About Kern

The company KURT KERN KG FEINWERKTECHNIK was founded in 1962 in Munich-Obermenzing.

Purchase of the first Agie wire EDM machine (the first in Bavaria), as well as the first CNC-controlled milling machine.

Kern becomes a training company and trains its first apprentices in the occupation of "toolmaker".

KERN receives an enquiry from IBM for the production of probe cards made out of Vespel for microchip production. Since no suitable machine is available, KERN develops and builds a high-precision CNC drilling machine. This project leads to KERN Machine Engineering.

Foundation of the Murnau-Westried site for the Microtechnology division. The importance of the Machine Engineering business continues to grow.

Certification according to DIN EN ISO 9001

Market launch: HSPC

Turnover (DM): 18.8
Employees: 85
Günter Kern retires. Ekkehard Alschweig takes over the company and consistently expands it into a technology enterprise.

The legendary "hole in the hair" project, carried out on the Kern microdrilling machine, stands for the technological advantage of the company KERN as a pioneer in the field of microdrilling. Visualised by threading a thin wire (0.03 mm) into the hole (0.05 mm), inserted into a human hair (approx. 0.15 mm).

Turnover (€): 10.7
Employees: 82
Market launch of the KERN Evo and KERN Pyramid Nano.

Relocation of the mechanical engineering department to the Eschenlohe plant. This enables industrial production of the Kern machines on 15,000 square metres.

Strengthening of the international orientation by founding the current sales subsidiary KERN Precision Inc., Chicago/USA.

Expansion of the machine portfolio with the market launch of the "KERN Micro MF11", named after Dipl. Ing. Matthias Fritz, the developer of the machine. This is also the birth of the Kern Micro platform.

Change of company name and corporate form at the Munich Local Court to "KERN Microtechnik GmbH".

Turnover (€): 18.4
Employees: 131
Increased focus of contract manufacturing on key components and complex series parts. The share of the medical technology/optics sector is increasing.

Consistent further development of machine construction and the Kern Micro platform.

New subsidiary in Zurich, Switzerland. From now on, the Swiss customer base will benefit from an optimized range of services.

Turnover (€): 30.4
Employees: 185
The first machine type of the Kern Micro platform is introduced to the market: The Kern Micro Pro.

Simon Eickholt and Sebastian Guggenmos take over Kern and realign the company for future-oriented further development.
New sales and service location in Shanghai, China: KAP - KERN Asia Pacific.

The Kern Micro Vario and Kern Micro HD are launched. They complement the Kern Micro platform.
Kern Microtechnik receives the TOP 100 Award for outstanding innovation management.

The first Kern The laser machine was developed and introduced to the market together with KLM - the company of the former managing director Ekkehard Alschweig.

In collaboration with tool manufacturer ZECHA, Kern once again pushes the boundaries of what is possible and engraves the words "ZECHA + KERN" into a human hair on a Kern Micro HD.

The company Kern repeatedly receives the TOP 100 Award for outstanding innovative success.
The Kern application technology develops the "ductile cutting mode" in the machining of technical ceramics and thus achieves a breakthrough in the machining of hard ceramics.

The company Kern is an IHK-certified training company in the professions of industrial mechanic and mechatronics engineer. With approx. 30 trainees and 4 trainers, training is the largest specialist department in the company.

Founded in 1962, Kern turns 60 and celebrates its anniversary.

Kern Microtechnik receives the "Bavaria's best 50" award, which is distributed to particularly fast-growing medium-sized companies.

Consistent further development of the two corporate divisions of mechanical engineering and contract manufacturing.