Vendor Viewpoint: Braun Industries Marks 50 Years

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Braun Industries, makers of tough, customizable ambulances and now part of a consortium that also include Demers Ambulances, Crestline Coach, and Medix Specialty Vehicles. The combined group now employs more than 1000 workers across 12 North American sites, and their cumulative sales position the company as the second-largest ambulance manufacturer in North America.

Kim Braun is president of U.S. operations at Demers Braun Crestline Medix and the third generation in the Braun family to run the company. 

“I attribute Braun’s success and longevity to our relationships with people, be they customers, dealers, suppliers, or our employees,” she says. “We’ve always believed in building long-term relationships, which is why we enjoy such customer loyalty and a high staff retention rate.”

Unexpected Beginnings

Some of the world’s most iconic and successful brands started out making something entirely different. Nokia began as a paper mill in Finland. Nintendo produced handmade trading cards, and Toyota made weaving looms.

The same is true for Braun Industries. It started out in 1961 under Charles J. Braun (Kim’s grandfather) as a pattern-maker—a company that made fork, spoon, and knife molds for flatware manufacturers. 

“By 1972 our customers were insourcing pattern-making into their own companies, putting our company into a financial crisis,” says Kim Braun. “As it happened, my parents were volunteer firefighters/paramedics at the time, so they got the idea of building an ambulance. And so they did; the family won a bid to build an ambulance inside a 1972 Dodge Ram van, and we grew from there.”

‘Absolute Tanks’

In the last 50 years, Braun ambulances have gone from a custom one-off to a variety of configuration options that includes Type I, Type III, and medium-duty ambulances. The group’s range of products can be installed on chassis platforms made by Ford, General Motors, International, Dodge, Freightliner, and Spartan.

All Braun ambulances, from that first Dodge Ram to the current six models, have one thing in common: They are extremely rugged and tough, with the ability to survive collisions and rollovers while maintaining structural integrity and crew/passenger protection. 

“I am so proud of our products,” Braun says. “Our SolidBody construction is different from everyone in the industry, which is why our ambulances are absolute tanks. They can take a hit and survive, which plays a very significant role in saving the lives of crews and patients inside.”

An example of Braun’s toughness occurred on September 11, 2001, when one of the company’s ambulances owned by Long Island College Hospital  was buried by tons of debris at the World Trade Center site.

“Although the unit was destroyed when the South Tower came crumbling down, the box of the ambulance remained amazingly intact,” said Ed Caballero, who was the hospital’s director in 2012 and interviewed at that time for a Braun 40th-anniversary article. “If anyone needed to seek shelter in that box at the time of the collapse, they would have been able to survive due to the integrity of the Braun design.”

EMS agencies also choose Braun products for their size options, ease of customization, and ability to hold lots of equipment. 

“We can do custom ambulances in any size or configuration, but most of our customers want bigger,” Braun says. “They need to be bigger and broader because they want to carry more gear.” Add innovations like Braun’s EZ Glide sliding side entry doors, E-Z O2 Lift oxygen tank lift and storage unit, and light yet strong aluminum bodies and cabinetry, and it’s clear why Braun—now with Demers, Crestline, and Medix—has become such a large presence in the North American ambulance industry.

Commitment and Passion

The third reason for Braun’s 50 years of success is its family business heritage—a level of personal commitment and passion that endures today under Kim Braun’s leadership. “Although I grew up helping out with the business, I didn’t stay because I had to. This is what I want to be doing with my life,” she says. “I am excited for what’s coming in Braun Industries’ next 50 years. I’m not sure we’ll get to flying ambulances, but all-electric ambulances are coming.

“Meanwhile, we’re going to keep our focus on relationships by taking good care of our customers, colleagues, and employees in all we do,” she adds. “When you do that, success follows you.”  

Visit www.braunambulances.com

James Careless is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to EMS World.