect materials from a variety of locations.

Through the distributorship, Kern will have exclusive rights to sell the five-figure machine to the print and mailing sector.

Kern general manager Peter Jolley told PrintWeek that the machine was crucial for companies that worked alongside the Royal Mail, using its mail sorting crates.

He said: "The Royal Mail's plastic trays can be a logistical problem for mailing rooms. Mailers go so fast now that it can be difficult getting enough trays to machines. If you have to turn the machine off for 20 minutes to catch up, you are never going to get that time back.

"The idea is a mailing house has a number of iCarts pulling boxes and crates to high speed mailers, saving anybody having to pull heavy loads around. It is the next logical step in automating the mailroom."

The machines can run for 24 hours, with a short charging-up period required on occasion.

Jolley added that the payback for the machine would be less than two years. He also said that the machine could be used in conjunction with the recently launched K60 envelope auto-traying machine, which stacks envelopes into the Royal Mail trays.

The Automation Group managing director Chris Smith said: "Working with Kern as our solutions partner for the mailing market we are able to offer customers something they have never had before. As well as removing labour costs, the iCart reduces energy costs and better utilises floor space."