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US manufacturer Ariens celebrated its 75th anniversary on Thursday 11th September 2008. The business was born in the Great Depression. Founder Henry Ariens’ iron works had been forced to close after 40-years serving the community of Brillion, Wisconsin. It would have been easy to give up but Henry and his three sons, Steve, Leon and Francis, weren’t the quitting type. With a $1500 loan raised against the elder Ariens’ life insurance policy and another $1500 acquired by selling shares in their new venture the four men went to work in Henry Ariens’ garage (it was a triple garage!)
Market gardeners, nurserymen and landscapers alike had a pressing need for something that filled the gap between a drawn plough and hand-held implements. While most were content to distribute imported “tillers” the Ariens family decided to make the first American unit. Powered by its own air-cooled engine, the Ariens Model A “plows (sic) as it discs as it harrows.” Many tiller models followed, aimed at improving productivity.
Ariens joined the war effort in the 1940s with the “Aggmixer” a product that made the soil, cement and blacktop runways needed for secondary airports and training bases across the Pacific. Then like many manufacturers Ariens got on the Post-War suburban wave. Before Henry Ariens died in 1956 he had seen the release of the company’s first 25” mower. Two years later, with eldest son Steve at the helm Ariens released its first ride-on. Production of Ag and Garden products continued side-by-side until Ariens decided to focus exclusively on OPE. This coincided with the 1969 appointment of Henry Ariens’ grandson Mike Ariens as President. Ariens then acquired a number of companies, most notably Gravely (a business stretching back to 1916).
Ten years ago third-generation Mike stood aside for fourth-generation Dan who had previously been responsible for Gravely. There Dan had implemented “lean” manufacturing principles, which he applied across the Ariens organisation. This has helped Ariens thrive in an increasingly competitive global marketplace because of its continuous efficiency improvements.
While Dan oversees the day-to-day running of the group’s finished product operations brother Peter runs the group’s “Stens” aftermarket business. They have overseen a period of rapid expansion that began with a strategic review in 1994. Then the brothers isolated five core values that had inspired their great-grandfather and defined Ariens: Honesty, Fairness, Keeping Commitments, Respecting Individuals and Encouragement of Intellectual Curiosity. Finally they came up with a simple Vision Statement: Passionate People … Astounded Customers.
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“Since then we’ve expanded both manufacturing and parts businesses,” Dan Ariens says. However, like all OPE firms, Peter acknowledges, “The weather really drives what kind of year we have.”
The last couple of years have seen an astonishing seven acquisitions, including Australian aftermarket supplier Bynorm. At the same time, Ariens ceased manufacturing conventional ride-ons (believing the sector had became saturated) and moved to producing both commercial and consumer Zero Turns.
“ZTs are now the staple of both Ariens consumer and Gravely commercial brands,” Dan says. US ZT manufacturers EverRide and Great Dane are among the raft of recent Ariens acquisitions.
In Australia EverRide is imported by the Gripske Group’s “Powerup Lawncare Products” and Great Dane by Hills District Group’s “Great Dane Australia”. Ariens took over distribution of its Ariens and Gravely brands this year after many years association with Allpower Industries. Thus staff at Bynorm facilities across Australia joined their colleagues around the world celebrating Ariens Co’s 75th anniversary.
Peter Ariens believes great-grandfather Henry would be pleased with the business today.
"I know my father [Michael] is," he says. "I think my great-grandfather was concerned about being able to provide for his family." And with three of Dan Ariens’ children expressing the desire to join the company it looks as if Ariens Company will be providing for the Ariens family for many years to come.
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