On a recent afternoon west of Great Bend, Martin hummed along as packaged cases of Fuller Industries commercial cleaning products rattled along the conveyor belt and came to halt. The job involved taking those boxes and stacking them on to an awaiting wooden pallet.

But, Martin, unlike other Fuller personnel, is really just a robot, more specifically, a huge robotic arm. Its “hand” clamps onto each box and swings it around then sets it in place.

“He’s staying pretty busy today,” said Austin, his human operator from just outside the caged area. He eyed the constant flow of cardboard containers rolling down the nearly one-mile-long conveyor system overhead connecting his workstation to production in another part of the plant.

While Martin was installed in late 2021, its arrival heralded the company’s push to modernize the half-century-old factory as it expands its operations and product offerings. On the cutting edge of utilizing water-soluble pod technology for delivering cleaning products, Fuller will soon have additional state-of-the-art equipment on site allowing the growth of this process.

“We are really looking to the future,” said Joe Mann, Fuller vice president and general manager. “Our priority is to make sure Fuller continues to stay in step with market and technological trends.

“Fuller is a Great Bend-based company with an international reach,” Mann said. “The products we make here find their way all over the Western Hemisphere.”

In addition, it has recently taken over production formerly handled by another plant owned by its parent company. GDI. And, Fuller continues to eye other expansion opportunities, Mann said.

But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing, thanks to the fickle and down-right nasty Kansas weather.

Last July 16 is a day that lives in infamy at Fuller. That is when a sever hailstorm ripped through the area, taking much of the building’s roof with it.

In the wake of that storm, Fuller faced and is still facing a long, painful recovery. Clean-up and remodeling are continuing, and have slowed some progress, Mann said.

Another hold-up has been finding enough employees, he said. “Like any other business, we are really wanting to hire folks, but need more applicants. So, although we are investing in automation, we are not displacing employees. We will continue to expand our team, especially for roles that require specialized mechanical and technical skills.”

However, he said, though these factors may delay things some, they are not stopping the plans to make Fuller an even bigger player in the commercial cleaning industry. “We continue to move in a future-oriented direction.

“We are proud of our heritage in Great Bend,” Mann said. “We are committed to continuing and strengthening our relationship with the community.”