From Midwest Cornfields to a Rover on Mars: The Impact of Nebraska Manufacturing Spans the Globe and Extends to Outer Space

The Perseverance Rover is currently exploring Mars for signs of ancient microbial life, collecting soil samples, and testing technology for the potential of human travel to the planet. And a piece of the Atlas V apparatus that launched the rover was built in Minden, Nebraska.

“There’s a little set of ducting that goes all the way across,” explained Brett Miller, Marketing Manager for Royal Engineered Composites in Minden. “We built that ducting for both the Curiosity Rover launch as well as the Perseverance Rover launch, both driving around Mars today.”

The ducting pressurizes the inside of the nose cone, preventing unwanted items from making their way into the spaceship while still on Earth. “If you’re driving around on a new planet, you want to have a nice, clean rover. You don’t want to have some mosquitoes that hitchhiked all the way from Florida to Mars. You want to know what’s actually from Mars,” explained Miller.

An industry with opportunities for almost every talent

During Manufacturing Month, Nebraska celebrates businesses throughout the state who are creating quality products. Manufacturing is a standout industry in the state, and it is making a widespread impact.

More than $7 billion of manufactured goods are exported from Nebraska each year. Being a $19 billion industry that employs more than 100,000 people in Nebraska, manufacturing also helps drive local economies and create careers suited for nearly all skillsets.

David Arnold, president at Royal Engineered Composites, explained that one of the advantages of the manufacturing industry he enjoys promoting is the variety of positions involved in ensuring the business runs well.

“People on the production scheduling, buying materials, financing, IT. If someone went to college and got a degree, we probably have a job for them,” he explained. “Likewise, if they haven’t, we train a lot of people in to do the stuff we do. We’re happy to do that.”

Manufacturing without an assembly line

Royal Engineered Composites makes parts for nearly all areas of the aerospace industry. These include airplanes and helicopters used by the U.S. military, rockets used by NASA, parts used on space stations, machinery used by the Department of Defense, and products for private businesses in the aerospace industry.

Royal Engineered Composites designs and builds its products in Nebraska through precision engineering and craftsmanship. But many of the orders they receive are for pieces that have never been built before. In-house, they engineer the part to be ready for production and even do testing at the facility.

“What we do here is different. It’s not an assembly line. It’s not the same thing over and over,” explained Dave. “It’s a certain skillset and workforce that we are looking for. People who like variation.”

The quality parts produced by Royal Engineered Composites have led to substantial growth that the business expects to continue for the foreseeable future. Their current workforce exceeds 200, but they fully anticipate making a significant number of new hires in the next few years.

They even recently broke ground on a 23,000-square-foot expansion and added an additional CNC router to increase production capacity. DED is supporting this growth through a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).

Bruckman Rubber Co.

About 40 minutes east of Minden, another manufacturing business is showing the strength of this industry in Nebraska. Bruckman Rubber Co. designs and builds specialty parts in Hastings, Nebraska, but instead of making products out of metal they are creating rubber-based products.

Some of these product lines include the rubber parts for Yeti’s coolers, the rubber coating for Garmin’s industrial parts, rubber coatings for John Deere parts, rubber handles for Ranch Road Cargo, and rubber material for Subconn Inc.’s (based in Ord) deep sea cables.

“We have 2,500 different products throughout the U.S., Asia, Canada, Mexico, and Europe,” said Travis Turek, president of Bruckman Rubber. These include rubber parts designed and built for the oil and gas industry, bulk container transportation, plumbing, agriculture, the rail car industry, aftermarket automotive, hydraulic lubes, food processing, and commercial products.

One reason Bruckman Rubber creates so many different products is their ability to adapt to a customer’s needs. “Most other rubber companies get specialized in about eight compounds, when we have 1,500 or more,” explained Kirk Feeney, Controller/HR/Purchasing for Bruckman Rubber. “It’s easy to specialize in about six of them, like just doing silicone. That’s a piece of cake!” This flexibility allows Bruckman to meet with clients and tailor products to the exact specification needed.  

Started in the cornfields

Founded in 1961 by Charles Bruckman, the company’s original rubber products were designed for local farmers to use in irrigation systems. “Irrigation gaskets is where Chuck got his start,” explained Turek. “The gated pipe you see in corn fields. We’re in the mecca of agriculture here and that’s where he got started. He started doing it in his garage. And right where you first walk in [to the building] is where he put his first press.”

Bruckman Rubber has now expanded to 60,000 square feet of manufacturing space and is able to produce nearly any size of rubber product needed. “We’re 65 years in the rubber business,” said Turek. “No project is too big or too small. We’ll make one or one million.”

All the tooling and rubber for each design is created in-house, making Bruckman a highly specialized operation. “That’s what makes us very unique,” Turek continued. “Our mission is to provide our customers quality products and services. We may not be the cheapest, but our quality and reliability is what our reputation is. We don’t have a dedicated sales team. It’s all word-of-mouth.”

Helping students build a life in Nebraska

About 1 in 10 Nebraskans work in the manufacturing industry, and these jobs are strong long-term careers for those wanting to build a life in the state. Businesses like Bruckman Rubber Co. and Royal Engineered Composites strategically recruit employees to fill positions because of how specialized the work is – and many employees stay for decades.

For the tool shop at Bruckman, there are only two programs in the state that train students: Southeast Community College (SCC) and Central Community College (CCC). “We try to grow from the inside, but we have a good relationship with Southeast and CCC. We have to draw from them,” explained Feeney. “We have to have a good relationship with them to get those kids to come here.”

Many of the students coming out of these programs have numerous job offers because of the demand in this field. “There’s one kid, and he’s got 70 suitors. That’s the reality,” Feeney added.

Learn more about the available opportunities in manufacturing by visiting the State of Nebraska’s job site at NEworks.nebraska.gov.

To see more great things being manufactured in the Good Life, check out the Coolest Thing Made in Nebraska—an annual competition hosted by the Nebraska Chamber and NE Manufacturing Alliance.

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.