This year marks the 100th anniversary of Braden, part of the PACCAR Winch. To celebrate, the company hosted a customer invitational golf scramble and conference—bringing together suppliers, OEMs, distributors, and other special guests for three days of fun, education and collaboration.
Attendees from around the US and globally from Canada to the United Kingdom, Belgium, Abu Dhabi and Malaysia were provided with an overview of the company’s strategic outlook, including operations, engineering, sales and marketing. The event culminated with tours of PACCAR Winch manufacturing facilities in Okmulgee and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
Conference presentations to PACCAR Winch customers highlighted the company’s commitment to delivering the highest quality and value in all areas of the business. Speakers included Michael Rogers, President/GM; Michael Hopper, director, sales; Quentin Vanderlaan, chief engineer; Jim Braden, VP sales and marketing; and Paula Bell, marketing manager.
Altogether, the program set the tone to push the envelope with future innovations over the next 100 years at Braden, tying together customer-driven engineering with equipment integration, quality assurance protocols, serviceability and overall value. The focus is on developing fitments and custom configurations to support a growing range of needs across key industries including utility, oil and gas, trailer and towing, construction, forestry, drilling, marine and military.
Throughout the week, networking opportunities allowed for meaningful collaboration and provided insights into how products are being used and what questions are being asked in the market. Conversations addressed challenges in the industry and pain points of end users, how PACCAR Winch’s business works, and what the organization offers across its entire family of Braden, CARCO and Gearmatic brands.
On the plant tours, guests could see the company’s dedication to continuous improvement and quality control through industry-leading practices. PACCAR Winch is investing in capital improvements as well as process improvement initiatives to improve worker safety and minimize physical strain while maximizing efficiencies and reducing waste. Those in attendance were offered an up-close look at new tooling and fixturing, advanced CNC machining and wireless coordinate measurement machines for more versatile and faster inspections, reduced part transit and enhanced troubleshooting capabilities.
Other highlights of the event included the golf scramble, which hosted over 60 players at Cherokee Hills Golf Course; luncheon keynote speaker Marcus Aurelius Anderson, who spoke about the leadership and the gift of adversity; and a reception and dinner celebrating Braden’s 100th anniversary with remarks from Debra Wimpee, Mayor of the City of Broken Arrow, who underscored the company’s ongoing economic impact with a growing workforce and long-term commitment to supporting business in the region.
Since 1924, BRADEN has been at the forefront of performance engineering and innovation, committed to manufacturing the highest quality winch, hoist and drive solutions in the industry. “Our patent history goes back to the early days of Braden Steel and Winch Company,” Jim Braden said. “Our question has always been, ‘How can we align and deliver the best value for our customers?’”
“All our products and services are designed to enhance the company’s reputation for providing unsurpassed customer satisfaction through superior quality and delivery of premium value, across the entire PACCAR Winch family of BRADEN, CARCO and Gearmatic brands,” he continued.
“BRADEN is committed to continuously improving and partnering in the delivery of today’s winch and hoist options that could become the standards of tomorrow.”
