A division of mailing machinery manufacturer Kern, KernPack has until now only supplied machinery used for packaging manufacturing, but will now be able to provide end-of-line warehouse automation equipment including a range of robotic palletising systems and automated guided vehicles.

 “Robotic palletising is a real opportunity in the UK generally because Europe is much further ahead in terms of what they do with robotics,” said KernPack general manager Pete Jolley.

“In many cases packaging firms have people taking things off the end of the line to stack them, which is back-breaking work but with these auto-palletisers they can work 24/7 and will undoubtedly decrease operational cost and reduce injury to staff, and in this day and age that’s extremely important.

The rail- and laser-guided vehicles, in particular, are technologies that Jolley says certain packaging and print companies could benefit from.

“We’ve done our research in terms of where we see this service fitting and under the KernPack banner it aims to complete the packaging line but it certainly has benefits for the print world too, especially in terms of laser guided vehicles.

“There are a small number of printers already using them in the UK and quite a number have expressed an interest in their use."

Jolley said the move by 12-year old, UK-based KernPack into end-of-line equipment was part of a new three-year growth plan for Kern, which was itself founded in Switerland in 1947. Kern Limited was then set up in the UK in 1983 to service UK customers.

“We weren’t recognised for packaging, but since we moved into it we’ve diversified quite successfully. The line between print and packaging is blurred now as so many printers are looking for other profitable areas and that’s a real opportunity,” Jolley said.

“We believe we have a strong portfolio of equipment. I think we have everything we need in print mailing, print finishing and indeed packaging and the plan is to maintain that.”

Jolley said the company did not plan to take on any other distribution agreements in the next 12 months and that the deal with Skilled Group stemmed from a mutual understanding of each other’s ethos.

“What attracted us to Skilled Group was their approach to consulting with customers first, which is very similar to how Kern believes in doing business. We listen to what they are saying and what their challenges are and try to come up with a realistic solution. Skilled Group has a lot of expertise and I think we both understand what makes each other tick,” said Jolley.

“It is a true diversification for us so we are particularly excited about this.”