SUAMICO, Wis. — Jacob Budzban is busy giving one of RC Mowers’ units a quality assurance check in the parking lot behind the Suamico business.

What You Need To Know

  • RC Mowers near Green Bay builds robotic mowers for use in difficult terrain
  • The business has seen costs on just about everything increase
  • Wisconsin Commerce and Manufacturers many businesses across Wisconsin have seen business costs rise with inflation. ​

A team of about three dozen people design and build the remote-control robotic mowers made to work on hazardous and hard-to-reach terrain.

 “When you have an extremely dangerous area you have to either, one, cut by hand with hand tools or you’re actually on a mower riding at an extremely steep angle,” Budzban said. “This eliminates the possibility of a tip over or roll over and the operator getting injured.”

He said it also happens to be a pretty cool job.

“I have never once worked with anything like this before and it is exhilarating,” he said. “I’m using a remote control to run this kind-of-post-apocalyptic-Armageddon-looking-style brush cutter than can traverse anything you want to throw at it.”

A recent report from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce showed 98% of the CEOs it surveyed said inflation has caused their cost of business to go up.

Michael Brandt, RC Mowers CEO and owner, said inflation and price increases for components are a challenge for the three-year-and-a-half old business.

Some parts have gone up anywhere from 5 to 30%.

 “In most cases we have to absorb those prices,” Brandt said, explaining agreements with dealers don’t allow frequent changes in pricing. “We have to make adjustments to our budget, to our spending, to our growth plans in order to absorb those extra costs until a price increase can come along.”

That inflation is happening concurrently with supply chain issues that can make some parts tough to source.

“We’ve spent a tremendous amount of time that should have been invested in product improvement, R&D, process improvement to just try to hold the wheels on the bus,” Brandt said. “I think there are a lot of other people in that same boat.”

 The company continues to work on developing new products.

Once Budzban gives his okay, the mowers are shipped out to waiting customers.

“It allows the hard work to get done a little bit smarter, a little bit easier and with a little less risk,” he said. “Well, a lot less risk.”