Strategic Expertise

When Greg Beal first stepped through the doors of Sub-Zero Group, Inc., there wasn’t even a Wolf division. “I started as a co-op engineer in 1996,” says Beal, who is now a senior design engineering manager supporting Sub-Zero production. The University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate in mechanical engineering completed internships with the company before joining as a full-time employee.

“The first role I had was also in design engineering,” says Beal, “and I helped them automate, as the company was beginning to embrace computers.” He also put to good use a childhood passion for tinkering. “I would rebuild my bike repeatedly when I was a kid growing up in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. I come from a family of six kids, so we always had plenty of bikes lying around in need of repair,” he says. “I was always mechanically inclined.” 

At Sub-Zero, Beal found himself taking apart refrigerators and “trying to find ways to improve the product.” He explains that the focus was then, as it still is, on the reliability of the company’s appliances. “We would get feedback from the field and tackle any issues based on that.” 

Beal worked in the Sub-Zero division until 2018, when he transitioned to leading the team that was then developing the current generation of the Wolf Dual Fuel and Induction Ranges. He then returned to refrigeration in 2020. “It’s a new challenge every day,” he says of his current position. “While our group doesn’t totally redesign the product, we are constantly working to improve it.” His team’s work involves managing a steady stream of improvement requests, developing design solutions through testing, and helping the supply chain and production teams quickly implement them. “All of that really helps to develop my team as well, so they have what they need to keep our brands strong in the future.”

“We keep our focus on the customer and what they need,” adds Beal. “We also manage requests from our suppliers to help make their production lines run smoothly.” He notes that keeping supply lines streamlined and efficient ultimately benefits the consumer. “We are constantly evaluating what the experience is for the customer when they have the product in their home.” 

After initially helping engineering move from a paper to a digital world, today Beal uses both computerized and physical mock-ups in the engineering process. “After improvement requests come in, they go through an approval process, and then we will get prototypes made at our Innovation Center.”

One important goal is to establish a foolproof process for both manufacturing and customer satisfaction. “We’ll design it so our production team can assemble it correctly, all while making sure our customer will be satisfied. We understand our appliances are an investment for the customer, so we invest a lot of time and attention to match that.”

Beal realizes that people expend a lot of energy planning for new kitchens, and he knows Sub-Zero products reflect that commitment to quality. “It may be costly for the company to invest so much into the design engineering process, but it’s worth it, since the end result is a better customer experience.” 

As a manager, Beal has a more strategic oversight role, stepping back a bit from his previous hands-on approach. However, he says he “still needs to understand what I’m looking at and to know the products well. I also must stay connected to the new product teams to keep up with everything being developed, so that we are prepared when they launch.”

Managing a group of engineers and designers, including some based in Arizona, is a complex task; however, Beal still found time recently to renovate his own home kitchen. “My wife and I finally found what we like to call our forever home, here in the Madison area,” says Beal. “We just didn’t care for the kitchen all that much, though, so we updated it with Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove products, which is obviously great!”

“Ever since starting here and seeing so many beautiful kitchens in our literature and in person on visits to field test homes, I had been looking forward to updating my own kitchen, and while we had others to help us design and build it, I gave plenty of input because I know all the specs quite well,“ he says with a laugh. 

Another area of his home that he gravitates toward in his off hours is his garage workshop. “I have a woodworking hobby that I’ve rekindled,” says Beal. “I have built some furniture in the past and have plans for more things in the future.” It’s a hobby he shares with his son. “He is hands-on as well, so it’s great to have something we can do together.”

Beal doesn’t have any woodworking projects planned for his kitchen yet, although a pantry improvement may be in the works for the future. Meanwhile, his focus remains on the appliances he has a hand in developing for Sub-Zero. “My biggest goal is ensuring that we have happy customers.” His role at the company continues to evolve and grow, but his intent is the same: to present the best products possible to the marketplace.