ADM Celebrates 35 Years in Business

How Did it all Begin?

On 18th November 1986 ADM Systems Pty Ltd was born.The company was originally a partnership between the owner of Analogue and Digital Measurement and Glenn Bates hence the name. Glenn had worked for 13 years for a company importing electronics, called Parameters, before deciding that he would like to set up his own business. 

In the beginning Glenn would visit many international trade shows, looking for quality industrial products that were suited to the Australian market and early on the product line up included: 

• Powerline filters. 
• Load Cells. 
• Level Gauges. 
• Magnetic Flowmeters. 
• Angle Transmitters. 
• Radiation detection instruments. 
• Digital Data recorders. 

Many of these products are still offered today, although technology has changed quite a bit over the last 35 years. 

In 1998 ADM partnered with MEAN WELL. Since that time, ADM has become synonymous with MEAN WELL power supplies in Australia, although this is far from all that ADM does. 

These days the everyday running of the business is overseen by our CEO, Kristin and our General Manager, Jonathan Brown, with Glenn in semi-retirement.  

 

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A Tale of Nine Premises

If you ask Glenn, Kristin and Jonathan what the highlight of running the business has been for the last 35 years, they will tell you it is the continual growth, which has meant our head office has had to relocate 6 times. 3 of those moves have happened in the last 6 years. 

Over the last 3 years we have opened 3 satellite warehouses with branch offices in Perth, Sydney and Brisbane. This has allowed us to enhance our service offering to customers in these locations. The warehouse in Perth is a great benefit to our WA customers, who have to suffer long delivery times if an order is shipped by road. 

We have been lucky to maintain our growth over the past 2 years, which means we could take on 2 new team members in our NSW office this year. 

On 1st April 2019, PCA Encoders joined the ADM Systems group of companies.  

PCA was founded in Sydney in 1968 by Adrian Smith, who believed that a large proportion of industrial breakdown time could be avoided with the implementation of [the then very new] solid-state electronic technology. 

PCA is now recognised as Australia’s experts in encoders. 

Sadly, Adrian passed away in May 2021 and in October 2021 Jill decided to take a well-earned break and retired. Jill played a pivotal role in training the ADM NSW team, so that ADM can continue to offer the customer service excellence first forged by Adrian. 

Family Matters 

Family is important to ADM and we are a family business in more ways than one. 

First there is the traditional definition of a family business: 

• Glenn’s brother, Grant Bates joined the business in 2005. 
• Glenn’s daughter, Kristin Brown joined in 2007. 
• Glenn’s wife, Vikki Bates joined (officially) in 2010. 
• Kristin’s husband, Jonathan Brown joined in 2017. 

Secondly the ADM team also thinks of itself as a family. This is perhaps why the staff turnover is remarkably low, with Rhonda Stirton, our longest team member celebrating her 30th anniversary with ADM this year. 

Thirdly, ADM recognises that our team members all have families, and that work/life balance is extremely important. The company has a flexible approach to setting work hours, so that children can be picked up from school and cared for. 

Finally, ADM supports other families in the local community with the sponsorship of 3 local primary schools. ADM’s donation to each of these schools is directed towards helping local families afford things like uniform items, school camp, or extra classes from specialist educational providers. 

Leading the Way

Over the last 35 years ADM has been at the forefront of customer service innovation.  

Every year, we send out an annual survey as part of our IS9001:2015 quality management system. Our customers’ feedback is vital for our future growth and is very much listened to. 

For example, there was an overwhelming number of customers responding to the 2020 survey asking for improved online tools. This resulted in ADM launching a new webstore that allows trade customers to login and see their account pricing, as well as what stock we have on the shelf. They can also place orders, see their invoices, and request returns through this interface. 

Why Do It?

This is a question I think many of us would have been asked at least once. Why do it? 

ADM does it because it matters to you, our customer. From the very beginning, Glenn recognised that the quality of customer service and the level of technical support was important. It still is today. 

It isn’t about just making a sale; we want to offer our customers the most appropriate solution. If we cannot do that, then we will refer the customer to a supplier who can.   

ADM supports the customer long after the sale with technical advice, warranty repairs and replacements, calibration services, offering instrumentation rental services and much more. 

This still goes on today. 

Glenn’s Most Memorable Moment

The most memorable moment from 35 years in business was winning his first big OMART contract with the Brown Coal Liquefaction Victoria Company. 

What is Glenn’s Advice to Business Owners Today? 

 “Make the decision (wrong or right), don’t procrastinate and be cash flow positive” 

Most Important of All – Thank You! 

But none of the above would have been possible without you, our customer. 

It has been a pleasure serving you and we thank you for your support. 

But this is not the end of the story, it is only the beginning. We intend to build on our past success and further enhance the products and service we deliver. 

If you have any feedback or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us, as we would love to hear from you.