Feature
Issue No. 37 - October/November 2007
Redarc keeps the pedal down
When we first met Redarc Electronics in July/September 2002, the company had just begun its impressive growth spurt under the leadership of its dynamic MD, Anthony Kittel. The automotive electronics innovator had already earned kudos for its impressive year-on-year growth but to have sustained that surge for five years is extraordinary and Redarc’s Fast Mover accolade is very well deserved.
Anthony and father-in-law Denis Brion bought the company in 1997, when Redarc was in decline after the death of founder, Bob Mackie. As planned, Anthony and his wife Michele bought Denis’s half of the company in 2002.
“We started with eight staff and around $800,000 revenue,” Anthony says. “Initially we had little knowledge of electronics or the industry. Importantly we had a committed team and brand well known by the automotive electrical trade.”
Redarc now enjoys high profile as a successful company, actively involved in promoting SA’s lively electronics sector - Anthony has won a Legend Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award, while Redarc was the Telstra Small Business Awards SA Winner 2005, made the BRW Fast 100 from 2001-04 and Deloitte’s Fast 20 (SA) and Fast 500 (Australasia) lists.
“We still rate ourselves as ‘minnows’ with regard to the larger manufacturing industry,” Anthony says.
“But we believe we punch well above our weight, supplying original equipment truck manufacturers like Volvo, Iveco, Daimler-Chrysler, MAN, DAF and several thousand auto-electricians across Australia.”
Anthony says Redarc’s base principles include “treating the customer as king” and offering lavish, free technical support, but innovation is the overriding priority¬.
“Several years ago we made a conscious effort to innovate rather than continue making similar type products,” Anthony says.
“We knew we could not compete with China, so we decided to get smarter at the way we design and b...
