HARNESSING A FUTURE The Weekly Advertiser September 1 2005
In the third instalment of a four part series, Weekly Advertiser editor Peter Miller continues his interview with Ararat industry icon Peter Carthew
Peter said Ararat business and community leaders were invaluable through the rebuilding period.
“The Ararat council was superb, I’ve never seen a group with such foresight as those people showed,” Peter said.
“Particularly the mayor ,Bill Jones. The wisdom of that man was incredible and he left no stone unturned. I often laud him in public for his efforts”.
“The council’s Executive Officer for Economic Development Russell Rachinger was also outstanding.”
AME Systems grew steadily and Peter’s son, Christian, joined the company in 2000 as the business Development Manager. Christian was a qualified Electrician and Refrigeration Mechanic with a Bachelor of Management (Marketing). He had married a country girl and after several years working in the city, the couple yearned for a rural lifestyle.
In 2001 there was a downturn in the industry and the company’s profits dropped to 4.75%.
“We had a meeting with the staff to let everyone know what was going on and to ask for a new focus,” Peter said.
“Things bottomed out for about two
months, but by September we were flying again.” The company has continued to
fly and today AME Systems’ staff list has climbed to a record 292 employees,
making wiring harnesses for 98 different companies
from
Peter credits his company’s success to several facets.
“Each time we had to rebuild and chase contracts the first people we would approach were former clients,” Peter said.
“We found people were very loyal and understanding,” he said.
“Even business on the scale we work is not about the dollar. It is more about relationships. Our clients are hard on their expectations of what they want from us, but they are sensible as well.”
Peter said technology also played an important role In AME’s success.
“We have been fortunate that technology has changed and circumstances have changed so each time we regrouped as a company we were able to pick the best horses of the remaining starters,” he said.
“But most importantly we were about customer service. We would die to satisfy our customers and Christian still operates with that same paradigm. When we have a new product to manufacture, we will go out onto the floor and build it ourselves first so we understand all the processes. And if a problem arises we will drop everything to fix it. I can’t stress enough the importance of customer service in any business.”
Peter said the importance of their work heightened the reasons for correct procedure.
“We are working with the heart of every vehicle and certainly the most vital safety aspects. Take a Kenworth Truck, nothing is as important on the truck as the wiring harness. It ensures it’s safety and it’s power- it’s the reason it goes and stops.”
But the most important facet for Peter was staff and personalising business.
“We develop relationships with our people and we work closely with them, he said. We hold regular strategy meetings with staff and management but we make sure they have their share of lighter moments as well. A good sense of humour is important in anything.”