Innovation against all odds defines Braun
How quickly can mobility be lost. So I wonder if through unforeseen circumstances, we could rise to the courage of Ralph William Braun, CEO of The Braun Corp.
His company was in the news recently, along with its Chicago dealer, Mobility Works. They jointly “gifted” a 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan with a Braunability conversion to a bride-to-be who relies on a wheelchair as a result of a car accident in 2009.
“American Idol” contestant Chris Medina had raised awareness of his fiancee Juliana Ramos when he was featured on the program. Braun then partnered with Mobility Works, which is near Juliana’s home, to provide her and Chris with a wheelchair accessible van.
The Braunability dealer and Braun deserve huge credit. But I want to get back to Ralph Braun, whose life is the story of innovation against all odds.
When Ralph was a boy, he was destined to use a wheelchair. Doctors told his parents he wouldn’t live into his teens. Fortunately, he didn’t have the fatal form of muscular dystrophy. He had spinal muscular atrophy and was unable to walk by age 15.
At that time, society didn’t expect much from the disabled. But that wasn’t Ralph.
Instead, Ralph was motivated to invent the world’s first electric scooter called the Tri-Wheeler and a wheelchair lift called the Lift-A-Way in his parent’s garage. Word spread, and this led to the birth of Save-A-Step Manufacturing, which ultimately became The Braun Corp.
I asked him how he converted an old Jeep to accommodate his first lift. He noted a popular television show called “Ironsides” featured a character played by Raymond Burr who fought crime from his wheelchair. In the show, Ironsides used a “bread truck” to get around. That program intrigued Ralph.
About this time, Ralph decided to buy a retired post office Jeep. He had to figure out how to access it using his wheelchair. It had an automatic transmission and high head room. His challenge was getting his wheelchair up and in the vehicle. When he learned the bread truck used by Ironsides was a Hollywood prop, he looked elsewhere for the answer.
He found it in a power tailgate designed for a pickup truck. So he made his own brackets and mounts and turned the tailgate into a platform for the Jeep. He made the platform larger to accommodate his tri-wheeler. The back door would not close because of the lift he installed, but he had mobility.
Then, in 1970, Dodge introduced the B-Van. After buying that vehicle, Braun completely retooled the lift, and he took a leap into the future. Today, Braun is a “global company in a cornfield,” serving customers on four continents and employing about 800 people at the Winamac plant.
The Society of Innovators is honored to have inducted Ralph W. Braun, of Pulaski County, as the Gerald I. Lamkin Fellow for Innovation and Service to the world.
John Davies is managing director of The Society of Innovators, launched by Ivy Tech Community College Northwest, and he is president of Woodlands Communications Group. The opinion expressed in this column is the writer’s.
http://www.nwitimes.com
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