1450 Kettle Run Road · Lititz, PA
Two bays.Then three.Still family.
Walt Brenneman started this shop in a pole barn in 1987 with a used brake and a stick welder. His kids run it now, and they still read the drawings themselves.
Two shifts, Mon to Fri
How we got here
Thirty-nine years, one road.
Every expansion happened because a customer asked for one more operation. We kept saying yes, and kept it under the same roof.
- 19872,400 sq ft
The pole barn
Walt leaves a farm equipment plant to weld for local farms. Two bays, one used 90-ton brake.
- 1996+ Bay 1
First OEM account
A Lancaster County hitch maker sends its first blanket order. Bay 1 goes up next to the barn.
- 2004+ OP-40
Machining comes in house
Bay 2 goes up for welding, and two VMCs and a lathe come in so welded hubs get bored on the same floor instead of across the county.
- 2011+ OP-10
ISO 9001 and the first laser
ISO 9001 registration, a CMM and the first laser, a CO2 machine, all in one year. Food processing customers follow.
- 2018Gen 2
The second generation
Amy takes over operations and Luke takes estimating. Walt still comes in most mornings to look at the welds.
- 202358,000 sq ft
Bay 3 and robots
Three robotic weld cells, 6 kW and 4 kW fiber lasers in place of the CO2, and two 5-axis mills. Second shift goes full time.
The floor
Three bays, laid out by the route.
Raw stock comes in the north door and finished parts leave the south dock. Everything in between is laid out in the order a part travels.
Cut & form
- 2 Fiber lasers, 6 kW and 4 kW
- 1 HD plasma table with bevel head
- 4 CNC press brakes, to 220 ton
- 1 Shear, 10 ft x 1/4 in
- 1 Saw line, two band saws
Weld & assemble
- 14 Manual MIG / TIG cells
- 3 Robotic weld cells
- 1 Stainless-only room
- 2 Assembly lines with kitting
- 1 Graining and deburr line
Machine & inspect
- 6 Vertical machining centers, two 5-axis
- 4 CNC lathes, two with live tooling
- 1 CMM, climate-controlled room
- 1 Shipping dock, two doors
Quality
The paperwork is part of the part.
Every job runs on a traveler. Every first article gets measured before the run goes. Every certificate goes in the box.
- ISO 9001:2015Registered to ISO 9001 since 2011
- AWS D1.1 / D1.2 / D1.69 qualified welders
- CMM inspectionFirst article reports
- PPAPLevel 3 on request
- Material certsMill certs on every lot
- TraceabilityHeat numbers to the part
Who answers the phone
41 people. Two of them named Brenneman.
Call the shop and you get one of these three, or someone they trained.
Amy Brenneman Hurst
Runs the schedule, the floor and the shipping dock. If a date is going to move, she is the one who calls you.
Luke Brenneman
Ran the brakes and the laser before he quoted them. Reads every new drawing and writes the router.
Walt Brenneman
Handed the keys over in 2018. Still in most mornings to look at the welds, and still right about them.
39 more. Average tenure is 11 years. Eight of our welders came up through the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center.
Come see it
Tour the floor before you send the PO.
Engineers and buyers are welcome any weekday. We are 15 minutes north of Lancaster.