Advanced Manufacturer, REDARC Electronics is widely recognised for its world-class range of products for the recreational, heavy vehicle and marine industry, and this year will be celebrating a very special milestone – its 40th year.
For 40 years REDARC have been researching, designing, developing and manufacturing a range of electronic voltage converters, inverters, power supplies, battery chargers, brake controllers and trailer braking products.
REDARC was founded in August of 1979 by electronics engineer, Robin (Bob) William Mackie in South Australia. Bob started the business by designing and manufacturing vehicle ignition systems and voltage converters.
This provided the technology for a mix of European and American trucks needing to convert incompatible voltages to the Australian truck standard of 12 volts. In fact, that is where the name came from; the spark developed in the first ignition system having a “red arc.”
In 1997, Anthony and Michele Kittel along with Michele’s Father, Denis Brion purchased the business following the passing of Bob Mackie.
Over the decades, the business has grown from humble beginnings, starting with 8 employees working in a tin shed in Adelaide’s Southern suburbs to becoming a world-class, advanced electronics manufacturer, servicing both domestic and international markets and now employing over 200 people.
Managing Director, Anthony Kittel said, “REDARC is not just a world-class manufacturing facility, it’s an agile and innovative problem solver. We give our customers the confidence in mission critical situations where things just have to work.”
“At REDARC there are no limits to where you can go. Our rugged products and customer obsession play a crucial role in ensuring that, whatever your mission, you can get there and back safely and confidently, secure in the knowledge that you have left nothing to chance.”
REDARC has been able to buck the trend against the offshoring of manufacturing in Australia. Its business success has been based on identifying unmet market needs and developing new solutions to address these and implementing market-led strategic plans. Everything they execute is underpinned by their guiding values and principles – innovation, customer satisfaction, teamwork, integrity, quality and environmental awareness.
Now 40 years strong, their $22m investment strategy to scale up the business has resulted in the recent expansion of their Lonsdale factory, the introduction of new state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and systems, the installation of sustainable power infrastructure, new staff recruitment and ongoing investment in their highly skilled workforce.
REDARC is on the cutting-edge, positioned to take its innovation and manufacturing capability to a world class level. The completed expansion has already seen key areas of the business grow while simultaneously improving processes and the durability of their products. Impressively, it has given REDARC the power to scale up production by more than 250%.
Anthony stated that all of this would not have happened without the support from customers, the industry, distributors, suppliers, and trade backing Australian manufacturers.
“Our growth can be attributed from having long standing relationships with these groups. Our success today should be shared with those who have backed us from the very start,” Anthony said.
“I’d like to thank our customers across Australia, our incredible team as well as our suppliers for the last 40 years and we look forward to celebrating the next 40 years together. We are committed to working with our customer base for the long haul.”
REDARC has a range of activities planned in commemoration of their 40 years. They see this is not only as a celebration of what the business has achieved, but also a celebration of their customers supporting Australian manufacturers. You can follow the celebration by visiting their website and following updates on social media.
