Company Profile
Marion Body Works is an independent, family owned and operated manufacturer located in Marion, Wisconsin, where the company was founded in 1905 and has been in continuous operation ever since. The present ownership and management dates from 1980. Operations occupy 123,000 square feet on a 61 acre site, where all buildings and machinery are owned. Employment is about 150 and our annual sales are in the $20 million range. Our business has evolved from building custom carriages for Central Wisconsin friends to building commercial truck bodies, rescue and fire apparatus, truck cabs, and specialized military/government products for accounts throughout the United States. Marion's niche is building cost competitive, engineered truck bodies that stand up through the rigors of over-the-road duty. Our specialty is building in all-aluminum; we have more experience building all-aluminum bodies (since 1964) for emergency vehicles than any other U.S. manufacturer.
Our principle skill categories are aluminum and steel fabrication, welding, plumbing, foam insulating, hydraulics, electrical and electronic controls, and painting. We are especially proud of our custom downdraft, pressurized, 54' x 20' x 20' main paint booth and the exceptional quality of the paint jobs we produce. Our specialists are sent to factory training schools and, for our welders, we arrange regular in-plant AWS certified training by the Fox Valley Technical College. To maximize our competitiveness, Marion has computerized systems for managing inventory and production, a networked AutoCAD-3D engineering system, computerized fabrication machines, and a computer generated quote system to serve our customers faster.
All Marion designs combine input from our customers, our sales people, our shop floor craftsmen, our engineers, and our suppliers. A large raw material inventory is maintained on site to help meet quick delivery needs. We also keep all drawings of previous designs and stock old extrusions and parts to permit repair or refurbishing of any Marion, no matter how old.
For stability, Marion's products serve four diverse markets. Our line of Commercial Truck Bodies includes dry vans, insulated/refrigerated vans, heavy duty structural platforms, gas cylinder bodies, curtainside vans, glass hauler bodies, drom boxes, and enclosures. The Rescue and Fire Apparatus line includes midship pumpers, front mount pumpers, mini pumpers, rescue-pumper trucks, aerial pumper trucks, Haz-mat vehicles and rescue squad trucks. We also manufacture all-aluminum cabs for custom truck chassis makers. Our military/government products include cargo bodies and platforms built to MIL specs and precision sheet metal cabinetry to house electronics.
Since the current ownership began in 1980, Marion has encouraged employee self improvement by providing 100% reimbursement of all course fees and books for educational classes completed with a passing grade. Any course which the IRS will approve as a business expense qualifies for this reimbursement, including CPR and emergency first aid training. Marion Body also has a Safety Committee, which meets monthly to review performance and make recommendations on safety conditions. To their credit, our employees have set a safety record of 3 years, 5 months, and 28 days without a lost-time injury.
Our company maintains a Strategic (5 year) Plan and each year prepares a detailed Operating Plan and Budget. Driving all of this planning is Marion's Mission Statement.
Marion Body Works, Inc. Mission Statement
We are a Quality Manufacturer of Specialized Transportation Equipment. In support of this we are committed to:- Cost Competitive Products
- Personalized Customer Service
- Employee Safety and Investment for Their Personal Growth
- Continuous Improvement of All That We Do
- Working together Profitably
Day-to-day operations are guided not only by our Mission Statement, but also by our Commitment and Priorities.
Marion Body Works, Inc. Commitment and Priorities
Marion's Commitment is to "Always do what we say we're going to do", and in our decision making we observe three priorities, in the following order:- Priority #1:
- Safety and Quality. These come first, ahead of all else.
- Priority #2:
- Be On-Time with Commitments.
- Priority #3:
- Be Cost Effective.
