Brady Corporation
Encyclopedia
Brady Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of complete identification solutions. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., Brady employs 6,600 people in operations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Brady Corporation was founded as W.H. Brady Co. in Eau Claire, Wis., in 1914 by William H. Brady. In 1984, the company went public and began trading on the NASDAQ market. In 1998, W.H. Brady Co. became Brady Corporation and in 1999, the company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol BRC. Today Brady has more than 1 million customers around the world and sales of about $1.26 billion.

Core Expertise

The company has core expertise in safety identification, regulatory compliance
Regulatory compliance
In general, compliance means conforming to a rule, such as a specification, policy, standard or law. Regulatory compliance describes the goal that corporations or public agencies aspire to in their efforts to ensure that personnel are aware of and take steps to comply with relevant laws and...

, brand protection, hospital facility safety, laboratory identification and specimen tracking, visual workplace for lean enterprises, visitor access, and voice and data communications and precision die-cut components. Its product lines encompass do-it-yourself printing systems, including high performance label materials, signs and software solutions, and lockout/tagout, spill control and regulatory compliance devices.

History

Early Years—Brady's first products were promotional calendars, painted signs and point of purchase displays. The company made it through The Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 by manufacturing and marketing hundreds of millions of push cards. These small paperboard cards with rows of perforated circles concealing numbers, fit into Brady's already established business of printing, die cutting and laminating.

1940s—During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Brady discovered the wire marker card, numbered cloth strips on an adhesive card. Electricians and assembly workers pulled wiremarker strips from the card and wrapped them around electrical wires creating a numbering system for identification purposes.

1950s & 60s—Brady's move to Milwaukee launched an era of explosive growth. Brady became known as an "identification specialist." The company focused on both brand-new products and evolutionary improvements to its standard product line.

In addition to new products, Brady developed proprietary machines that could laminate, die cut, print and cut to length in a single operation, boosting production volumes and reducing production costs.

1970s—While Brady had sold products internationally through distribution and mail order since 1947, the 1970s are when global expansion at Brady truly matured. The company established subsidiaries in England, Belgium, Germany, France and Australia. By 1980, international subsidiaries accounted for 20 percent of Brady's sales.

1980s—The rise of direct marketing in the 1980s signaled a turning point in Brady's business strategy. In 1981, Brady acquired Seton, a direct marketing business that purchased nothing from Brady, but sold nearly identical products. Seton's catalog mailings soared from 1 million in 1981 to 8 million in 1988 and in 1985, Seton installed the company's first toll-free number, generating 600 calls in one day. Based on Seton's success in the U.S., subsidiaries were established in England, Canada and Germany by 1988.

1990s—Brady's business and product lines evolved with the evolution of technology. Throughout the decade, Brady introduced printing systems that enabled customers to print their own safety signs, labels and identification products on-site and on-demand. Software products along with printers, scanners and bar code labels launched Brady into the world of automatic identification and data collection. New high-performance materials could withstand the harsh of environments required for circuit board manufacturing and the advent of mobile phones opened a completely new market for Brady die-cut products.

2000s—Brady's most recent decade was one of growth through acquisition. More than 35 acquisitions around the world helped the company to triple in size between 2003 and 2010. Brady was financially strong, weathered the great recession of 2009 and 2010 and used the downturn to invest in new product development, e-commerce, and productivity improvements while also refining its acquisition strategy.

Brady Products Behind the Scenes

As a specialty business-to-business manufacturer, Brady turns out products that consumers don't typically see, but are virtually everywhere—inside manufacturing facilities, public buildings, computers, airplanes, mobile phones and many other places people don’t think to look.
  • Brady markers identified every pipe in the Manhattan Project's
    Manhattan Project
    The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...

      weapons plant in the 1940s.
  • Brady nameplates and component markers soared into the heavens with the Gemini spacecraft in the 1960s.
  • Brady has supplied helmet logos for a number of NFL teams including the Green Bay Packers
    Green Bay Packers
    The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

    .
  • Brady Contract Services used on North Slope during construction of the Alaska gas pipeline.
  • Brady Freezerbondz labels used in safety trial for an experimental vaccine to help prevent H1N1(swine flu).
  • Brady SPC sorbent products helped clean up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
    Deepwater Horizon oil spill
    The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...

    . More than 500,000 feet of oil booms, thousands of nets, 600 bales of absorbent pads, and more than a million feet of other materials absorbed spilled oil from the water.

Sustainability at Brady

Brady takes a comprehensive approach to sustainability, focusing on the sustainability of the company, its customers and the communities in which it operates.

The company in its operations focuses on reducing waste, conserving energy, using natural resources responsibly and promoting employee safety. For example, in 2010 Brady became a Smartway Transport partner in the U.S. while in 2009 Brady opened a new facility in Egelsbach, Germany, that uses a geothermic heating and cooling system.

For its customers Brady uses Design for Environment principles to design the eco-friendly products customers require including halogen-free flame-retardant labels and ribbons for consumer electronic devices.

In its communities, Brady's focus is developing tomorrow's leaders where it operates through strategic philanthropy and employee engagement
Employee engagement
Employee engagement, also called worker engagement, is a business management concept. An "engaged employee" is one who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about their work, and thus will act in a way that furthers their organization's interests...

. Charitable giving through the Brady Corporation Foundation and Brady Corporation has increased 10-fold over the past five years and gift-in-kind donations have surpassed $1 million. Recent projects include a third China Hope School in Sichuan Province; "Brady Corporation, Jr.," an interactive exhibit that teaches preschoolers about manufacturing at the Betty Brinn Children's Museum in Milwaukee; and funding college educations through I Have a Dream for a class of students at Clarke Street Elementary School.

International Expansion

1947: Brady began selling its products internationally, to South Africa.

1950s: First European sales office in U.K., and operations in Canada.

1960s & 70s: Expansion throughout Europe with operations in Belgium, Germany, France and Sweden.

1980s: Entered Asia, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

1990s: Began operating in Mexico and Brazil with further expansion in Asia to China, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan.

2000s: Continued expansion in Asia, Thailand and India as well as expansion into Slovakia in Eastern Europe; Turkey in the Middle East and the United Arab Emirates.

Brady Businesses

A history of acquisition means that Brady goes to market with many different names and brands, including:
Trafalgar First Aid VariQuest IDenticard Seton Electromark
Signals Safetyshop Emedco JAM Modernotecnica
Welco TISCOR Scafftag DAWG Clement Communications
BIG Badges ID Warehouse Securimed Stickolor Comprehensive Identification Products Inc.
Carroll Australasia Prinzing Asterisco STOPware Accidental Health & Safety
Personnel Concepts SPC Transposafe

Awards & Recognition

  • Brady named to InformationWeek 500 list of top IT organizations across the nation in 2010
  • Brady Technologies Thailand, Inc. Received 2010 Thailand Lean Award from the Thailand Promotion Association (Thailand-Japan).
  • Brady Receives Adoption is Good Business Award from The Business Journal and Adoption Resources of Wisconsin 2010.
  • Modernotecnica, a Brady business in Milan, Italy, received the Mercurio D'oro Company of the Year 2009 Award for the company's significant contribution to economic and social development in Italy.
  • Brady named to Forbes magazine's Platinum 400 list of Americas Best Big Companies in 2008 and 2006.
  • Brady President and CEO Frank Jaehnert named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® in the Manufacturing Category for the Upper Midwest Region in 2008.
  • Seton U.K. and Safetyshop received ECMOD awards in 2007 & 2006 for business-to-business marketing.
  • Brady was named Corporate Strategic Acquirer of the Year in 2007 by M&A Advisor for its focused acquisition strategy.
  • Brady Received Outstanding Corporate Growth Award from the Association for Corporate Growth, 2007
  • Brady named to BusinessWeek magazine's annual "Hot Growth: 100 Companies to Watch" list in 2006.
  • Brady Freezerbondz™ label material was the first material to market that adheres to a frozen or frosted surface without the need to scrape or dry off the surface.
  • Brady was the first company recognized for its innovative Internet business strategy by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state's largest business association.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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