Bell and Howell sells sorting business to Fluence Automation
Bell and Howell has spun off its mail-sorting business and some of its parcel-labeling technologies to a new company called Fluence Automation. The newly-formed company is owned by a group of investors that includes members of the Bell and Howell sorting-leadership team.
In a statement sent to Post&Parcel today (1 August), Bell and Howell said the two companies will remain “close strategic partners” in several areas and they have entered into a service agreement that will allow Fluence Automation to leverage Bell and Howell’s service-technician network. Bell and Howell will also be licensing certain technology from Fluence Automation.
Fluence Automation will be led by Bell and Howell’s longtime VP and General Manager of Sorting Mike Swift as president and CEO.
“Our customers will continue to receive the excellent products, software and service that they are accustomed to,” said Swift.
“In the near-term, we will continue to rely upon Bell and Howell as a valued partner in many areas of our day-to-day business. Fluence Automation will focus on growth in the mail- and parcel-encoding and sorting market, leveraging our sorting-expertise team while collaborating with Bell and Howell in areas such as service support.”
Dr. Ramesh Ratan, president and CEO of Bell and Howell, added: “This strategic move is part of our plan to accelerate Bell and Howell’s continued growth as we extend our capabilities in our traditional mail-production business while also expanding our industry-leading innovation in areas such as e-commerce, robotics and track-and-trace technologies.
“This move, along with the acquisition of Sensible Technologies earlier this year, and other initiatives we are currently pursuing, means our mail-production customers can feel confident that Bell and Howell is committed to providing the products and services they rely on – now and in the future.”
