Briggs and Stratton's "Watershed" Year

Todd Teske, chief executive officer for Briggs and Stratton Corp., said the company has launched more new products than it has ever launched in a year, but the changes the company needed to make to become innovative required a culture shift, and a big one.

Teske talked about how the company changed its innovation strategy at the Innovate To Grow 2014 Manufacturing and Distribution Executive Summit on Wednesday. And the payoff for the 108-year-old Wauwatosa-based company means that it enjoys an 80 percent market share in the markets it occupies.

“It’s interesting, when you look at how people view Briggs and Stratton, it’s generally an engine company … which we are,” Teske said. “But we’re also a company that is going through a lot of transition.”

Because the company makes engines for power equipment, Briggs knew its business was directly tied to the housing market and after the housing boom management realized the need to diversify its business model. Still, the company continued to be order takers, until the Chinese came along and started manufacturing similar products that were exported to the United States and their pricing was much lower than Briggs’. A number of Briggs’ competitors located in the U.S. started going out of business, Teske said.

In studying the cost differences between China and the U.S., the company came to the conclusion that it didn’t have a cost problem; it had a profit problem, Teske said.

“They don’t have to make as much money as we do. Why? Because there are a lot different policies there than here,” Teske said. “There, you employ people and you get paid. Now, I can tell you if we had that policy here in the U.S., you can’t imagine how many employees Briggs and Stratton would have ... because I would be hiring just to make more money.”

After the housing market burst and the country went into a recession, the company realized that housing drove its business in a big way. So Teske asked his team how the company would compete differently, and that’s when the company defined its innovation strategy.

Changing the corporate structure, Teske had its research and development team report directly to him. The team also focused almost all of its attention on meeting emissions standards because it’s in a regulated industry. The company knew that there would be more emissions regulations in the future, but right now there isn’t anything on the books.

“That allowed us to refocus our R and D dollars,” Teske said.

The company focused on two primary elements: reducing noise and making the engines easier to start.

Briggs launched more new products than it has ever launched in a year with Quiet Power Technology, a motor that the company says is 65 percent quieter than a traditional lawnmower motor; POWERflow+, a pressure washer that is high pressure-low flow and low pressure-high flow; Mow 'n' Stow Engine, an engine that can be stored on its side without leaking gas or oil.

Teske said the upcoming season would feature products that are easier to start that use a lithium-ion battery.

“Again, is this an iPod? No. Little things … little things mean big innovation. That’s our journey,” Teske said.

Denise Lockwood         www.bizjournals.com