May Wes Recognizes 45 Years of Manufacturing

May Wes Manufacturing was founded in 1972 by Wesley Bruns and wife Mavis on their farm site near Gibbon Minnesota. Wesley was a farmer and an innovator. The initial farm products he developed were made of aluminum and galvanized steel and were the "Crop De-Viders" to guide grain into headers and the "Gravity Flow Hoppers" that folded out for unloading.

THE AGE OF PLASTICS – THE ORIGINAL POLY PEOPLE

 

Several years passed when Wesley discovered poly material and used it in his product solutions. His employees recalled him making trips with the pickup truck to the Twin Cities to purchase 4' X 10' sheet of Ultra High Molecular Weight (UHMW) poly. On one occasion, his load of poly sheets took to the air on a busy interstate freeway, creating traffic havoc.

In the summer of 2002, Tom Daggett was approached to be a contracted manager through a four month duration (July - October) after which time he could decide to purchase the business. Tom was able to pull the former staff together and fulfill the orders through those peak demand months. He recalls it was the strength of the staff that kept things going.

Daggett decided to acquire May Wes and formed Pride Solutions LLC with May Wes as one of several business divisions. Tom's experience in manufacturing brought about some changes, including inventory management, process and capacity improvements, including the addition of a Komo CNC router in 2003, and organizational/strategic changes.

THE NEXT GENERATION OF A FAMILY BUSINESS
Tom Daggett's son, Jack, at the age of 13, worked production during the summers through his college years. He acquired first-hand working knowledge of many production processes. It was a natural transition for Jack to take on the Operations Manager role in 2013 with guidance from his father, Tom. Jack helped bring about heightened planning process/Material Requirements Planning, engineered approach to specs/purchasing, controlled documentations and raised the standards for customer service.

Jack Daggett became Pride Solutions President in 2016 and has aspiration for May Wes's continued growth in the Ag market through product extensions, team approach to new development, and strategic partnering.

One can only imagine what May Wes will achieve at its 50th Anniversary in 2022.