.Builds

Brammo Partners with Flextronics

 

Today’s announcement that Brammo has partnered with electronics giant Flextronics won’t likely impact headlines like a new-model reveal. But the long-term effect could be a game-changer for the Ashland, Oregon-based maker of the all-electric Enertia and soon-to-be-released Empulse motorcycles.
“When we look back in five years at the events that changed our company, I think this will be one of the bigger milestones,” said Brammo CEO Craig Bramscher.
For Brammo, Singapore-headquartered Flextronics, with its six-figure workforce spread throughout more than 30 countries, represents real commercial viability—dedicated chips, wiring harnesses, LED lighting, a proper cooler for the battery and so on. Ideally, Flextronics will supply Brammo with all its electronic needs, which make up 60 percent of current models.
Because so much of the bike is electronic—a big part of the expense, if you include the battery pack—we were looking to consolidate components and get costs down sooner rather than later,” said Bramscher. “And also to make sure that we had a partner for when we come up with inventive ideas.”
Flextronics is primarily an outsource electronics manufacturer—someone hands them a design and they build it. But Bramscher says the company is capable of much more. “These guys don’t just build electronics boards. When I toured the factory, I was very impressed. The flexibility of the assembly lines lends itself well to products like ours. I thought, ‘Wait a second, they could build and manage our whole sub-chassis—all the assemblies, all the wiring.’”
As a result of this new tie-up, final assembly now becomes the smallest part of the bike-manufacturing process. “It’s not insignificant,” said Bramscher, “but it represents a tiny piece of what’s necessary to get a bike into a customer’s hands.”
Now, Bramscher is wondering just how efficient Brammo can become. “We’re trying to build our bikes as close to consumption as possible. Trying to fire up factories on three continents—China, Europe and North America—within the next 18 months is a pretty daunting and capital-intensive task. Not with Flextronics. It’s what they do.”

Because this partnership has been a work in progress, benefits such as longer battery life are already in place, as evidenced by some of the claimed performance features built into the recently unveiled Empulse naked sportbike. In addition to availability nationwide through Best Buy stores, Brammo will soon have a traditional dealer channel. If Bramscher has his way, Enertias and Empulses will be sold alongside GSX-Rs and Gold Wings and YZ450s, not just stateside but around the globe.
“We’ve had several hundred queries from dealers,” Bramscher said. “We want to make sure we have the infrastructure to get products to them in a reasonable amount of time and manage parts and all that. Obviously, that’s part of the Flextronics deal.
“Flextronics allows us to be small, inventive, nimble and reactive, but still have the weight to swing around to get things done and product into global markets quickly. It feels like we already have an answer to the question, what are you going to do when the big guys get into this business? I’m hoping the answer will be grow market share and defend our position as a leader.”

From www.cycleworld.com
By Matthew Miles