Will Take Profit Hit In Name Of Future Designs
Ballistic Recovery
Systems, Inc. -- manufacturer of whole-airplane parachute recovery
systems for general aviation and recreational aircraft -- told ANN
this week a percentage of the company's overall revenues will be
invested in parachute canopy design research, and technology to
enhance the capability and safety of next generation systems.
The BRS board recently elected to fund an internal Research
& Development program that will be modeled after the company's
recently completed NASA contract.
"We believe this investment in cutting edge materials, shapes
and construction techniques will allow us to continue to provide
future products to meet advanced customer needs," said BRS Board
Chairman Bob Nelson. "The market's rapidly growing acceptance of
whole airplane -- and now including jet -- parachute systems is
demanding even greater performance from our already highly reliable
systems, and this investment will provide necessary funding. We're
willing to make this investment as we expect our gross margin
percentage to continue its positive trend along with the top line
revenue growth."
"If it were to mean accepting more modest profits in the short
term to achieve this goal, we believe the effect on future business
wins could be substantial," Nelson added.
BRS Founder Boris Popov said, "A very important goal of this
project is to allow us to use dedicated resources aimed at a
specific development project that has a bit of a longer time
horizon. I've always been committed to innovative thinking, and
this novel method of funding allows for greater experimentation and
technological creativity."
"While the rest of BRS is dedicated to the modern lean methods
of delivering just-in-time products to OEM customers, this new
funding investment allows us to take defined risks on projects that
can have the potential to expand OEM business while expanding our
business into new commercial and military applications that we are
currently aggressively pursuing," Williams added.
BRS designs, manufactures and distributes whole-plane emergency
parachute systems for use on general aviation and recreational
aircraft. Since 1981, BRS has delivered more than 23,000 parachute
systems to aircraft owners around the world, including over 2,800
systems on certified aircraft like the Cirrus SR20 and SR22
(below).
To date, BRS parachute recovery systems have been credited with
saving the lives of 194 pilots and passengers.