2011 ¦ 2010 ¦ 2009 ¦ 2008 ¦ 2007 ¦ 2006 ¦ 2005 ¦ 2004 ¦ 2003 ¦ 2002 ¦ 2001 2000 ¦ 1998 ¦ 1997 ¦ 1995 ¦ 1994 ¦ 1993 ¦ 1992 ¦ 1991 ¦ 1988 ¦ 1984 ¦ 1983 1982 ¦ 1978 ¦ 1977 ¦ 1975 ¦ 1974 ¦ 1971 ¦ 1968 ¦ 1964 ¦ 1960 ¦ 1955 ¦ 1954 1953 ¦ 1951 ¦ 1947
2011March: The Kern Printing Module has been awarded by the readers of the "Postmaster-Magazin" as product of the year 2010.
February: The new Kern 3500 SilverLine was presented during the Innovtionsdays in Lucerne to a professional audience.
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2010April: During IPEX Kern presents the latest innovations.
2009October: The participation in the exhibition Druck+Form in Sinsheim was very successful. The exhibited inserter Kern 686 gained a very high popularity by the international technical public.
September: On 24th September the Kern User Forum "Kompakt" took place in the Lufthansa Training & Conference Center. Kern presented the new high speed inserting system, including the Kern ADF Software.
July: The Kern EasyMailer 515 is nominated for the Innovation Award of the German Printing Industry.
February: Kern started as a premium partner successfully into the exhibition season during Hunkeler Innovationsdays in Lucerne .The latest developments were presented to an international technical public.
January: Founding of a new subsidiary company in the Netherlands on 01.01.2009
2008Presentation of the Kern 2600 at Drupa in Düsseldorf, Germany. Launch of the System end of 2008.
2007Foundation of Kern S.p.A. and Kern Sistemi S.r.l. in Italy in March 2007
2006Kern incorporates the new Kern 40 Mail Wrapping System in its product range, which will be offered exclusively in the European market.
The new and unique Kern 515 EasyMailer mail processing solution celebrates the premier in Europe! During the Océ InMotion in Hamburg, Germany, the System captures the attention of the professional visitors and makes the Kern booth a crowded place.
2005Kern already achieves the second time to obtain the iF design award for its products. This time it’s the iF design award 2006 which has been assigned for the new design of the Kern 3500 Dual-Channel Inserting and Mailing System.
Kern gets the Innovation Award of the German Print industry for the Kern Smartbinder.
A new world premier is presented on the Print 05 in Chicago – the Kern 3500 Dual-Channel Inserting and Mailing System.
Kern becomes TOP 100 member and is now awarded innovator among the German medium-sized enterprises.
Kern GmbH gets the TÜV service certificate for excellent service achievements and the professional competence of the service staff.
Foundation of Kern France SAS in July 2005
At the Océ Open House in Poing, Kern presented the new Kern 100 high-performance unwinder module and the Kern 999 high-performance cutting and grouping module.
Combined with the Kern 3500 high-performance document inserting system, these superior modules ensure a considerably greater output because of the vast increase in cutting performance.
2004More than 300 companies participated in this year’s "German Business Innovation Prize".
Kern achieved a nomination with the new Kern 60 Logistics System product. www.innovationspreis.com
2003The production of pre-products, post-products, and document inserters was combined to make use of synergies.
The development of new Kern DFD products and solutions remains in Niederhergheim / France.
The 4th Kern User Forum took place in Münsingen / Switzerland. Networking was again the focal point in addition to interesting specialist presentations.
Presentation of the new Kern 60 Logistics System at the Océ OpenHouse in Poing/Germany
2002Presentation of the new Kern 3500 Inserting System at the CeBIT.
The worldwide 2000th Kern 2500 Multimailer was delivered to the Allianz Gruppe in Unterföhring / Munich.
The 2nd Kern User Forum at Kern SAS in Colmar / France was again a great success. More than 150 guests and specialists could be welcomed.
Presentation of a new product line in the area of pre-processing and post-processing (DFD)
2000The Kern 3000 Megamailer was officially included in the Guinness Book of Records as the fastest document inserting machine in the world!
In the first Guinness Book of Records of the new century, there are again astonishing and great record achievements collected from all around the world.
Kern GmbH Germany with headquarters in Bensheim achieves a new world record: in the new edition of the bestseller, the German subsidiary of the Swiss family company Kern AG (Konolfingen) has established that their Kern 3000 Megamailer document inserter system is the fastest in the world. With 26,000 document inserts per hour, this is still unbeaten today. A certificate from the Guinness Book of Records confirms this success.
However, not only the jury of the Guinness Book of Records confirms that the Kern 3000 Megamailer E is the fastest on the market – worldwide more than 244 systems have already been sold and every day they again convince satisfied customers with their unsurpassed speed. 26,000 document inserts per hour: cut, folded, grouped, complemented, inserted, checked - and away in the post.
A world-class achievement: Elvira Schäfer-Selinger (Management Assistant) and Rainer Rindfleisch (CEO Germany) are satisfied. The Kern K3000 E document inserter machine is the fastest in the world and is now in the Guinness Book of Records.
1998The first Kern 4000 Mailing Systems for C4 applications were successfully installed.
Kern develops programs for the ADF concept (Automated Document Factory).
1997Kern AG celebrates its 50th anniversary.
The next step leads in the USA. Kern International Inc. was founded so that in the future we can be active and successful also in the USA.
Introduction of the Kern 4000 Mailing System for C4 envelopes.
1995Production start of the Kern 2500 Multimailer (successor to the Kern 2000 Megamailer)
The first Kern 2500 Multimailer was installed in the field.
1994Serial production of the up to now fastest inserting system Kern 3000 Megamailer is started.
A new dimension in form mailing opens up to large users from all areas of the economy. The Kern 3000 Megamailer is born. Up to 26,000 mailings ready for the post – the fastest mailing system in the world.
1993Pilot installation of 2 Kern 3000 Megamailers at Telecom Germany.
The first installation with direct connection of printers.
1992Mr Marc Kern, who was the founder of the company, lost his life in a tragic helicopter accident.
His two sons Uli and Peter, both of whom were already fully integrated in the company, take over the operative management.
1991Presentation of the Kern 3000 Megamailer – the fastest document inserting system in the world.
1988Expansion in the areas of planning, development, testing, and training require an additional building.
Kern AG presents the new development building.
1984Production start of the Kern 2000 – a modular system with several inputs for pilot documents and a larger number of stations for enclosures.
Delivery of the first modular mailing system in the world, the Kern 2000 Multimailer.
Up to 1995, over 1,500 systems of this type were successfully delivered in 50 countries.
1983Founding of Kern Limited in England. Thanks to first-class references, Kern Ltd has grown continuously.
1982Founding of the first subsidiary company, Kern GmbH in Germany, with 25 employees. The motto is: “Closer to our customers”.
1978Development of an inserting system for 2-up processing.
1977What could the two men be saying on the occasion of the first representative’s conference in 1977?
1975The new factory in Stalden is ready for large orders.
Kern AG develops the world’s first computer controlled mailing system for the Swiss Bank Corporation.
Big investments in software development ensure steady future prospects, despite the general recession.
1974Development of the first micro-computer controlled system.
1971The first system with a directly connected cutting machine for processing continuous form computer printouts.
At the Hanover Fair, the new K950 automatic cutting machine was presented to a specialist public with great success.
Kern AG now has over 100 employees.
The turnover exceeds the ten million Swiss Franc mark.
A new manufacturing hall with over 6,000 m2 was built in Stalden.
Kern presented an interesting range of machines at the IFABO in Vienna.
1968The first on-line systems were manufactured in Konolfingen. The new motto is: cut, fold, and insert in one operation.
Kern AG expands its leading position in the area of document inserting for mailing.
First Folding and Inserting System with integrated Cutter.
1964An electronics development laboratory was installed.
The worldwide first folding document inserter machines with reading of optical marks leave the factory under the name KAE (Kern Automatic Electronic).
The factory was extended to accommodate the increasing demand for Kern machines. Incoming orders made a new building necessary.
Even the postman is interested in the construction progress.
1960The expansion of the sales network advances rapidly.
Over 100 Kern machines already work under the name KAU (Kern Automatic Universal) in over 10 countries.
Men of the installation department at work.
The VW delivery van is ready for transport
1955Participation at the “Foire de Paris” is a absolute ‘must’. The necessary funding was made available.
1954The private company became a limited company (Kern AG). Mr Marc Kern was the sole shareholder.
In 1954, one envelope per second was inserted.
1953Presentation of a folding and inserting system with two folding and three feeding stations.
1951Construction of the first building for a larger workshop in Hünigenstrasse in Konolfingen.
Production start of the T-Line (known today as the Kern 605) Decision: concentrate on computer printing.
The first factory building looks great. This is still the headquarters of Kern AG today.
1947Mr Marc Kern, the founder of the Kern company, made the following statement:
"In 1947, together with my wife, I equipped a small workshop in Hünigenstrasse in Konolfingen, with the objective of becoming self employed. Two years previously, I was employed as technical manager by an Italian printing press manufacturer in Brussels, and I came into early contact with the subject ‘paper’. Especially in printing shops, I saw letter post being manually inserted and this led me to the idea of manufacturing a document folding and inserting machine. The design on paper led to the later construction of the prototype."
A strong team developed the first folder and document inserter machine. The young founder is also standing there on the wooden frame.
The modern, transmission driven machine tools of 1947.
Since then much effort at Kern has been applied to develop and implement new ideas. Whether for optical reading and on-line processing in the 1960s, modular mailing systems in the 1980s, the Kern 3000, the fastest Inserting System in the world in the 1990s, or the development of sophisticated robots in the new century: Kern again and again opened up new horizons in document processing and packaging.
These developments resulted in steady growth and continued success. Kern founded subsidiaries in Germany (1982), England (1983), USA (1997), Spain (2002), Russia (2004), France and Belgium (2005), Italy (2007) and Holland (2009).
Again and again Kern was able to add large and worldwide active companies to the circle of Kern users.