BraunAbility & Q’STRAINT Mobility Venture
On June 3rd, 2021, BraunAbility and Q’STRAINT announced that they would be partnering in a new transformative mobility venture with the goal of enhancing innovation for their customers in the rapidly changing automotive industry. BraunAbility is closing in on 50 years of being a leading manufacturer of wheelchair-accessible vehicles and wheelchair lifts. To add to that, Q’STRAINT has over 35 years of experience primarily focused on wheelchair passenger safety, as a leader in the wheelchair and occupant securement solution industry. Together the two companies do business in over 70 different countries worldwide. Both BraunAbility and Q’STRAINT have a similar goal in mind, inclusion. This similar goal led to them wanting to concentrate time and resources together on integrating technology to simplify everyday traveling for the disability community. “Wheelchair passengers face such a segmented experience when they travel. We see huge opportunities for integrating technologies and creating a new story, rewritten for inclusion. Together, we help ensure that new products create a more intuitive and effortless experience for our customers,” said Patrick Giradin, co-president of Q’STRAINT.
One of the compelling opportunities for the new venture was the chance to drastically improve integration of the design process, which ultimately set the stage for system-based solutions. Having a vertically integrated approach to the design process showed significant signs of potential improvements in terms of reliability, quality, and safety for the disability community. Allowing less opportunity for the disability community to fall behind in the mobility world.
Additionally, prior to the announcement on June 3rd several major original equipment manufacturers, automotive, and consumer technology companies had announced hundreds of billions of dollars being utilized for future investments in autonomous and electric vehicles. As a part of the new endeavor, BraunAbility and Q’STRAINT have made it a priority to work to ensure the advancing technologies include solutions for the disability community. Staci Kroon, global president and chief executive officer of BraunAbility, said “The shift to these new technologies has the potential to change a remarkable number of lives if they’re designed for inclusion… our industry must combine research and development investments and other resources, so wheelchair users are included in the future of mobility.”
The combined contributions of BraunAbility and Q’STRAINT prioritize consumer innovation, while simultaneously maintaining the industry-leading levels of technology, service, and support for their dealer and commercial partners. A remarkable breakthrough of the contributions being QUANTUM. QUANTUM is the only system that offers wheelchair passengers, who are utilizing public transit bus systems, full independence. Requiring no assistance from the bus operator when securing the wheelchair to safely ride in the bus, as well as getting on or off the bus. The contactless technology provides wheelchair users the opportunity for a timesaving traveling option and allows the bus operator the chance to solely focus on the safety of the passengers.
“In the end, it’s the customers who will win,” said Julie Boynton, co-president of Q’STRAINT. Both BraunAbility and Q’STRAINT are committed to the goal of inclusion. Their missions don’t change, they work together to continue to change more lives every day.
