Before flying off to Sweden we had the opportunity to travel about an hour and fifteen minutes northwest of campus to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. This is home to the headquarters of Bruno Independent Living Aids. Bruno manufactures custom stair lifts, vertical lifts, and after market accessibility systems for vehicles.

We were hosted by Bill Belson, Director of Engineering at Bruno. He walked us through background on the company, the process of manufacturing each custom unit, and how their company has evolved processes since their founding in 1984. The culture throughout the office at Bruno is “Continuous Improvement”. To maintain this identity, Bruno prides itself in the following virtues.

• The commitment of all employees to improvement in process and products
• Error proofing
• Waste elimination
• Identifying what provides value.

A few of the major aspects of the business that Bill covered in the short one hour overview was the manufacturing methodology that has shifted in recent years to a LEAN Manufacturing model, which focuses on reducing variation in the manufacturing process. This has allowed the product to be more consistent in final form and also allowed production time to drop significantly. So much so that, 85% of their products ship out to the dealer for install within 30 hours from the original order being placed. This is an incredible feat, due to the fact that all the creation, fabrication, testing, and finishing steps need to be taken and be acceptable. The faster production time along with a move to not have a overstocked inventory, has allowed Bruno to increase their inventory turnover from 4 times every year to at least 22 times a year, each year for the past 4. The focus on increasing efficiency and continuous improvement has resulted in a revolution for the production of Bruno products.

Our group was fortunate enough to be extended an offer of a full tour of the Bruno manufacturing facilities. In the first building we toured we say the Fabrication side of the process, These steps include shaping, welding, and testing. The second building we toured included the customer satisfaction, electrical, product assembly, and shipping departments. This inside look gave us insights into how a product can go from raw materials to the finished product. The functionality of a product provides its value and the production floor is where that value comes to life.

Key Takeaways

• There can be upwards of 3500 parts in a single chair lift.
• The amount of hands that have to touch the product before it can be fully functional and ship out to the customer.
• The competitiveness for skilled factory employees (Welders, Fabricators, Operators, Assemblers)

Next up, we will be punching our tickets to Sweden on Thursday, January 16th!

Thank you to Bill and everyone at Bruno!