From Trucks to Tech: The Unlikely Start

Krumpfer didn’t enter Bonland in a corner office or with a college degree in engineering. He started in May 1978 as a truck mechanic, wrench in hand, crawling under cabs and troubleshooting engines. “I ended up taking over the maintenance department,” he remembered. “One thing I’ve seen is a lot less people doing the same work. Once I became the vehicle supervisor and building maintenance, I took over at that point, and I had a much larger crew to do the same work. These days, you gotta do a lot more with less people.”

That theme – doing more with less – would become his mantra and his mission.

A Mind That Never Sits Still

With Bonland locations spanning New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and South Jersey, Krumpfer's reach extends across all branches – setting up shops, maintaining fleets, and ensuring operations run smoothly no matter the zip code.

Krumpfer's official title is Maintenance Supervisor for all Bonland branches. The unofficial title, according to anyone who’s worked with him, is “the guy who can fix anything.” Over the years, his responsibilities expanded to cover company cars, trucks, forklifts, machinery, buildings, and even the computer network. “Me and my guys, we all do everything,” he said. “When the tools come back from the field, we inspect everything before it goes back out again. Cordless tools have changed the industry, and I make sure we have all the same brand so the batteries are universal. We even load-test every battery before it goes back out.”

If something breaks, Krumpfer and his crew don’t call for help – they tear it down and rebuild it. “We rebuild all our own stuff here,” he said, ticking off a list that includes Pittsburgh machines, roll formers, and even water jets built from old Cybermation plasma tables. “We took the old 700 tables, built water tanks under them, and made our own water jets.”

His willingness to tinker is matched only by his urge to improve. “We modified a lot of machines,” he said. “On the Cybermation, we cut rectangular holes in the bridge to take weight off, and I was able to go from 320 inches a minute to 500 inches a minute. Anything to make our equipment better than somebody else’s.”

Mike Bailey, senior vice president of sales at Mestek Machinery, says Krumpfer's reputation as a relentless tinkerer is well-earned. “Every time that phone rings and it’s Chris, I know there’s going to be some wild idea he wants to try on a machine that’s already mature – something he wants it to do that it’s never done before,” Bailey said, noting that to avoid having to install diffusers in the spiral duct, Chris wanted spiral machines to punch the holes out – one of his ideas that ultimately couldn't be implemented. “Other times, Chris would go back, tinker, and come up with a solution that worked. He’s always looking for a better way, and he doesn’t accept limitations.”

SIGN DESIGN: Krumpfer snaps a selfie while sketching out plans for a new shop sign, blending creativity with experience. (Courtesy of Bonland Industries)

The Relentless Pursuit of Efficiency

It’s one thing to read about the CAM revolution in stories like David Daw’s chronicle of the 1980s; it’s another to meet someone like Krumpfer, who was in the trenches, modifying Cybermation tables, and building custom solutions decades before “automation” became a buzzword.

Bonland’s reputation is built on reliability – delivering “big work, quickly,” as Krumpfer put it – and much of that reputation rests on the systems he’s engineered. When the company bought its state-of-the-art coil line, Krumpfer was the first in the country with zero crop cut capability. “They told us it couldn’t be done,” he said, a grin in his voice. “This was my boss’s Andy's idea, he wanted it, so we made it happen. We gave IPI the theory of operation and worked with them to make it work.”

Bailey remembers that project well. “Even after we delivered that coil line, Chris kept tinkering – making upgrades and modifications we never imagined. Sometimes we’d get a call about a new feature and realize Chris had engineered it himself. He’s the kind of guy who makes the whole industry better just by always asking, ‘What if?’”

This is just one example of a trend that played out over Krumpfer's tenure at Bonland, Daw added. Many of the changes Krumpfer initiated ended up being adopted by HVAC machinery manufacturers, and Krumpfer likewise had an impact simply by having an open door with manufacturers' reps like Bailey and Daw as they prototyped new innovations to assist sheet metal shops.

The same spirit drives his approach to the latest wave of automation. Bonland is currently replacing three Cybermation plasma cutters with new lasers – a move Krumpfer has overseen, down to the smallest detail. “The laser cuts fast, but you can’t take anything off the table until it’s completely done,” he said, noting journey people can still affix stickers to each cut while the machine is running. “With the old Cybermation, you have two tables, so while one’s cutting, you can unload the other. I have to do some early analysis to see which one actually produces more.”

He’s always weighing the real-world impact of new technologies, refusing to fall for hype. “You’ve got to look at what the payback is going to be,” he said. “Labor is so expensive, you have to do a realistic cost analysis.”

HAPPY RETIREMENT: Krumpfer with his daughters Samantha, Kristine, and Charlotte—his pride and joy beyond the shop floor. (Courtesy of Bonland Industries)

Safety First, Always

For all his inventiveness, Krumpfer is most serious when he talks about safety. “One of the big things I’ve seen change in the industry is safety. We didn’t have hearing protection when I started. Safety is paramount now, making sure everybody goes home in one piece.” He’s served on Bonland’s safety committee and makes a point of watching out for the younger guys. “Sometimes you just have to slow them down.”

That ethos extends to the smallest details. When a new laser arrived with rollers sticking out further than necessary – posing a tripping hazard – Krumpfer simply sawed them down. When a water chiller shipped with water in the pump and froze in a cold snap, cracking the housing and bending the impeller, he took it apart, straightened the shaft, machined a new part, and had it back online before the schedule slipped.

Data-Driven, Long Before It Was Cool

Krumpfer's not just a hands-on leader – he’s quietly data-driven and a bit of an Excel wizard. He built the company’s preventive maintenance program for its fleet after a visit to a UPS facility, tracking hours and mileages so maintenance is done when needed, not on a guess. He’s written custom spreadsheets for field requisitions, tool tracking, and even tie rod reinforcement calculations (“one formula, all in one cell – with more if-then statements than you can count,” he said).

Krumpfer's loyalty to Bonland runs deep. “I love my job, I love the people I work with. I worked directly for the owners for the longest time. I don’t work for one branch – I work for Bonland.” His relationship with the owners, especially Andy and Bill Boniface, is built on mutual respect and a shared love of problem-solving. “Andy was an engineer. He’d come to me with some ideas, and we’d just make it work.”

Krumpfer's innovations don’t stop at work. At home, he admits he “went a little crazy,” building a two-zone HVAC system with custom controls and damper logic – a complex setup by modern residential standards, but one that heats and cools his house with a level of efficiency many commercial systems don’t match.

MAINTENANCE CREW: Krumpfer alongside his trusted maintenance team, the backbone of so many successful projects. (Courtesy of Bonland Industries)

What’s Next?

As his retirement draws near, Krumpfer is already lining up projects at home – and leaving the door open for continued work in retirement. “I hope to stay involved in some way. I just don’t know where I’ll fit in yet.”

Bonland will lose a hands-on supervisor, but Krumpfer's fingerprints are everywhere: in shop layouts, in home-built machines, in spreadsheets and safety protocols, and in every piece of equipment that runs a little faster, a little safer, because he decided “good enough” wasn’t good enough.

And if you ask him what he’s most proud of? It isn’t the machines or the spreadsheets or even the shop floor that hums with hard-won efficiency. It’s the people. “One big team,” he concluded, and you believe him – because for Chris Krumpfer, that’s not just a line. It’s the legacy he leaves behind.

Check out our coverage of other SNIPS NEWS Industry ICONs: Stephen Doonan, Angie Simon, David Daw, and many more. Email SNIPS NEWS Editor Austin Keating if you have someone in mind for this recognition.