EP 5 - 2020: The Year of Re-Envisioning Operations in Manufacturing | Power Test Dynamometers | Sussex, Wisconsin

“Again, something we never would have considered in the past, but clearly something that is going to be part of a consideration going forward, so technology is a great thing and when you’re faced with still having to provide a result, we get kind of creative on how to get there.” – Rick Ruzga | President | Power Test Dynamometers

In this week’s episode of “Wisconsin Made. The Podcast.” we highlight Power Test Dynamometers out of Sussex, Wisconsin. They began 2020 with momentum that was created the previous year and maintained it throughout. The company completed two acquisitions, expanded its manufacturing footprint and increased its workforce while exhibiting 5% revenue growth and a 30% growth in profit. In addition, Power Test again contributed 2% of revenue to charity and supported COVID relief in other ways. Employees organized supply drives to support local organizations, continued blood drives onsite and donated meals to local hospital workers.

Our guest joining us in this episode is Rick Ruzga, President of Power Test Dynamometers. Rick has a proven track record of operational excellence with the ability to synthesize engineering, quality, manufacturing, finance and customer operations in a growing business. Tune in to this episode as we learn more about the successes and challenges that the team at Power Test faced in 2020 and learn more about Rick’s thoughts on the manufacturing industry in Wisconsin moving forward.

In this episode we answer:

Tell us a little bit about Power Test. (1:45)

Can you tell us a little bit about the revenue growth and the growth of the company over the last year? (3:05)

What kind of technologies and processes did Power Test put in place to communicate internally and also to communicate externally to customers? (6:00)

What were some of the initiatives Power Test took in 2020 to support the community during the pandemic? (13:00)

What are you seeing for the rest of 2021? Do you see manufacturing really coming back strong following the pandemic? (15: 30)

What is something you learned in 2020 that will really help drive the company forward for the next year and beyond? (18:30)

In next week’s episode, we are going to be joined by Robyn Buss, Executive Vice President of Food Packaging & Technical Solutions at Ahlstrom-Munksjo. We will learn more about how they responded to COVID-19 and specifically about shifting their production processes to meet the demand for the medical industry throughout 2020 and beyond. Plus, we will gain a little insight about the type of products they have been manufacturing to help in the fight against COVID-19.

If you found value in this episode or want to hear the stories from Wisconsin manufacturers, please hit that subscribe button and share it with your peers. We really want to showcase all the good news stories of how manufacturing was critical in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Wisconsin Made. The Podcast.” is brought to you by Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year, a premier annual awards program celebrating excellence in manufacturing in the state of Wisconsin. Thank you to our program sponsors Baker Tilly, Michael Best and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC).