Putting the cart before the horse — that’s one of the reasons Brechbuhler Scales’ President Kraig Brechbuhler gives when asked to explain the company’s status as the largest independent scale concern in the country.
“Our business is unusual,” he admits. “We were in the service business for 60 years before we started manufacturing. That gives us quite an edge. Our service people help design the scales we manufacture.”
Today, the family-owned business, which began life as a distributor for such manufacturing heavyweights as Toledo, makes, sells, services and rents everything from gram scales found in laboratories to scales used to weigh railroad cars.
Regional service is provided by 14 branch offices in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Indiana. The company averages a 10 percent increase in revenues each year, growth its president largely attributes to the success of B/Tek, its 6-year-old manufacturing division.
Brechbuhler says that management’s willingness to invest in the company plays a big role in its success. For example, the 100-plus service vehicles, a fleet that includes everything from pickups to semis, are routinely repaired or replaced.
“Image is important to us, how our equipment looks,” he says. “We own our equipment. We don’t lease.”
That philosophy extends to real estate. Through the years, the company has tried to open branch offices in custom-built facilities on land it has acquired.
A work force of 180 enjoys profit-sharing, defined-benefit retirement and 401(k) pension plans, tuition reimbursement and in-house training.
“The branches are their own cost centers,” Brechbuhler says. “If a branch manager wants to send one of his technicians or office people for further training or education, we really support those decisions. We actually promote it.”
The Canton headquarters even hosts a school for branch office secretaries a least once a year. As many as 20 secretaries spend the time learning more about the business and its procedures, as well as getting to know one another.
“If your home office is 200 miles away, and you’ve given a group of people the responsibility to run an office and take care of customers, you want to give them all the tools you can to make sure they do the job well and are proud of the company they work with. We continually need to think that way.”
That attitude has paid off in low turnover. Brechbuhler says many workers have been with the company since they graduated from high school or college. He describes his employees as “a young group,” whose average age is 40. The average age of top managers, he adds, is 45.
“My father has always thought that younger has the energy and the creative ideas to maker ’er go,” Brechbuhler says. “That’s one thing we’ve always tried to invest in — youth.”
How to reach: Brechbuhler Scales Inc., (330) 453-2424
Lynne Thompson