Over 40 years Ampcontrol has watched competitors – some much bigger than itself – disappear from the scene. Dig into those demises and the evidence is likely to often point to a lack of innovation and customer focus.

In recent times the privately owned company has extended its reach overseas and has committed to expand its Hunter Valley factory from 15,000 square metres to 35,000sq.m.

On the international front Ampcontrol bought UK company Allanwest Wallacetown, which is linked with South African company Fermlec. This acquisition gave Ampcontrol a presence in Europe and South Africa, and brought it some new technology. Part of that reach into Europe is a Russian operation based in the southern part of western Siberia, 3500km east of Moscow.

Ampcontrol also has been reaping the benefits of a decision to split its operations from its two-fold power and electronics divisions into three. The third arm added was service. The service division allows the company to build a strong customer focus.

Ampcontrol managing director Alan Broadfoot said the company was committed to having service staff wherever its customers needed them, be it in the north of Queensland or in Siberia.

“We can centralise manufacturing but satisfy the customers’ needs for local support through service centres,” Broadfoot said.

Splitting the service division off from the power and electronics divisions has given it an opportunity to grow in its own right. It is also there to support the other two businesses.

All three businesses feed off each other. The power division can come up with a solution for an underground mine. To meet the mine’s needs it will get the components from the electronics division. Installation and product support comes from the service division.

“The other two divisions always provide the competitive advantage for the third,” Broadfoot said.

People power

Acquisitions have also been a focus for the company, mainly as a means to gain technological or geographical advantage. They have also brought another valuable commodity – skilled staff.

Broadfoot said in one case the company wanted some capacitor technology so it acquired a capacitor maker in New Zealand. Thanks to that acquisition the company’s electronics division is based in Rotorua.

The Allenwest acquisition opened up an opportunity to access the European and South African markets.

Fermlec was a majority shareholder of Allanwest.

“We’ve bought an additional shareholding in Fermlec to take our stake to 75 percent,” Broadfoot said.

That gives Ampcontrol management control of the South African business too.

On the technology front, it was the access to technology built around different mining techniques that piqued Broadfoot’s interest.

“In our business the technology revolves around the environment you’re mining in,” he said. “Over here we have high drifts and low gas. Over there [the UK] they have deep seams and low ceilings. They use different mining approaches.”

The acquisition has also brought Ampcontrol a vital resource – people. It gains two service engineers and an administrations person in Siberia, and 100 people at Allanwest’s Scotland base.

Importantly, particularly for the Siberian operation, the employees all speak the language.

“You have to deal in the language of your customers,” Broadfoot said. “You also have to deal in their currency.

“With Allanwest it gives us the ability to trade in Euros,” he said. “If you follow the money trail a lot of the money going into the developing world is coming from Europe.”

It also opens up a wider job market. With Europe so open these days, workers can be hired in one country and moved to another within the European Economic Union with minimum fuss.

This is a boon because Broadfoot said finding skilled people was one of the biggest challenges facing the company.

Acquisitions are one way of getting those skilled workers but it can backfire if not handled properly.

“A key performance indicator of our acquisitions is that we do not lose any staff,” Broadfoot said. “I’ve seen acquisitions where 30 percent of the staff walk out the door.”

Part of the secret to keeping the staff in place is building a common culture.

Broadfoot said his main tools in this area were strategic human resources and marketing and communications.

Marketing and communications play a part in getting the Ampcontrol messages across to the new staff.

“Strategic HR is about understanding the cultures we’re walking into,” Broadfoot said. “Understanding the unwritten rules of China; understanding black empowerment.

“One of the secrets to modern business is engaging with the workers of the companies we’ve acquired. It’s very emotional to find out that you’ve been bought out.

“The biggest asset we’re buying is the people. It’s about getting them on board as quickly as possible.”

With the Allenwest acquisition some tools employed included sending information packs to employees’ homes and hosting staff barbecues. Broadfoot went and addressed them too.

Future focus

Broadfoot describes his role as not handling the day-to-day but rather managing the business for tomorrow.

“At the moment the business is all about cash flow,” he said. “One of my roles is to work out what’s going to happen in five years time and commit to make it happen.

“If the Australian dollar is high it’s best to invest offshore. If it starts to weaken you turn to internal manufacturing. I do have an expectation that the Australian dollar is going to come down. That’s why we’ve made the decision to expand our facilities.”

A decision to undertake such a major expansion is not one to be taken lightly. As Broadfoot points out, there are council approvals to secure, not to mention finding the people to do the work.

“These days you have to look more at strategic management than day-to-day management,” he said.

“I tell people that I’m not a manager for today, I’m a manager for tomorrow. I have enough people to look after the day-to-day.”

Part of this strategic push is to bring in one person each into human resources and marketing with a mandate to solely look at the strategic side of those areas. The company already has a person looking at the strategic side of the entire business.

One of that person’s key tools is a seven-year plan. This plan is a...click here to read on.