Muskegon's Klever Innovations expects million-unit year

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Three Muskegon entrepreneurs may have come up with a product that’s revolutionizing a major portion of the safety industry. That product, Klever Kutter, is a simple box cutter used in industrial and office settings.

During the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, traditional box cutters were used as weapons, prompting a re-evaluation of the tool for many industries. Muskegon resident Jeff Kempker decided to take action. So he, Orville Crain, and Matt Jacobs, owner of Grand Haven-based Advanced Molding Solutions, invented Klever Kutter—a box opener that cannot cut the user, anyone else, or damage the contents of the box.

Advanced Molding Solutions began producing Klever Kutter in 2005. It was patented in 2006, and a distribution network was established through the safety industry. But it was slow going.

“In 2006 we only sold about 100,000 Klever Kutters,” says Crain. “But last year we sold 900,000 and this year we’ll sell well over a million pieces.”

The company, Klever Innovations, added Klever Koncept, a box opener with an ergonomic handle and longer lasting blade. Both Klever Kutter and Klever Koncept are disposable so users never have to handle an open blade.

Later this year, the company will introduce a keychain-style opener and a cutter that has a removable, disposable head.

Klever Innovations predicts 40 percent growth for 2009. It recently secured Granger Industrial Supply, the world’s largest industrial supply house with 1.7 million customers.

“We believe we are in the process of changing how businesses open boxes and packages,” Crain says. “In the near future, industry executives are going to see any open blade as a weapon, as opposed to a tool for opening boxes and packages. Now that there is a new tool, we believe we are revolutionizing the industry.”

Source: Orville V. Crain, Klever Innovations

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].