Brunson Instrument Company – Workforce Training Success

Brunson Instrument Company first opened its doors in 1927 as a one-man repair shop founded by A.N. Brunson to assist early land surveyors in calibrating their equipment. After hearing many customer complaints about the technology that was available at the time, Brunson took on the challenge of improving several types of surveying instruments. With a strong focus on customer service, A.N. Brunson prided himself on creating solutions for technical problems that people said couldn’t be solved. This guiding principle has allowed the company to enjoy a long, rich history in the Kansas City area. The company still resides there today and currently engineers, manufactures, and markets portable measurement and alignment solutions for high precision industrial applications.

Through the years, Brunson Instrument Company has continued to grow by following their guiding principle of listening to customer input and proactively creating new products to address customer concerns. For the last eight years, the company has partnered with Missouri One Start’s Local Education Agency, Metropolitan Community College, to develop training on finite element analysis (FEA) software.

As a result, the company has experienced multiple benefits, one of which is adopting a strategic approach to meeting customer needs. “With higher-level training, we can do a better job of using our 3D modeling software to prove out mechanical designs.  FEA can perform analysis on mechanical systems that are too complex to address any other way,” says Engineering Director Mark Meuret. President Richard Powell added that, “When our engineers can improve our time-to-market, we solve the customer’s problem more quickly, and they really appreciate that.  [This training] has helped us speed development cycles and increase our customer satisfaction level.  We are able to be more of a partner to our customers, which is part of our business model.”

This increase in skills and service allows the company to take a strategic approach in meeting client needs, giving them a competitive edge and the capacity to serve an international client base.

Metropolitan Community College has worked with Missouri One Start and the Department of Economic Development’s recruitment and training programs since 1987.