Among 20 southeastern Wisconsin publicly traded manufacturing companies, Town of Genesee-based Generac saw the biggest increase in research and development spending in 2022.
The maker of standby generators and clean energy products spent $159.8 million on R&D, according to its most recent annual securities filing, up 53% from 2021 and nearly double the level from 2020.
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions and Brady Corp., both based in Milwaukee, both saw roughly 31% increases in their R&D spending. For Brady, the $58.5 million it spent on R&D was 4.5% of its revenue, up 60 basis points from the previous year. At Zurn, the $18.4 million in R&D spending was 1.4% of revenue, down 10 basis points from the prior year as the company’s topline grew with the acquisition of Elkay Manufacturing.
Combined, the 20 companies spent $1.5 billion on R&D, up 6.3% from the prior year but down as a percentage of revenue to slightly less than 2.3%.
Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation continues to lead this group of companies in R&D spending at $440.9 million, up 4.4% from the previous year.
LiveWire Group, the electric motorcycle spinoff from Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson, leads in spending as a percentage of revenue at 130%. The $23 million the company spent on R&D in 2022 was down from $35 million the prior year, which was equal to 218% of its revenue.
Total R&D spending (in millions of $) in 2022 and percentage change from prior year
