Viking Range LLC is poised for continued growth as it expands its product lines, its president said Friday.
Kevin Brown spoke to employees at the employee picnic.
He said Viking is the “flagship” of the residential appliance brands owned by the Middleby Corp., which is based in Elgin, Illinois.
Other residential brands within the Middleby family include AGA, La Cornue, Lynx and U-Line, which are “big, strong brands,” Brown said.
Recently Middleby purchased Follette Ice LLC, a company that manufactures ice makers that make “Sonic Ice,” such as that used by the drive-in franchise.
Brown said he hopes to incorporate Follette technology into Viking’s product line “because it’s a great product.”
“I’m planning on trying to bring that on prior to the Kitchen and Bath Show, which is in January,” he said.
Viking is also making a huge investment in improving manufacturing processes.
“I’d say we’re probably a pilot in Middleby, here in Greenwood, of doing line efficiencies, line balancing, which is good for the employees because it kind of balances the workload,” Brown said.
The company is also restarting its long-dormant sales initiative program.
The focus will remain on quality and new products, and the company must continue to tell the story about its products, Brown said.
“You want to be in front of consumers and in front of dealers,” he said.
“What that will do is then drive sales. Those sales are going to require us to have more capacity. With more capacity we want more efficiency,” Brown said.
He praised the company’s skilled and dedicated workforce for making Viking the “shining star” in the Middleby family.
“With the transition we’ve been through, becoming part of the Middleby family, we have now become a standard for Middleby,” Brown said.
•Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
