The 15 Principles of the Ariens Management System are based on the technique of lean manufacturing, a culture of continuous improvement. They are the standard work of Ariens Company management.

Ariens Company is a performance driven company. Continuous improvement and waste elimination are incorporated into every employee’s job and each of the company’s business processes.

Living the Ariens Company vision, “Passionate People … Astounded Customers,” requires that employees press on to exceedingly higher performance levels and develop a culture with leaders at every level.

Culture

1. Core Values Ariens culture is built upon our Core Values and the pursuit of our vision to astound customers. Ariens Core Values: Be honest
   Be fair
   Keep our commitments
   Respect the individual
   Encourage Intellectual curiosity
2. Long-Term Base management decisions on a long-term vision, even at the expense of short-term financial goals.
3. Leaders Effective leaders develop the individuals around them. The continuous improvement of people is vital to our growth as an organization.
4. Technology Use reliable, thoroughly-tested technology that serves our customers, processes and people.

People

5. Development We choose to develop exceptional people and build teams that embrace the Ariens Company culture and vision.
6. Learn Continuous improvement requires a learning organization that thinks strategically in pursuit of perfection.
7. Quality Start with robust design. Stop to fix problems to get quality right the first time.

Process

8. Flow The right process will produce the right results.
9. Pull Use pull replenishment systems to avoid overproduction.
10. Level Load Level out the workload (Heijunka). Work like the tortoise, not the hare.
11. Standard Work Standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment.
12. Visual Use visual control so problems are not hidden and flow is easily understood.
13. Supply Chain Respect our extended network of supplier partners by challenging their practices and helping them improve.
14. Just Get Dirty Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation. Continuously solving problems drives improvement and organizational learning.
15. Think Make decisions with the involvement of many people. Thoroughly consider all options and implement decisions rapidly.

Ariens Company History

A spark flew and a legend was born.

It was 1933 and their Brillion Iron Works was gone. A business they had worked hard to build – only to close it when times got tough during the depression.

Henry Ariens and his three sons, Mando, Leon and Francis, were not deterred by losing the foundry just a few years earlier. They still had plenty of inventive ideas and a simple but sturdy garage in which to turn their plans into reality.

With a $1,500 loan borrowed against Henry’s life insurance policy and another $1,500 raised by selling shares of stock to a family member, the four men got to work …

Changing the Landscape for Growers
In the early years, the Ariens family worked to develop the first American-made rotary tiller. At a time when other manufacturers were experimenting with imported tillers, Ariens Company was conducting educational programs to teach commercial growers, nurserymen and landscapers how the new Ariens Model A Tiller, powered with an air-cooled engine, "plows as it discs as it harrows."

During the 1930s, Ariens responded to the need for greater food production with the invention and development of the multi-row Tillivator which became the first power take-off unit for tractors cultivating from 4-16 rows at a time.

It took the Ariens family many years of experimentation, education and perseverance before rotary tilling became accepted as a proven agricultural tool. By 1940, Ariens Company tillers were well established with greenhouse vegetable growers in Michigan and Ohio. The tillers ensured better soil conditions for improved plant growth and a more abundant harvest. Tillers also eliminated hand spading and the “old-fashioned” horse-and-plow operation.

Many tiller models followed, all aimed at improving outputs for vegetable growers around the country. Ariens Company introduced the more compact Model B Tiller, the Roller-Tiller, the Multi-Tiller Tractor Tiller, the Jitterbug single-row front rotary tiller and the Tillivator RC for celery growers in Florida.

During the 1940s, the company introduced the Aggmixer to make soil, cement and blacktop runways for secondary airports and training bases. This product helped to keep the company afloat in the early years. After WW II, Ariens retooled its facility, increasing plant size to 6,250 sq ft.

Post-War Residential Boom
The Gardeneer Tiller, introduced in 1950, included a rotary tiller, sickle bar and 25” lawn mower. The Yardster, introduced in 1952, included a Sno-Thro® attachment. In retrospect, both of these products would provide a glimpse into the company that would later take shape.

When Henry Ariens died in 1956, his three sons kept his legacy alive. Mando became President, Leon remained Vice President and Treasurer and Francis managed the Customer Service Division and would later create the Ariens service school for mechanics.

1958 was a landmark year with the introduction of the Jet Tiller and the Imperial Riding Mower. This marked a new era of residential mowing products. The imperial would be followed by the Fairway Riding Mower, the Manorway Tractor and the 21-inch Peacemaker Lawn Mower. Production of agricultural equipment and lawn and garden products continued side-by-side until 1968 when Ariens Company produced the last piece of farm equipment, the Hydro-Spacer.

Growth and Positioning for the Future
The transition from agricultural equipment was marked by a leadership change for the company when Henry’s grandson, Mike Ariens, became Company President in 1969. Under his leadership, Ariens Company experienced significant growth, facility expansions and the introduction of many new lawn and garden, and outdoor power equipment products. Several acquisitions also took place including the Sperry New Holland Lawn and Garden Tractor line, Promark Company and Edko Manufacturing.

The most significant of these acquisitions occurred in the early 1980s, when Ariens Company purchased Gravely Company, a North Carolina lawn and garden tractor manufacturer. Like Henry Ariens, Benjamin Franklin Gravely was an early inventor of combustion-powered garden equipment. He received his first patent for the Gravely Motor Plow in 1916 and his company was incorporated in 1922. It seemed fitting these two pioneers in the outdoor power equipment industry would someday have their companies under the same management.

No Business Like Snow Business
Ariens Company has branched into many product development projects over the course of its history. One of the most enduring and successful products has been the Ariens Sno-Thro®.

Ariens Company entered the snow thrower market at the urging of an Ariens distributor in the Northeast who wanted a two-stage snow thrower for home snow removal. Product design began on December 15, 1959 and by March of 1960, a prototype was complete. Test models were demonstrated to distributors throughout the Snow Belt with widespread approval. It was July 1960 when the company started production and 1,865 units were produced in the introductory season.

By the late 1970s, Ariens produced more than 100,000 Sno-Thro® machines each season. In November 2005, the company produced its milestone 2 millionth Sno-Thro® machine.

Ariens Company Today
In 1998, company leadership transitioned to fourth-generation family member Dan Ariens who guided the Gravely brand to become a full-line, premium provider of commercial equipment for professional landscape contractors. Through the early years of the 2000s, Gravely expanded with many new categories of products including zero-turn, walk-behind, out-front and stand-on mowing equipment.

Under Dan’s leadership the company also made a transition to dealer-direct distribution and introduced lean manufacturing principles for continuous efficiency improvement in operations. The company directly attributes its ability to remain solvent in the increasingly-competitive global marketplace to the contributions of employees using lean practices.

In 2006, Ariens Company also entered the golf, turf and sports turf equipment sector with the acquisition of Locke Turf Company, a manufacturer of reel mowers and National Mower, a manufacturer of specialty mowers designed for the golf, turf, and sports turf industries. In 2007, Ariens further expanded its commercial product offering when it acquired the EverRide and Great Dane brands of zero-turn, walk-behind and stand-on mowers.

True to Our Roots
Over the course of Ariens Company’s history, many products have come and gone as markets changed and customers refined their needs. But Ariens continues to manufacture products with the same drive for durability that was evident back in Henry Ariens’ garage. Core American values have guided Ariens Company and the Ariens family throughout its history. In 1998, Dan Ariens took on the task of defining those values that create the Ariens culture. He selected five Company Core Values: Be Honest, Be Fair, Keep Our Commitments, Respect the Individual and Encourage Intellectual Curiosity. These are the values that inspired Henry Ariens and his sons in the early years and will continue to define the Ariens culture in the future.

Finally, he considered what the Ariens heritage really means for those employees who work at the company and the customers who purchase Ariens products. Ultimately, he was able to sum it up with a very simple Vision Statement:  Passionate People … Astounded Customers.

Timeline of Ariens

Selected highlights from Ariens Company history:
1933	Built first rotary tiller in Henry Ariens' garage.
1945	Received U.S. Army Ordinance Award for crisis manufacturing.
1950's	Entered lawn and garden market with three consumer products, including riding mower.
1960	Introduced Sno-Thro® machines.
1963	Built new 23,000 square ft. manufacturing plant.
1977	Built new fabrication plant.
1982	Entered commercial market with acquisition of Gravely.
1995	Acquired Stens Corporation, OPE parts supplier.
1998	Introduced Lean manufacturing principles to improve manufacturing efficiencies.
2003	Opened the Ariens company museum in Brillion, Wis., marking the company's 70th anniversary.
2005	Celebrated the production of the 2 millionth Sno-Thro® machine.
2006	Invested $6.5 million to support manufacturing and training facility upgrades. Acquired the following:  Locke Turf company of Alabama, a manufacturer of reel mowers and specialty turf equipment. National Mower of St. Paul, Minnesota, a manufacturer of specialty mowers designed for the golf, turf, and sports turf industries. Bynorm group of companies, one of Australia's largest distributors of replacement parts for the lawn and garden industry.
2007	Employees conduct 1,000th kaizen event since 2001 aimed at improving efficiency throughout the business. Acquired the assets of the former Auburn Consolidated, Inc. (ACI) of Auburn Neb., including the EverRide and Great Dane brands of commercial mowing equipment.

Ariens Company was founded in the city of Brillion, located in Northeast Wisconsin, and continues to operate manufacturing facilities in that community today. Ariens supports local area communities through annual grants awarded by the Ariens Company Foundation.

In 2006, after an on-going partnership with the Brillion High School, the Foundation funded the construction of a $1.5 million Technology and Engineering Education Center for students.

The project was the culmination of a three-year plan to completely revamp the technology education department to create a contemporary curriculum. Enrollment in the curriculum has tripled over the past two years. Currently, over 200 of the total 330 Brillion High School students are enrolled in the program. The updated “shop” curriculum now reflects current manufacturing technology trends.

"It’s about updated technology but it is also about students participating in projects that allow them to learn innovative thinking and problem solving," says Steve Meyer, BHS Technology Education Instructor.

The 10,000 square ft. center includes a 50-student lecture facility, a large four-plex processing lab (for wood, metal, plastics and composites), and a state-of-the art design room with computers, CNC machines, electronics and robotics equipment. The renovation will also allow students to work on larger, more complex activities and to work on integrated projects with other disciplines such as mathematics and science.

"The Center is already becoming a model for technology education in the state and around the country,” says BHS Principal Paul Nistler. “We have inquiries from many educators at all levels of education who will be visiting the new facility over the school year."

The Original "Green Industry"
As part of the original "green industry" of lawn and landscape products, Ariens Company understands the benefits of maintaining a healthy lawn. When properly used and maintained, turf grass lawns provide many environmental and functional benefits.

Along with other manufacturers that are members of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), we are working toward an even better understanding of the impact of the "green industry" on the environment. Dan Ariens Ariens
Company President & CEO

Healthy Lawns Create a Healthy Environment
Grass-covered areas in the landscape provide better air quality, reduced ground surface temperatures and efficiently use water without runoff.

Lawns convert the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, into oxygen. Day-to-day a 2,500 square foot lawn can absorb enough carbon dioxide from the air to release oxygen for a family of four to breath.

With a significant cooling effect on the environment, lawns also provide respite from the heat. Summer air temperatures above a lawn can be up to 30 degrees cooler than above a paved area.

Compared to other landscape plants, turf grass will efficiently and effectively use almost every drop of water. The dense leaves, thatch, mat and roots of the grass system provide an excellent groundcover that significantly reduces soil erosion and runoff. Additionally, turf grass acts as a natural filter, reducing pollution by purifying the water passing through the dense root zone

Mowing Technology Reduces Environmental Impact
Compared to traditional lawn tractors, zero-turn mowers allow you to cut mowing time in half due to improved maneuverability. Zero turning radius mowers are especially effective for yards with obstacles such as trees, garden beds or play equipment. And because you are mowing less, you will use less gas -- further reducing your impact on the environment.

Green Lawn Care Tips
Choose the right turf grass species. Different types of grass are better suited for each part of the country. Work with a professional to determine the best species for your local microclimate. Also, be sure to find the appropriate match for your specific landscape conditions such as soil type, average rainfall and sun exposure.

Mow your lawn high to develop deep roots. Cutting your lawn too short is a common mistake that can encourage weed growth, increase heat stress during dry or hot periods and make your lawn more susceptible to insects and disease. Set your mower blade to a height that cuts no more than the top third of the grass plant. Longer grass leaves allow for growth of a stronger root system that can reach more soil moisture and nutrients.

Keep your mower blades sharp. An unsharpened mower blade can rip or tear the grass, creating a breeding ground for disease and other problems. At the outset of each growing season, sharpen or have your blades sharpened by a professional. If you live in a warmer climate where lawn care is a year-round activity, check your blades periodically to make sure they're sharp.

Leave clippings on your lawn. Leaving grass clippings on your lawn recycles plant nutrients back into the soil. Grass clippings contain 4% nitrogen, 0.5% phosphorus and 2% potassium -- the same beneficial nutrients as fertilizer. Left-over clippings can provide up to one-third of the annual feeding requirement for your lawn.

Use a zero-turn mower. Using a mower with zero-turn technology can literally cut your mowing time in half, and reduce the amount of gasoline required to care for your lawn.