Kern User Forum 2026
Practical exchange and high performance live in action. Kern brings together users, industry experts and technology.

On 23 September in Karlsruhe, the focus was on immersing oneself in the Kern world. Discussions amongst experts, a spotlight on the latest developments and technologies in action: at the Kern User Forum 2026, customers, prospective clients and partners enjoyed a day packed with specialist information and live demonstrations. The event centered on the latest developments in the three business divisions – kernMail, kernPack and kernService – as well as an exclusive look at high-performance inserting systems.

Stefan Wüthrich, CEO of the Kern Group, along with Rainer Rindfleisch and Michael Benkner, managing directors of Kern GmbH, welcomed over 100 participants. Long-standing partner companies were represented at the event as exhibitors.

“We want to remain global leaders in the fields of packaging, mail and service,” said Stefan Wüthrich, emphasizing the importance of transparency and values such as trust, sustainability and mutual respect to the Kern Group. As an independent family-run business, long-term business relationships and close partnerships have always been part of Kern’s DNA. “We stand for bespoke solutions and customer-focused service and maintenance models,” the CEO continued, expressing his gratitude for the decades of collaborative partnership.

The heads of the three business units then provided insights into current issues and developments. Daniel Wenger, Head of the kernMail Business Unit, opened the series of presentations together with Josef Flörs, Director of Sales & Services (Müller Apparatebau). Intensive work on innovations is continuing in this area.

Thanks to a new distribution partnership with BW Converting, a renowned supplier of high-performance enveloping systems in the direct mail sector, the product range is being expanded to include additional solutions.

Kern and Müller are continuing to invest in their inserting systems, working to harmonize the various machine types and optimizing accessibility, ease of use and error handling.

Thomas Frölich, Head of the kernPack Business Unit, then gave a presentation on this division. “Too much air costs money, every single day,” said Frölich, who explained in detail how Kern packaging systems facilitate the production of ready-to-ship parcels for every type of order.

The morning concluded with a presentation by Thomas Grossen, Head of the kernService Business Unit. Using Mentimeter as an interactive presentation and polling platform, he actively engaged the audience in his presentation. The kernService is being continuously developed, evolving from reactive to preventive, then to condition-based and finally to predictive. “A service organization is only as good as the knowledge available at the crucial moment,” said Grossen, pointing out that the AI integrated into our Jira ticketing system links machine type and configuration, error codes, previous tickets, technical documentation and known solutions, and suggests a course of action. The focus here is on determining the right time to replace a piece of equipment.

“That is why we are working on the KERN Lifecycle Index (KLI), an objective indicator of the current condition and future prospects of every installed system,” said Grossen. The index combines usage intensity, technical condition, technical obsolescence and economic value into a single metric. “The KLI will form the backbone of every service relationship,” concluded Grossen.

Following the clear and concise theoretical session, the afternoon focused on the practical side of things with live demonstrations at customers’ premises. At Atruvia AG, the spotlight was on the high-performance Kern 3600 and Kern 1600 enveloping systems. With the Kern 3200, EnBW AG has unveiled yet another high-performance inserting system for multi-format applications.

The alternation between technical presentations and live demonstrations highlighted just how closely technological development is linked to specific practical requirements. Participants had the opportunity not only to learn about the systems in theory, but also to experience their capabilities and potential applications first-hand. This ended a day of technical input, personal exchanges and practical insights.

The Kern User Forum thus underlines Kern’s commitment not only to developing innovative solutions, but also to continuously fostering dialogue with users and customers. These insights are directly incorporated into the further development of technologies and the service sector.