Since electronics manufacturer, REDARC, was recognised as Manufacturer of the Year at the annual Manufacturers’ Monthly Endeavour Awards in 2020, the South Australian company has further expanded its footprint and its product range.
REDARC was eligible for the big award due to its win in the ICN-sponsored Global Supply Chain Integration of the Year category.
The company won the supply chain award thanks to its close relationships with suppliers when manufacturing, and subsequently exporting its BCDC In-vehicle charger.
The innovative charger takes power from the main battery of the vehicle and distributes it to the “house” batteries that run appliances in the motor home, making sure they are fully charged during the day.
On winning the award, REDARC managing director, Anthony Kittel, said it recognised the dedicated efforts of our REDARC staff, as well as the commitment the company has made to keeping its production in Australia.
“It’s nice to get the acknowledgement that there is a strong future for manufacturing in Australian. You need to be innovative, you need to continuously improve, you need to employ great people and you can be successful globally,” he said.
“It shows that it does take a long time to build an international footprint. You can’t go in there and expect an overnight return, it is a marathon rather than a sprint. We stuck at it. We never gave up and finally reaped the rewards.”
He thanked ICN for its sponsorship saying without sponsors “you don’t have an award”.
REDARC has a long involvement with ICN, which ramped up as the company made a big push into the Defence sector, in 2022 winning a $23 million contract to supply 12,600 LED lights to BAE Systems for the first batch of three Hunter class warships.
According to Executive General Manager Defence & Space, Scott Begbie, REDARC had been using ICN gateway to explore options on the Hunter Class work. In 2017, company representatives met with BAE and UK company MARL International at the DSEI trade show in the UK, using REDARC’s ICN Gateway Profile to facilitate the introductions.
MARL and REDARC began negotiations to determine how they could partner up to meet Commonwealth and BAE requirements for Australian content, then developed a joint tender response with REDARC the prime contractor.
The contract will see the Adelaide-based company lead the manufacture and delivery of lighting and related parts for the Royal Australian Navy’s anti-submarine warfare frigates.
It provides ongoing work for REDARC and its supply chain, with this contract for the first three ships going up to 2031.
“And there’s further ships that will come after that,” Scott said.
“This is a long-term contract which gives us the ability to bring on apprentices and engineers, grow skills in house and have surety around Defence work.
“It’s one ship every two years, so we effectively will have a drumbeat of constant manufacturing over that time.
“We will be bringing local suppliers on to the contract as well. Our intent is to engage locally in Australia.”
This year has been a big one for REDARC with the company appointing a New Zealand national sales manager and four new executive sales and marketing positions to spearhead its expansion into North America.
In announcing the North American appointments, Peter Favilla, Global President of REDARC said they signified “an exciting chapter for REDARC as we continue our journey of global expansion and further investment in North America.”
The company has also been named as the winner of the 2023 South Australian Premier’s Export Awards following its success in 2022 and has been ranked #32 out of 50 finalists in the 2023 Australian Financial Review (AFR) Fast Global list.
Meanwhile, ICN is proud to once again be sponsoring the Global Supply Chain Integration of the Year Award at this year’s Manufacturing Monthly Endeavour Awards, to be announced at a gala event in November.
ICN National Office Chief Executive Officer, Warren Jansen said the sponsorship of the Award “speaks to the heart of what we do, which is to honour the capability of local businesses”.
“With everything that’s happened in the last couple of years, we see it as a responsibility to keep on pushing local content and the capability of Australian companies to the world. These awards support that.”
Read more about REDARC’s product range and global successes on its website.