The Wagner Companies
10600 W. Brown Deer Road, Milwaukee
Industry: Handrail and railing systems and components for architectural and industrial markets.
Employees: 138
www.wagnercompanies.com
Most Milwaukeeans touch and see things every day made by The Wagner Companies, a manufacturing firm based on the far northwest side of Milwaukee. The company makes handrails, railings, industrial railings and custom tubing and related products – products that many people touch while walking down stairs every day but rarely think about.
“Our catalog has about 8,000 SKUs (stock-keeping unit) in it,” said Richard Kettler, president and chief operating officer of the Wagner Companies. “Of those, we stock about 6,000. The others we drop ship or make to order. We make about 70 percent of what is in our catalog or direct source it. We distribute the rest of it.”
The Wagner Companies’ products are made for commercial and industrial markets. Aside from its handrails and guard rails, the company also makes and sells tubular bike racks, grab rails, and custom-made spiral staircases. The company also makes almost all of the brackets, elbows and end caps that its handrails or guard rails use. Its catalog and warehouse typically feature about 200 different styles of brackets.
“There are so many different building codes out there, and that’s why we end up with so many different brackets,” Kettler said. “Each municipality uses different codes.”
The company recently received a patent for its PanelGrip dry glaze system, which allows glass panels used as rail panels in commercial applications to be installed without grout. Because the PanelGrip system uses pressure instead of grout, it can be installed much more quickly than grout-based system. The PanelGrip system uses a clamping system of opposing wedges, which also allows for minor adjustments or even system replacement – which aren’t possible using grout.
“This gives (our clients) about 80 percent in labor savings,” Kettler said. “It’s more expensive than the other products out there, but the savings in labor more than pays for it.”
The Wagner Companies are made up of R&B Wagner, J.G. Braun, and Wagner Industrial, which operate as one company. The three companies make standard products sold through its catalog, as well as made to order custom products, which can make scheduling production tricky, Kettler said.
“We try to blend it all in, but our industrial (customers) are looking for shorter lead times now,” he said. “It’s a continual battle to keep our on-time (deliveries) in the high 90s.”
The company also squeezes in a seasonal product – it has made Festivus poles, to commemorate the fake holiday popularized in the Seinfeld TV series, since 2005. Although the Festivus poles aren’t a huge source of revenue, they have given the company significant media exposure since they were introduced.
“It’s a fun product,” Kettler said.
The Wagner Companies are owned by Robert and Barbara Wagner, who continue to serve as president and treasurer, respectively. The company was founded in 1850 by Robert Wagner’s great-grandfather, Julius Wagner. Today, it has 138 employees, who work in two buildings that total 148,000 square feet and are located on the same parcel on Milwaukee’s northwest side.
The Wagner Companies’ sales are almost entirely to the commercial and industrial markets, and because most segments of those marketplaces remain depressed, its sales have fallen over the last two years, Kettler said.
“Our business lags on both ends (of an economic downturn),” he said. “Our railings are one of the last things that go into a building – we had a record 2008.”
The Wagner Companies’ sales fell 20 percent last year, and it is now forecasting for a five percent contraction in 2010.
“The commercial side is still contracting and until it turns positive, everyone is fighting for every last scrap of business,” Kettler said. “Health care is really the only thing that’s doing well right now.”
The Wagner Companies have historically been a component manufacturer, making individual pieces that are sold to contractors who install railings. Hiring more engineers in recent years and developing its reputation as an engineering services provider has helped The Wagner Companies win market share and maintain a level of business, Kettler said.
“Ten years ago, nobody would have asked if a bracket meets standards for shock loads or anything like that,” he said. “Today, there is a robust process to certify processes and materials – the engineering side is way more prevalent and more important.”
